Horse racing-Derby winner Mage enters Preakness Stakes as the horse to beat

Churchill Downs

18/05/2023 16:33

May 18 (Reuters) - Kentucky Derby winner Mage will be
gunning for the middle jewel of U.S. thoroughbred racing's
Triple Crown on Saturday at the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore
where he will be the only horse who raced at Churchill Downs in
the field.
    Mage drew the third post for the eight-horse, 1 3/16-mile
Preakness Stakes at Pimlico and is the 8-5 favourite.
    "Right now I'm just trying to be present, stay not too high
not too low in the emotions, and we have a big race coming and
just focus on the horse and make him feel as happy as he can
be," Mage's assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado Jr. said.
    Brad Cox-trained First Mission, who will start from the
eighth gate, was installed as the second favorite at 5-2 for the
Preakness while Bob Baffert-trained National Treasure is the
third betting choice at 4-1 and will break from the rail.
    Ridden by Javier Castellano and at 15-1 odds, Mage won the
Kentucky Derby and now all eyes will be on whether the chestnut
colt can create some intrigue going into the June 10 Belmont
Stakes, the final stop for the Crown.
    A victory for Mage in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes would
produce thoroughbred racing's 13th Triple Crown winner and the
first since Justify in 2018.
    Mage will be the only horse at the Preakness Stakes who also
ran in the Kentucky Derby after it was decided earlier this week
that Disarm, the Steve Asmussen-trained colt who finished fourth
at Churchill Downs, would not run at Pimlico.
    Mage used a late surge at the Kentucky Derby to overtake Two
Phil's down the stretch and win by a length. With the win, Mage
became only the fourth horse in 149 years to win the Kentucky
Derby with only three previous starts.
    The Preakness Stakes is the shortest of the three races that
make up the Triple Crown, which puts extra emphasis on a solid
start given there will be less time to make up ground.

 (Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha
Sarkar)
 ((frank.pingue@thomsonreuters.com; +1-647-480-7636; Reuters
Messaging: frank.pingue.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))