Bernardini Is Preakness Winner - No Triple Crown Yet Again

Undefeated and heavy favorite horse, Barbaro, was pulled out of the race after suffering injury. His absence allowed Bernardini to take the 132nd Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on Saturday.

After his Preakness win, the colt is not definitely set for the Belmont Stakes in three weeks, but trainer Tom Albertrani expects a decision in a few days.

Albertrani, has another Belmont starter in Deputy Glitters, who finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby and skipped the Preakness.

Bernardini was the surprise winner of the Preakness, beating Sweetnorthernsaint by 5 1/4 lengths, the race overshadowed by the serious injury at the start to Barbaro. The Derby winner broke three bones in his right rear leg and was in surgery Sunday fighting for his life.

Barbaro sustained “life-threatening injuries” after breaking bones above and below his right rear ankle at the start of the Preakness Stakes.

Late Sunday afternoon, surgeons announced that Barbaro’s over seven-hour surgery was completed, and the classic winner is in the intensive care unit at the New Bolton Center and standing.

2006 Preakness Stakes, Preakness Odds, Preakness Picks, Preakness Tips, Preakness Results, Preakness Winners

Unbeaten horse and Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was made an even-money favorite for Saturday’s 2006 Preakness Stakes after drawing post no. 6 in the nine-horse field.

The $1 million-purse race at Pimlico is the second jewel in Triple Crown, which began with Barbaro’s 6 1/2-length triumph at Churchill Downs and concludes with next month’s Belmont Stakes in New York on June 10.

No horse has swept the treble since Affirmed in 1978 but Barbaro, set to make his seventh career start, could become the fourth horse in five years to reach Belmont with a chance at the Triple Crown.

Brother Derek, in a dead heat for fourth at the Derby, is the second choice among oddsmakers at 3-1 with Sweetnorthernsaint, seventh as the Derby favorite, at 4-1 and starting just outside Barbaro. Bernadini is next at 8-1.

Like Now is at 12-1 with Greeley’s Legacy at 20-1 and both Diabolical and Hemingway’s Key, a horse owned by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and trained by Hall of Famer Nick Zito, at 30-1. Platinum Couple is the longshot at 50-1.

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Derby Winners Also Triumphs in the Preakness

By GREG MELIKOV
Six Kentucky Derby winners in the past nine years have captured the Preakness, four by 1 ½ lengths or more.

That’s a good omen for Barbaro, who crushed the opposition winning the 132nd Kentucky Derby while ending a 50-year losing streak by 3-year-olds resting five weeks or longer after their final prep.

Needles was off six weeks before his triumph at Churchill Downs in 1956. Both had won the Florida Derby. However, Needles was edged by Fabius in the Preakness.

Barbaro likely will face 14 fewer horses than he defeated at Louisville when he won by 6 ½ lengths, the largest margin since 1946 when Triple Crown champ Assault scored by eight lengths at the 1 ½ miles.

Only two Derby also-rans will try him in the 131 st Preakness: Brother Derek, who rallied from 10th after a mile to dead-heat for fourth with Jazil, and Sweetnorthernsaint, who pressed the pace in third until the stretch when he tired
and finished seventh

The Preakness has had fewer than 10 starters just once in the last 15 years when eight ran in 2000. Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus, who scared away all by seven challengers, was upset at 1-5 by Red Bullet, who skipped America’s Race.

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Lawyer Ron To Skip 2006 Preakness

Lawyer Ron will after all skip the 2006 Preakness Stakes race at Pimlico on May 20 because of a slight ankle injury.

“Looks like we probably aren’t going to come,” trainer Bob Holthus said Tuesday from Churchill Downs, where Lawyer Ron finished a disappointing 12th in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.

“We looked at the X-rays and saw some inflammation in the right hind ankle. Unless something good happens before Saturday, it doesn’t look favorable.”

On Thursday Matz officially announced that the colt will not run in Preakness to undergo ankle surgery.

That’s one less opponent undefeated Barbaro has to deal with in the 1 3/16th-mile Preakness, the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown.

Lawyer Ron came into the Derby with a six-race winning streak, including a victory in the Arkansas Derby. A majority interest in the colt was sold for an undisclosed price two days before the Derby.

Meanwhile, Barbaro was back home at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md. The Derby winner returned to the center Monday after a 12-hour van ride from Louisville.

On Tuesday, the colt was hand-walked for about 30 minutes and then grazed for another half hour. “He’s doing very good right now,” Matz said. “He shipped very well from Churchill. Our plans are to take him and jog him (Wednesday).”

A small field of about seven or eight 3-year-olds seems to be shaping up for the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown race.

Odds To Win Preakness @ All HorseRacing

The world will be watching to whether Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro will be able to continue his undefeated streak at 6PM EDT on NBC — but they will be making their Preakness Stakes bets online at All Horse Racing.

To celebrate the 131st Preakness Stakes, All Horse Racing is offering a free bet on the Preakness as well as a free bet on the third jewel of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes.

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2006 Preakness Stakes Runs May 20 at Pimlico

It's the 131st running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.

Preakness is the second leg of the prestigious Triple Crown Race for top 3-year-old thoroughbreds in America. After the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, horse racing handicappers, bettors, and fans turn their attention to the Preakness. This race is the indicator on whether there will be a Triple Crown nominee to root for at Belmont in June.

Get complete Preakness Stakes horse racing picks & betting tips, odds to win the Preakness and the Triple Crown, preakness tickets, preakness results, news on top contenders, jockeys, and trainers. Most importantly, get FREE handicapping news and updates from racing experts, plus best betting options from top online racebooks on the Internet.

Pimlico Race Course

Home of the prestigious $1 million Preakness Stakes, the race that determines whether the Kentucky Derby winner will have a chance to grab the Triple Crown. Preakness Stakes has a rich history, it was first run two years before the Derby, in 1873, and was named after the horse who won the 1870 Dinner Party Stakes, Preakness.

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