AP Sports Writer (AP) — Hall of Fame trainers Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas saw their horses endure some troubled trips Saturday in the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes.
Baffert’s Goal Oriented finished fourth after bumping with winner Journalism down the stretch. A stewards inquiry was briefly posted to take a look at the contact, and then it was removed with no changes.
American Promise was eighth in a field of nine after going through similar struggles two weeks earlier in the Kentucky Derby led to finishing 16th.
Baffert and Lukas, who have combined to win the second leg of the Triple Crown, each lamented not getting what they hoped for from their colts in the Preakness.
“He didn’t get to run his race,” Baffert said. “I wanted to see him on the lead, Maybe he would have stopped, I don’t know. He is lightly raced. He ran well, but he is still green. He was not used to being behind horses and he got intimidated.”
American Promise’s jockey, Maryland native Nik Juarez, said the horse “just didn’t have it.”
“When he got bumped and roughed up a little bit, he kind of threw his head and quit on us,” Lukas said. “I didn’t like the way he responded. … I just think that attitude-wise, we’ve got to change it a little bit.”
Gosger surprises
Irish trainer Brendan Walsh’s Gosger went off at odds of 15-1, third-longest in the Preakness. He also was poised to pulled a big upset if not for Journalism’s remarkable run from the middle of the pack to the finish line.
“I thought we were home when he opened up,” Walsh said. “I’m disappointed not to win it, but I’m not disappointed in the horse. He ran a great race. He is an improving horse and he will improve off this.”
Jockey Luis Saez said they “had no excuses” and hopes Gosger will learn from the experience.
“Luis said at the end he just got a little bit lackadaisical, and he was out on his own maybe a little too long and the other horse came by and flew by him,” Walsh said. “Maybe we will get our turn the next time.”
Malcolm celebrates the ‘Middle’
NBC Sports’ leadup to the race included an introduction from actor Frankie Muniz, known for his childhood role on the show “Malcolm in the Middle.” Muniz espoused the virtues of the Preakness as the middle jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown, which for the fifth time in seven years went off without a shot at a Triple Crown for various reasons.
“People don’t talk about the middle enough,” Muniz said, bringing up middle seats on planes, the middle ages and how nobody wants to peak in middle school. “When you’re in the middle, you’ve got to fight for attention.”
The attention was on Pimlico Race Course, hosting the Preakness for a final time before the structure that opened in 1870 is demolished and rebuilt.
“Beginnings and endings get all the credit, but life happens in the middle on a journey from here to there,” Muniz said. “That’s where you prove what you’re really made of. On a day like today, at this ancient racetrack all dressed up one more time, there’s absolutely no place better to be than the middle.”
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