This yr’s Preakness Stakes have been past dramatic and emotional. Shortly after 4 horses died on the Kentucky Derby, one other one was euthanized at Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The horse who died was owned by Bob Baffert, a Corridor of Fame coach, who simply acquired again after the suspension. One other one in every of his horses received the championship.
Dramatic course of occasions:
Baffert was very emotional whereas commenting on the win of his horse. Nearly in tears, he stated: “This enterprise is twists and turns, ups and downs. To win this — dropping that horse as we speak actually harm. … It’s been a really emotional day.”
In the course of the race, Havnameltdown, who was solely three years previous, badly injured his left entrance leg, which led to euthanasia. He was run by the jockey Luis Saez, who was unseated. He went to the hospital however was acutely aware, and X-rays have been unfavourable.
On the identical time, one other one in every of Baffert’s horses, Nationwide Treasure, received the championship, being higher than the Kentucky Derby champion Mage, who completed third. This put the well-known coach again on monitor within the Triple Crown path. The horse’s joker was John Velasquez, who participated within the championship 13 instances, but it surely was his first win.
The winner of this championship didn’t run at Churchill Downs, the place the Kentucky Derby was held, as a result of his coach, Baffert, had been suspended for 2 years. The suspension happened due to the Derby 2021, the place the winner Medina Spirit discovered constructive on the drug take a look at. It disqualified the horse and led to the suspension of the coach.
That is the eighth victory for Baffert within the Preakness, and seventeenth in a Triple Crown race, changing into essentially the most awarded coach presently.
The viewers is nervous about latest horse racing deaths and requires extra work with a purpose to forestall these accidents from occurring. The federal Horseracing Integrity and Security Authority will implement new treatment and doping guidelines on Monday, which is able to assist in establishing the protection requirements, in addition to be a major step in the direction of establishing the identical laws on this sport throughout the entire nation.
Betting drop:
In the meantime, the betting on Preakness Stakes dropped 16.4% in comparison with the earlier years. The brief subject impacted the entire swimming pools since solely seven runners participated within the occasion. Final yr, there have been 9 of them. On the identical time, the quantity of wagering on different championships elevated.
It’s particularly regarding that the betting in the exacta pool recorded a lower of 12.7%, whereas straight swimming pools dropped 4.7%. The trifecta pool was down 20%, the superfecta pool 36.7%, whereas tremendous HI-5 dropped 27%.
The full betting was $54.6 million, and in 2022 it was $65.29 million. It’s a fair larger lower in comparison with 2021, when the document betting was recorded: $68.69 million.
