BALTIMORE – Fusaichi Pegasus, the $4 million supercolt whose smashing victory in the Kentucky Derby stamped him a strong threat to sweep the Triple Crown, will break from post 7 in a field of eight 3-year-olds for Saturday’s 125th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.
The son of Mr. Prospector was installed the 3-5 morning-line favorite for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness (ABC, 4:30-6 p.m.) but his price figures to drop even lower by post time (5:27).
Fusaichi Pegasus, who became the first favorite to win the Derby since 1979, now has another jinx to overcome. Only three favorites have won the Preakness in the last 12 years, and the last three odds-on choices – Linkage, Swale and Easy Goer – all lost.
Red Bullet, who skipped the Derby to await the Preakness, is given the best chance of upsetting the Winged Wonder. He’s 9-2 breaking from post 4 under new rider Jerry Bailey.
Longshot Snuck In and rank outsider Hugh Hefner, who’ll race with pajamas off, are the other two new shooters in the field. The other four Preakness horses – Impeachment, Captain Steve, High Yield and Hal’s Hope – were soundly trounced by Fusaichi Pegasus in the Derby.
“I feel like I’m bringing a knife to a gunfight,” said Captain Steve’s trainer, Bob Baffert.
The post draw was anticlimactic – “With a quarter-mile run to the first turn and eight horses, what difference does it make where you start?” noted the favorite’s trainer, Neil Drysdale – especially after the early-afternoon media circus that surrounded Fusaichi Pegasus’s arrival on the Pimlico backstretch.
More than 80 reporters and cameramen were on hand to greet the van carrying him from the airport after he flew in from Louisville. A crush developed as the van pulled up to unload the colt directly into his barn, with everyone swarming to get a peek.
When asked if he’d seen anything like it, a flustered Pimlico president Joe De Francis, whose family has owned the track since 1986, said, “Never.”
“I have no point of reference. This is the most celebrated horse to come to the Preakness in 20 years, and there’s a lot of pressure for everybody.”
Drysdale, ever the cool customer, remarked, “The Triple Crown has a lot of focus on it, and it’s very encouraging to see the press does make a big deal of it.”
The Preakness, with a shorter distance than the 11/4-mile Derby and a much smaller field, presents interesting tactical questions. Fusaichi Pegasus won the Derby coming from far back under a perfect, rail-hugging ride by jockey Kent Desormeaux. It’s unlikely he’ll follow that same game plan Saturday.
Although there’s plenty of speed in this Preakness – Hal’s Hope, High Yield, Hugh Hefner and Snuck In all have early lick – the early pace should be slower than it was in the Derby.
Two weeks ago, over a speed-favoring surface at Churchill Downs, Hal’s Hope, pressured by Trippi, set some of the fastest fractions (:22.2, :45.4, 1:09.4) in Derby history.
As a result, most of the horses that were close to the early pace – Hal’s Hope, Trippi, Graeme Hall, High Yield, Captain Steve – ran out of gas by the time they hit the stretch and finished up the track.
Hal’s Hope’s jockey, Roger Velez, sees a different scenario playing out Saturday.
“I knew we were going fast in the Derby, but there was nothing I could do about it,” he said. “You have a horse [pressing the pace], Trippi, that’s a sprinter.
“But one thing about ‘Hal,’ he’s so kind. If you want to take him back, he will.
“I was impressed with the way the winner went by those horses in the Derby, then just put his ears up,” Velez said. “He covers a lot of ground.
“But these are all good horses. Any horse can beat any other horse on any given day. If there’s a change in tactics, things may be different. If instead of 1:09, I go in 1:12, then [Fusaichi Pegasus] has got to go his last quarter in :22 to catch us.”
Red Bullet, second to Fusaichi Pegasus in the Wood Memorial after pressing the early pace, figures to be farther back this go-round. Trainer Joe Orseno said he’d like to be five to seven lengths back in the early going, then take the lead turning for home.
“If we’re in front [of Fusaichi Pegasus], with our late kick we’ll make him earn it,” Orseno said.