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Story by MC_Excelsior "The Stick" Preakness Stakes wide open ? The race shapes up much more in focus to professional 'cappers. We point all the Winners and Winning Angle's in our *Gold Rush* Program available starting 5/19 Thursday as Email Delivery. Program available in Instant View format 5/21 Saturday. Read our entire story below
5/19/05 - Field Set, Entries, Last Minute things to remember from our Insiders Diary. Finally Ordering Instructions down below for our Preakness Stakes Special Selections Program. The Preakness Stakes (G1)- $1,000,000 - 1 3/16 Miles *Grade One Stakes Horses* Post# - Horse Name - *Jockey* - Morning Line Odds
The Preakness Stakes has traditionally been a rematch race of the top 4 finisher's in the Kentucky Derby. They are usually not challenged by too many competitors. In fact, we cannot remember too many years in which the Preakness Stakes had a full field of 14. Kentucky Derby Winner, Giacomo, is not receiving too much respect in the race. Many public and private racing figures have expressed the feeling that the Kentucky Derby was simply a freak race, and Giacomo benefitted from a random traffic pattern which helped him ride to victory. Well...WRONG ! Giacomo deserves as much respect as Charismatic, or Funny Cide when they came into the Preakness of a hot Derby win at long odds. In fact, the whole notion of Closing Argument being a lower morning line price then Giacomo is almost laughable. Both horses were considered improbable for the Derby 1-2 finish. However, why would you favor a 70-1 longshot who finished behind Giacomo over him in the morning line ? High Fly, and Afleet Alex both deserve their morning line odds, and people will be looking for them to run much better here then they did in the Derby. Does that mean that we think they will win ? Well, in a word....no ! Who do we think will win this year ? Well, you'll have to order our Special Preakness Program to find out who we like before the race. We are very confident in our Preakness Selection. This race sets up perfectly for out top 2 picks, and I think we have the Superfecta 4 in our Top 5 Selected Horses. We are looking for a huge price, and we feel the logical horses will again be overlooked, as they are every year. ___________________________ To Order The Stick PREAKNESS STAKES *ENTIRE DAY* Special Hybrid Selections Program, ___________________________ *The Media Darlings - Part II Preakness mistakes*
Fresh off their mistakes in the KY Derby, the mainstream media will have had time to interview and speak to many trainer's, jockey's and people in the industry. This will fill them will new confidence that they are now much more expert in the way they will evaluate the race, and that they will be right on target with what they have to say about the outcome of The Preakness. WRONG ! Traditional mistakes made are a sudden interest in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place KY Derby finishers. All of a sudden a horse like 70-1 Closing Argument, who finished 2nd in the KY Derby, will be a serious contender who was simply overlooked on Derby Day. His connections will be interviewed and this horse will looked at and considered as good a race horse as Afleet Alex. Well, maybe Closing Argument will be just as good a race horse in the future as Afleet Alex. However, ONE RACE, especially one where you finished 2nd, does not make a horse great, or a champion. We like Cornelio Velasquez and the connections of Closing Argument, and we hope they run their race and do well. We just do not think that the media will view this horse in the proper perspective. Afleet Alex will now be considered the heir apparent. This is another classic mistake by the main stream media. Afleet Alex is a wonderful horse, with an equally warm, and American story line. However, what will happen now, is that because this was the only favorite level odds horse in the KY Derby to run in the money(3rd), the "Smart" or "Inside" pick will be Afleet Alex to pull off the win. Again, we really like Afleet Alex and his connections, but thats not the right reasoning for picking or playing him in The Preakness. Now, we might even pick him in our Top 3, we might not, but if we pick Afleet Alex, it will be for solid handicapping reasons, like conditioning, speed, connections comfort on the road and at Pimlico, etc... *Re-print for Main Stream Media from KY Derby Special. We don't want to sounds over the top negative to the mainstream, they provide a meaningful and important service to help promote the sport to new fans and people around the world. However, with that said, they are not true Horse Racing enthusiasts. They tend to follow the races at this time of year and they tend to lack depth due to their superficial glaces of the most recent stakes races leading into the Kentucky Derby. This accounts for their regular and often wrong reasoning for pointing out who everyone should be watching and focusing on. However, without the mainstream media, Horse Racing would be relegated to obscurity and an 'in-crowd' of fans and horsemen who cannot support the finacial aspects of the industry on their own. Welcome Mainstream Media ! Without you, we(Horse Racing) cannot exist. Please help increase our fan base and bring attention to our sport. If your not sure about certain aspects of the races leading into this one...then ASK US ! We are here for you, as we are certain our friends at DRF, TVG, Equibase, NTRA, and local horsemen are here for you to help you see beyond the gloss and hype of the greatest American Horse Race. Email any of us and ask questions, we all want the same thing....the successful promotion of Horse Racing as a mainstream sport for everyone. ___________________________ *The NEW Dark Horses - Part II Preakness new faces*
There are *NEW* horses coming into the field of the Preakness that did not run in the KY Derby. These horse may have speed, and may be locally based, or having connections to the track that give them a huge advantage in this race. Have you ever heard of Deputed Tesimony ? The local, Maryland based horse who went wire to wire in the slop in the 80's ? No one gave him much of a chance, yet he won on the front end. Scrappy T, the runner up in the Wood Memorial and big winner in the Withers Stakes is here. Ramon Dominguez picks up the mount on this one, and his morning line odds are 20-1. Dominguez made his 'bones' at Pimlico, and he knows this track very well. Scrappy T's victory in the Withers was a great race. However, due to the fact that he lost to Bellamy Road in the Wood Memorial, no one thinks too much of him...WRONG WRONG WRONG ! His Withers victory was wonderful, and he ran second when Bellamy Road was right. There is nothing to not like about this horse...and we may have picked him ? Maybe...but then again, maybe not. Going Wild, a speedball from D.Wayne Lukas comes into the race with Robby Albarado up. Lukas has won his share of Triple Crown races, and this horse may be very tough on the lead if he gets a clear margin. Fresh, fit, and ready, Lukas knows how to win the big ones. we would not be surprised to see this one run a big race either. Malibu Moonshine is the local horse. King Leatherbury is a certified LEGEND in Maryland. If you want to do a story about a hard core Horse Trainer...go speak to the King. Like our web site name...we know he 'rules' in his own domain. That domain just happens to be Maryland Racing. This one could be a Superfecta filler for big odds and another big payoff. ___________________________ *Preakness X-Factor* Please keep in mind what we tell our fans every year....X-Factor ! "Not again Stick ! Don't tell us that there is more X-Factor for us overcome in the Preakness." Im sorry to tell you guys, but X-Factor is rampant in this years Preakness Stakes. The sharp turns... This is a angle every year. The sharp turns at Pimlico tend to favor speed horses who have a clear lead into the clubhouse turn and then into the far turn. We mentioned Deputed Testimony earlier, but lets look at Funny Cide's race in the Preakness. Funny Cide had good tactical speed, and had to come on while not being on the lead. He may not have been on the lead, but he was very close, and when he drew off, no one was able to close in on him. The point being, if you are a stone cold closer like..4th place Derby finisher, Don't Get Mad, then you should skip this race. Its very hard to close from last, but with that said, don't think it can't happen. Closer's come from far back to catch tired horses in front of them. If the pace is fast enough early, horses can close. The Field... In this years Preakness, we have a lot of things to overcome. First of all, many horses who ran poorly in the KY Derby are back again to show that they are much better then the finish of their Derby finish. This is a very hard angle to interprit. Is the horse who finished 4th, better then the horse who finished 6th in the Derby ? What about the last place finisher ? While you should not discount the finish of the Derby, you cannot consider it a holy grail of how the horses will run in the Preakness Stakes. Try to keep this mantra in your mind..."The Stick is always right !" Look for horses who are solid runners and who have shown they are capable of running well at this distance. If they can run well towards the front end, they might be better suited to Pimlico's turns and size. Anything can, and probably will happen, so don't put all your eggs in one basket.
*Triple Crown Hopeful ?* The only horse who can be a Triple Crown winner this year is Giacomo. You have to think that Mike Smith and the connections are jumping up and down wanting everyone in the world to see that their horse is the best 3 yr old in the world today. You have to give them some support and encouragement, so WE WILL ! First of all, "MC-The Stick" and "The Blaze" are HUGE Mike Smith fans. He has to be one of the best riders in the country right now, and he always said hello to us in person around the walking ring area. Maybe he thought we were someone else, maybe he was just being friendly, maybe he thought..."its that crazy guy and his girlfriend looking right at me...I better say hello so they put their tongues back in their mouths !" Secondly, winning the Kentucky Derby is one of the greatest accomplishments a horse, rider, trainer, and owner can ever have happen in their lifetimes. No matter what ever happens to Giacomo in the future, he will forever be remembered as a Kentucky Derby Winner. Thats a very special thing, and we can all look for angles as to why he won and the others lost, but I have to tell you, it was more then just random traffic racing luck. It was skill. The skill of Mike Smith to negotiate the traffic. The skill of Giacomo, to be strong enough at the right point in the race to surge to the victory. This race was won by a solid and strong racehorse. To be sure, his victory came as a surprise, but Giacomo is the only horse alive this year to become a Triple Crown Winner. Wow, would we love to see that. Horse Racing really needs that boost right now. "Will we see a Triple Crown this year ?"....from the Stick to all of you...."I sure as hell hope we will see a Triple Crown winner this year !"
*PREVIOUS NEWS HEADLINES*
The Stick Horse Racing Review of Giacomo's Big Win in the Kentucky Derby. For for this exciting Stick Horse Racing News Headline Press Here The Stick Horse Racing Insiders Guide Superstory of The Kentucky Derby. For for this exciting Stick Horse Racing News Headline Press Here
To Order The Stick PREAKNESS STAKES *ENTIRE DAY* Special Hybrid Selections Program, ___________________________ TO READ OUR OTHER HEADLINES Press Here |
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