BALTIMORE
Will Secretariat jockey Ron Turcotte win another Preakness Stakes 39 years later?
Paralyzed since a 1978 racing accident, Turcotte recently met I’ll Have Another trainer Doug O’Neill. Turcotte provided some inside advice until O’Neill shared it Wednesday.
Turcotte knows Pimlico Race Course well, setting a track record aboard 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat. He advised O’Neill to change tactics that saw I’ll Have Another rally past early front-runner Bodemeister in the Kentucky Derby’s final sixteenth mile. Instead, Turcotte said to compete for the early lead and don’t lose contact with the front-runners. Making a late move isn’t as easy at Pimlico Race Course.
O’Neill’s eyeballs must have spun like a slot machine ready to pay off after learning a key lesson about a track surface on which he has never competed. Pimlico is renowned for tight turns, but few know the first has a slight upgrade that can cost several lengths to unknowing riders that drift back. The final eighth mile has a slight downhill pitch that favors front-runners. Turcotte gave O’Neill the key ingredient to beating Bodemeister.
“It’s hard to make up a lot of ground at the last eighth [mile] so you have to treat the eighth pole like the wire,” O’Neill said.
I’ll Have Another will pass Bodemeister in the stretch. So will Creative Cause for second with Bodemeister hanging on for third. It’s a simple triple among the top three horses with only Went the Day Well and Daddy Nose Best possibly disrupting it.
It’s trendy to take Bodemeister, but Derby runners-up have only won two Preakness Stakes in 50 years. They have finished second or third a combined 20 times, so definitely use Bodemeister in your triples.
That the Preakness’ 13?16 miles is one-sixteenth mile shorter than the Derby, where I’ll Have Another passed Bodemeister, means nothing. Jockeys race to the wire wherever it is, so the shorter distance merely means the final scramble starts earlier.
Picking the Derby winner doesn’t require guts, though at least I’ll Have Another isn’t the early favorite. The Preakness is no gimme for Derby champs, though. Five of the last six Derby winners lost at Pimlico Race Course.
The key is the early pace. I’ll Have Another will now press Bodemeister early so the latter can’t save himself for the stretch. I’ll Have Another proved he can outkick Bodemeister in the lane.
Creative Cause is dangerous, though. His fifth-place Derby finish came after racing eight wide around the turns. That’s a ton of ground lost. Given 11 horses instead of the Derby’s 20, Creative Cause figures to be much closer to the leaders midway. However, can Creative Cause outrun I’ll Have Another and Bodemeister leaving the final turn? Maybe.
A fun long shot is Tiger Walk to hit the board. Maryland horses have been known to pull shockers like Deputed Testamony winning in 1983 and Oliver’s Twist (1995) and Magic Weisner (2002) finishing second.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
