My experience at Pimlico goes back just two years, but I’ve seen it from just about every angle possible.
- As a member of the track notes team, I watched Rachel Alexandra win last year’s Preakness from the jock’s scale in the winner’s circle then ran after five jocks to get their thoughts.
- As a handicapper and radio personality, I had the honor of breaking the news to ESPN’s Pat Forde last year that his big single - Big Drama - had gotten caste in his stall the morning of the race.
- And, as manager of racing operations for Puglisi Racing, I learned just how tight the covered paddock is space-wise when eventual Belmont winner Da’Tara nearly ran me over right before our Roman Emperor beat him in the ‘08 Barbaro. Then we came back the next day and ran second in the G3 Miss Preakness with Casanova Killer.
The track itself…
Pimlico may not be the prettiest or best of facilities, and I may not be allowed to walk around that neighborhood without a full security detail, but it’s my favorite track to showcase blue-collar pedigrees (think stallions like Louis Quatorze and Red Bullet).
Pimlico plays to closers, more traditional stalkers, and even mid-pack horses. To me, it’s not the kind of track you can go to the lead and never look back. When it comes to the 5f sprinters (primarily on the turf), I do hang my hat on the caveat that if you can break, you can win. It sounds cliché’d, but horses don’t always seem to get out of the gate well at Pimlico - if you can find one that does, bet ‘em.
Let’s take a look at the raw numbers of the current meet, as of Thursday, 5/13…
6f (D): 19/40 or 47.5% of wins come from stalkers and mid-pack horses; 16/40 or 40% of wins come from speed horses
1-1/16 mi. (D): 18/28 or 64% of wins come from stalkers or mid-pack horses; 5/28 or 17.8% of wins came from both speed horses and deep closers
1-1/16 mi. (T): 9/12 or 75% of wins comes from stalkers and mid-pack horses; 2/12 or 16.6% of wins comes from speed horses
1-1/8 mi. (T): 3/4 or 75% of wins comes from deep closers … but beware of a sample of 4
At the Preakness distance of 9.5f (D): 24/33 or 72.7% of wins came stalkers and mid-pack horses; 5/33 or 15.2% of wins came from speed horses; 4/33 or 12.1% of wins came from deep closers
