Count Racecar Rhapsody trainer Ken McPeek among those hoping for a fast start to today?s Preakness.
McPeek believes if the 11 other horses expend their energy at the start of the 1 3/16th-mile race, his 30-1 long shot has a chance to stun a national television audience watching on NBC this afternoon at 6:15 by upending favorite Big Brown with a late charge.
“Other than Big Brown, it looks like the race is wide open,” he said. “We all know that anything can happen. You can?t have any fear.”
Fear, however, is something not found in McPeek?s horses, including Sarava, who pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Triple Crown history when he won the 2002 Belmont Stakes at 70-1 odds.
But it would be an even bigger upset if Racecar Rhapsody was to beat 1-2 favorite Big Brown, who easily won the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago.
Another contender to trot into the winner?s circle is Hey Bryn, whose owner, Beatrice Oxenberg, celebrated her 87th birthday on Friday.
Hey Bryn is 20-1 to win, but has finished first in three of four races this season. The horse?s only loss, however, was a fourth-place finish behind Big Brown in the Florida Derby.
“He is the favorite and deserves to be the favorite, but favorites get beat,” said Edward Plesa Jr., who trains Hey Byrn. “We?re not here to run for second money, we?re here to win the race.”
Nick Zito, the trainer of Stevil, agrees.
“I hope we run a good race, get close and try to beat him in the next town,” he said. “To say anybody, on paper, can beat Big Brown is a hard stretch. However, they don?t run on paper. They run on dirt and they run here. We?ll see what happens.”
Zito has experienced success at Pimlico Race Course before, winning the 1996 Preakness with Louis Quatorze. Stevil, however, has had his share of struggles, failing to win his past six races.
But history doesn?t favor the colt coming away with the win. Since 1980, only five horses have won the Preakness after skipping the Kentucky Derby.
“He?s very consistent,” Zito said of Stevil. “He always runs a good race.”
Lexington Stakes winner Behindatthebar, trained by Todd Pletcher, pulled out of the race on Friday.
Big Brown is a 1-2 favorite and Gayego is 8-1, but the remaining 10 horses were all listed at odds of 15-1 or higher as of last night.
“I?d say realistically, everybody in the race, except for Big Brown, are all very equal and could run second or third,” said jockey Jeremy Rose, who won in 2005 with Afleet Alex and will ride Icabad Crane today. “I think Big Brown is the standout. But that?s why they run them. Maybe he doesn?t run his race. But on paper, I think we?re as good as everyone else in the race.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
