Crab cakes, football, and the Preakness. Charm City aka Baltimores claim to fame, however I feel like they are missing a rather big one by leaving The Wire off it. Anyways, Charm City was rocking for the 148th running of the second leg of the triple crown, The Preakness.
However what is normally a fun day of racing, drinking, and people sprinting across shitters (which I hear is no longer a thing? cancel culture claiming the weirdest traditions these days)
was overshadowed by horse racings greatest villain, Mr Ashley Schaffer BMW himself... Bob Baffert.
While Bob and his two sons got to relish in victory, exchange poorly timed high fives, and get an all time electric/awkward post-race interview, he stole the limelight much earlier for a much worst reason.
Seven horses were set to take the stage in the G3 Chicklang Stakes on the Preakness undercard. One of them was Bob Baffert trained Havnameltdown, a 3yo colt who was off a second place finish in the UAE. The colt was the race favorite and went off at odds of 4/5.
Sadly, when Luis Saez and Havnameltdown made their move at the far turn tragedy struck. The lightly raced colt broke down, losing Saez in the process and suffered a non operable fetlock injury. While the race finished and Gafflione and Ryvit went onto capture the G3 crown, tragedy filled the air of Pimlico and Charm City to no fault of its own lost some charm.
Luis Saez was on the way to the hospital and the worst thing in racing happened, Havnameltdown was euthanized. I have seen my fair share of accidents both in person and on simulcast but this one was hard to watch.
Sad but true, these moments are a stark reminder that without the horses, there is no horse racing. No gambling, no thrill of watching these beautiful animals turn for home, no pageantry, no nothing. As bettors, fans, and patrons of the sport I think its time we stop chalking this up to an accident and take a serious look at the state of the game.
There are a number of hard questions that should be asked, why was Havnameltdown sent out to race despite only having 3 works after Medyan and after being sidelined for 14 days with an injury back in April? Bob Baffert lives in a multi million dollar mansion in California, he is a big boy and should answer these tough questions.
Horse racing is facing a lot of scrutiny and external pressure from groups (whom I will reserve my opinion on) like PETA. And the reality is that if fans and people who love the game don't start to demand transparency, accountability, and ask these questions others will. And there is no guarantee they will do so with the actual sport in mind.
Between drug scandals, declining handle on big race days (handle for Preakness this year was down ~$10 million dollars from 2022), and a lack of engagement from younger fans due to the rise in popularity of sports betting, one could make the argument that horse racing isn't in tip top shape. Without this accountability and change the reality is the sport is at risk.
Jumping off the soapbox to get back to coverage of the Preakness and discussing how Baffert loves Baltimore!
How the hell did we have the smallest field in Preakness history? Seven horses, seriously? Even Golden Gate Fields can field 10+ for the stakes races on Gold Rush Day. This is something I have no problem ripping on, what a joke. How big is the Belmont field going to be? Three horses?
As I mentioned on OneTakeRadio this week, depending on how hard our good old friend Bobby B was pushing things, National Treasure could be a problem. Originally, I loved First Mission the Brad Cox horse who scratched earlier in the week. So I was between a rock and a hard place, either I could bet the Baffert horse (who admittedly I honestly thought was a rat) or I could stand for good, stand for the people and take Mage.
So Friday I bet the Black Eyed Susan/Preakness double. I pulled off an upset in the Black Eyed Susan with Taxed at 12-1, boom! And my last leg was in fact singled not to the bad guys, but to the Kentucky Derby Champion, and odds on favorite Mage. So my ticket would have paid out 32-1 and been quite a nice score. If you are telling me I can get the favorite at 32-1, I will gladly take it.
Since this is my only second blog you should know I am a clairvoyant whenever the outcome goes against my interests. I often times too will be spot on to something and change my mind. I knew there was a potential National Treasure was on the program. And sure enough, Bob found a way to shove it up my ass. I knew this was going to happen as the horses were walking to the gate. I have lost money for too long, I can smell a loser from a mile away. But it was too late to turn back.
National Treasure gamely outdueled Blazing Sevens and soundly held off a game but fatigued Mage. The race was the exact opposite of what we saw in the Kentucky Derby last week. The Preakness was void of any speed, in fact if I blindly showed you the fractions and you follow the sport you would have thought this was a maiden claiming race at Aqueduct. No kidding, in comparison to the KY Derby where Americas smartest, most intelligent, and honest rider Jose Ortiz on Kingsbarn dueled with Verifying on fractions of (22.35, 45.73, and 1:10.11) National Treasure was comparatively out for a light breeze.
You don't have to watch racing every day to see it was quite clear Mage was fatigued from the Derby. Sure, there was no speed for him to close into. But he got a good ride, broke well, and sat a nice trip. But when Javier asked, Mage unfortunately didn't have it in the tank.
Blazing Sevens was forced to go wide turning for home which resulted in him losing some ground to National Treasure who ultimately benefitted from the inside part of the track, no pressure on the pace, a smart ride from Johnny V, and the legendary Baffert Rebreak! National Treasure crossed the finish line at odds of 5/2 and gave Bob his 8th Preakness title.
The stretch duel between the two horses was entertaining. However the real magic on Saturday happened in Bafferts post race interview (lot of talk on horse racing twitter on why he still is interviewed and glorified). Bob may have forgotten Havnameltdowns name? A little bit odd, no?
Either Bob is getting a bit older and having a tough time remembering things, or he needs a new PR team. You lost a horse on Triple Crown day and when asked about it you refer to it as "that horse"? Y I K E S.
After his crocodile tears dried up, he let everyone know:
I love Pimlico, I love Baltimore, I love these horses
Bob Baffert
He then went onto ramble about the connections, his assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes, his sons, etc. Before closing things out with the following:
Im happy for everybody and um I love Baltimore.
Bob Baffert
Great interview, Bob. I think one of the things that was most clear after the Preakness was just how much Bob Baffert loves Baltimore. And love always wins. Let's wait and see what comes back from National Treasures blood work, but for the time being, congratulations to the bettors and connections. Onto the Belmont Stakes!
-TI
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This is pretty hype... OTM loves the Preakness