On Saturday at Del Mar, the top West Coast fillies and mares will face off in the 44th running of the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch. The mile and a sixteenth race offers a purse of $300,000 and has attracted a field of seven.
The morning line favorite at 2-1 is Iotapa, fresh off of a 10 ¼ length triumph in the Vanity (G1) at Santa Anita. One of three horses in the race trained by John Sadler, the four-year-old daughter of Afleet Alex will have Joe Talamo in the irons as she goes for her sixth career victory. She has been first or second in four of her five starts this year with the lone blemish coming at Churchill Downs in her only career outing outside of California.
Second choice at 3-1 is Fiftyshadesofhay who will break from the inside post under jockey Martin Garcia. The four-year-old daughter of Pulpit is trained by Bob Baffert and will carry the red and yellow silks of co-owner Michael Pegram. With five career victories from seventeen starts, the bay filly will try to improve off of a third-place finish in the Fleur de Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs in her last start.
Jerry Hollendorfer will saddle three horses in the race with Broken Sword topping his arsenal at 4-1. Rafael Bejarano is scheduled to ride the four-year-old daughter of Broken Vow and the pair will break from post position three. The lightly-raced filly has won three of her nine starts with two of those wins coming of synthetic surfaces. She was fifth as the favorite in the La Canada (G2) in her most recent start at Santa Anita.
The 2023 Preakness Stakes is coming up Saturday, May 20 at Pimlico! It is one of the most eagerly-awaited events of the racing year, and this is the place to […]
The Preakness Stakes is coming up on Saturday, May 15, 2021. The second jewel of the American Triple Crown drew a field of 10 top three-year-olds. Find out the top contenders in the race, and learn the best places to place your bets!
After all the drama of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, the racing scene shifts to Pimlico Race Course in anticipation of the running of the 2019 Preakness Stakes. A couple of the high-profile contenders from the Derby are expected in the field, as well as a number of new shooters that add to the handicapping puzzle and could provide good betting value.
The field has been established for the 2016 running of the Belmont Stakes and of the thirteen contenders, there are four horses who competed in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and are moving on to the third jewel of the Triple Crown.
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