Preakness Preparations

The Washington Post is certainly gearing up for the Preakness; Todd Pletcher’s inability to win a Triple Crown race is analyzed (and “a horse racing blogger” is quoted in the article for good measure — nice to see we’re being noticed) and indeed, analysis seems to be on Pletcher’s mind:

“I don’t second-guess; I try to analyze something I can correct,” Pletcher said. “Once we bring the best horse there, we’re going to get it done. Until then, we’ll get criticized. It’s part of the deal.”

While I think that the majority of the time the best horse does win the race, I’m curious to know what sort of changes Pletcher might make going forward; he may not have had the best horse this time around, but even in hindsight it’s hard to say that Circular Quay was not among the best horses — just perhaps not the best prepared on the day.

Hard Spun also gets a close-up in the paper today; while I appreciate hearing about his pleasant personality, painting him as a sort of ‘aw-shucks’ underdog is a bit disingenuous — he’s still the best-bred horse in the race and looks the part. (Rumors that he’d changed hands have been quashed).

Curlin has been a bit left out of the Preakness discussion for no good reason lately; he seems to be preparing just as nicely as the two horses who finished in front of him.

And as for Street Sense (or Big Daddy Rabbit, if you prefer — getting a bath with the help of his attorney hotwalker in the photo above) — the discussion as to whether his affinity for Churchill Downs will hinder him in the Preakness seems pointless to Calvin Borel:

“It’s a racetrack. It’s round.”

Indeed.