Can trainer Bob Baffert do it again? Baffert trained American Pharoah in 2015 and that horse ended a long drought by winning the Triple Crown. Baffert will bring Justify to the 2018 Preakness on Saturday, May 19 after the horse won the Kentucky Derby in dominating fashion. Justify is expected to go off as the odds-on favorite to win the Preakness, but the horse is still not favored to win the Triple Crown.
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Will Justify Win the 2018 Triple Crown?
Yes +200
No -280
Winning the Triple Crown is definitely not easy, as only 12 horses in history have accomplished the feat. The only horse since 1978 to win the Triple Crown was American Pharoah in 2015. Baffert has had plenty of chances to win the Triple Crown, but only once did his horse deliver. The interesting part is that all four of his previous Kentucky Derby winning horses also went on to win the Preakness. Those horses were Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet in 1998, War Emblem in 2002 and American Pharoah in 2015. The only horse of those four to go on and win the Belmont was American Pharoah. Baffert has had six horses win the Preakness, as in addition to the previous four, he also won with Point Given in 2001 and Lookin At Lucky in 2010.
Justify is now unbeaten, winning all four of his races. He became the first horse unraced at two-years old to win the Kentucky Derby since Apollo in 1882. Justify is ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith who won the 1993 Preakness aboard Prairie Bayou.
The 143rd Preakness Stakes will take place on Saturday, May 19 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.
Preakness Contenders
One of the horses expected to challenge Justify in the Preakness could be Good Magic who finished second behind Justify in the Kentucky Derby. Good Magic simply didn’t have enough to run down Justify at Churchill Downs. Trainer Chad Brown was unsure if he would send Good Magic in the Preakness. “I want him back in New York and that gives me time to decide what's next,” Brown said. Regardless of whether or not Good Magic runs in the Preakness, he is not expected to run in the Belmont.
The third place finisher in the Derby was Audible for trainer Todd Pletcher. It was not a great trip for Audible in the Derby and the horse still finished third. Pletcher said after the Derby that if his horse had gotten a good trip he would have been right with Justify for the win.
One of the new shooters for the Preakness will be Quip who finished second to Magnum Moon in the Arkansas Derby. Quip has three wins in five career starts. Quip is trained by Rodolphe Brisset who was an assistant for Bill Mott. Quip had enough points to qualify for the Derby but the connections for the horse decided to point the horse to the Preakness. "Some people may have thought I was foolish to pass on the Derby, but we've got to do the right thing by the horse, and he wasn't showing us any sign he wanted to run in three weeks," Brisset said. "I think the Preakness is, of the three (Triple Crown races), maybe the one race that fits him the best. Hopefully, we did the right thing," he added. "We should have one more work, and if everything goes right, we will ship there and see what happens."
Another horse that didn’t race in the Kentucky Derby but is expected to go in the Preakness is Diamond King who won the Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel on April 21.
Triple Crown Winners
2015— American Pharoah
1978—Affirmed
1977—Seattle Slew
1973—Secretariat
1948—Citation
1946—Assault
1943—Count Fleet
1941—Whirlaway
1937—War Admiral
1935—Omaha
1930—Gallant Fox
1919—Sir Barton
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