5/20 (PIM): Preakness 148: First Mission SCR

[cakes44]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

National Treasure is the west coast's answer to Verifying. A horse who early in his career had the look of an under-the-radar type that might blossom, but ultimately has no acceleration & has had umpteen chances to break out and has failed each and every time.

Having said that, considering the weakness of the race & the dearth of early pace, I think it's reasonable to land on this horse & presume he will head straight to the lead (especially having drawn the rail) to perhaps try to steal it.

However, just because the plan is to go to the lead doesn't mean he will accomplish it. The horse has never shown true front-running ability despite breaking well enough in all his starts. Even in his maiden sprint win he was actually outsprinted the first hundred yards before inheriting the lead.

In what seems to be an epidemic amongst HOF trainers, Baffert is slapping the blinkers on National Treasure for this. Makes sense in the face of the pace scenario, post position, & presumed tactical plan. However, Baffert tried blinkers on the horse previously in the BC Juvenile & the horse found himself further back than in his other previous races. To be fair, he did break from an outside post at Keeneland & eventually worked his way into a pressing position after about 5 furlongs.

Finally, this horse was a veterinary scratch from the San Felipe, thus he's missed a major Derby prep & obviously didn't get much of a break from whatever was ailing him so its hard to have faith that he's actually progressing at this point. Perhaps what he's shown so far is good enough if the favorite falters & Blazing Sevens fails to improve further from his ho-hum 3yo efforts.

Seems to have the requisite stamina but he's one-paced, usually loses position when the real running starts, and hasn't displayed much of a stretch punch in any of his races.

Sounds good vs these slugs…sign me up!

[Kasept]

[Kasept]

[Kasept]

Pimlico looks to highlight Black-Eyed Susan card; adds two-day betting options

Matt Hegarty | May 16, 2023

Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, has added eight pick five bets to its wagering menus for the Friday and Saturday cards this week, hoping to leverage the low-takeout bets into substantial handle gains for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes and Preakness cards.

Two of the new pick five bets will link races on the Friday card to races on the Saturday card, with both ending in the Preakness, which is scheduled as the 13th race on a 14-race card. Both also include the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.

The Black-Eyed Susan/Preakness all-stakes two-day pick five will consist of Friday's Hilltop Stakes (Race 11) and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (Race 13) and Saturday's Jim McKay Turf Sprint (Race 10), James W. Murphy Stakes (Race 12), and Preakness (Race 13).

The Black-Eyed Susan/Preakness all-dirt two-day pick five includes three races on Friday – an optional claimer (Race 8), the Pimlico Special (Race 12), and the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (Race 13) – and Saturday's Maryland Sprint Stakes (Race 11) and Preakness (Race 13).

Although hosting bets that link races over consecutive cards is new to Pimlico, Churchill Downs has used the strategy for its Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby cards for several years. A pick three linking the Oaks, the Old Forester Turf Classic, and the Derby had handle of $625,340 this year, and a pick 6 linking races on Friday and Saturday drew a total of $524,179.

Peter Rotondo, who consults for Pimlico’s parent company, 1/ST Racing, on wagering issues, said that the intent of adding the multi-day wagers was to draw attention to Friday’s card, which has several races with overflow fields. Pimlico will also offer a double for the Black-Eyed Susan-Preakness.

“We feel the Black-Eyed Susan day card has a lot of full fields, a lot of competitive races, and we want people to focus on it,” Rotondo said. "There’s real growth there to be had.”

All the pick five bets will have a 12 percent takeout, which is standard for pick five bets at Pimlico and its sister track, Laurel. The minimum will be 50 cents.

“Obviously, that’s the big selling point,” Rotondo said.

The last pick five on the Friday card can carryover if no one selects all five winners. The carryover would apply to the last pick five on the Saturday card, which also will not have a mandatory payout.

“With the fields we have on Friday, there’s a real chance of that pick five having a carryover,” Rotondo said.

The addition of the bets comes after Pimlico hosted its first-ever Preakness Future Bet earlier this year. The pool, which had 28 individual entries and an “all others” option, closed one hour prior to the running of the Derby after drawing $304,326 in bets. Mage, the winner of the Derby, closed at 22-1. Mage is even-money on the morning line set by Daily Racing Form handicapper David Aragona.