No love for the Preakness?

[parsixfarms]

I realize that the Derby is our most "famous" horse race on an annual basis, and Derby fever can be contagious. However, is it me, or does it seem odd that so many stables are running all of their horses in the Derby and not saving any "bullets" for the second American Classic? For example, WinStar looks poised to run Rule, Super Saver, American Lion (all with similar running styles) and Endorsement in the Derby, and you get the sense that if they could have gotten Drosselmeyer into the starting gate, they would have run him as well. Despite already having a Derby starter, Ramsey is going to run Pleasant Prince for the third time in five weeks to get that horse "qualified" for the Derby. And Zito/Lapenta are looking to run Jackson Bend in the Derby even though they already have Ice Box in the race, and the Preakness would seem to be a better fit for their hard-trying Wood runner-up.

I'm not saying that some of the horses noted above would be more likely to win the Preakness, but you'd think these owners with expensive, far-flung operations would want to have chances in both races instead of going all out to win only one of them. Is this simply a reflection of the reality that few people remember who won the Preakness (as opposed to the Derby), or the true impact of the Giacomo/Mine That Bird effect - that there are only so many "tickets" to the Derby and you have to go it if you get one? And with trainers wanting more time between starts, the days of Derby rematches in the Preakness seem to be a thing of the past.