Weekend Winners Club

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Thursday, May 19
Pimlico Race Course
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The Preakness is actually usually one of the easiest races of the year to handicap. Despite a usually large field of 10-14, and a mix of horses that ran in the Kentucky Derby and some that didn’t, the statistics for the Preakness make it more predictable than many other races.
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Unlike the Kentucky Derby, which almost always has a field of 20 horses, most of which have never ran beyond 9 furlongs, with many running against each other for the first time. The Preakness is only 9.5 furlongs and runs more like a 9f race than the 10f Derby.
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So let’s do Preakness Stakes by the numbers, to enlighten everyone on some key statistics. These will focus on the past 20 years, starting in Preakness 1997, unless otherwise noted. Supporting charts provided below the stats.
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0		Times the Preakness was won by a deep closer, late running, S type horse
		Derby runners-up that won the Preakness
		Trainers named Sherlock, Goldbert, Desormeaux, Matsunaga, Guillot, Allard, Casse, or Pletcher have won the Preakness stakes, EVER. That’s 8 of 11 trainers in the field.
		Jockeys named Lanerie, Perez, Toledo, Take, Geroux, Acosta, Lezcano, or Velazquez have won. (8 of 11 again)
1		Derby winner that did not run in or complete the race (RIP Barbaro)
		Filly that won the Preakness stakes (Rachel Alexandra)
		Time it was run in under 1:54 (Point Given)
2		Derby winners that ran the race (not Barbaro) and finished worse than 4th.
		Derby runners-up since 1960 that won the Preakness
		Horses from Bold Ruler sireline that won Preakness
3		Preakness winners that did not run in the Derby (all 3 of which were front-runners)
		Derby runners-up that also placed 2nd in the Preakness
		Horses from Northern Dancer sire line to win
		Preakness winners ridden by Victor Espinoza
		Horses with double digit odds won
4		Derby winners that finished 2nd in the Preakness
		Derby 4th place horses that finished top 4 in the Preakness
5		from Derby field finished 4th place at Preakness
		Preakness winners trained by Bob Baffert
6		Derby winners placed 2nd thru 4th at Preakness
		Derby runners-up finished 2nd or 3rd at Preakness
		Preakness winners from the Derby that didn’t win the Derby
7		Derby runners-up finished top 4 in Preakness
		3rd place Preakness runners from the Derby superfecta
		Preakness runners-up with double digit (10-1) or greater odds
8		Top 3 Derby horses finished top 4 in Preakness
		Preakness runners-up from the Derby top 4
9		Derby winners did NOT win the Preakness
10		Derby winners DID win the Preakness
11		Preakness runners up that ran in the Derby
		Preakness 3rd placers that ran in the Derby
		Preakness 3rd placers with double digit odds (more than the 9 4th place finishers)
12		Preakness winners since 1994 from the RAN (Raise a Native) sireline
13		Preakness 4th placers from the Kentucky Derby field
14		Preakness winners with odds of less than 7-2
		Well, there are only 14 runners in the Preakness, so we should cap it there. OK maybe a few more just for fun.
16		Preakness winners of the past 19 were from the Kentucky Derby field, all from top 6
22		from the Derby field finished 2nd or 3rd in the Preakness
33		Derby top 4 runners also finished top 4 in the Preakness
44		Derby top 4 finishers ran in the Preakness
55		In the past 55 Preakness races, 2 Derby runners-up have won it.
66		Get your kicks, this article is over.

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Full Pimlico Grid PP’s for Friday and Saturday here
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