Keeneland

LAUREL -- Look for a big chestnut horse with a white blaze to lead the field into the first turn on Saturday in the 41st running of the Budweiser International.His name is Zoman.He could be the best hope for a victory by a British-based runner in the $750,000 Grade I race since Karabas' success in 1969."He plays catch-me-if-you-can. If he comes away [from the gate] running on Saturday, then he has a good chance," said his English lad, Robert Latham, looking a bit bleary-eyed yesterday after a trans-Atlantic flight from London.

George Mohr says up front that if you weren't there and didn't live through it, then you won't understand: Forty thousand people crammed into Pimlico on a Tuesday for a race between two horses, with millions more listening on radio as one horse raced into legend. When Seabiscuit defeated War Admiral in a match race Nov. 1, 1938, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, the country was emerging from the Depression but heading into world war. Americans placed their hearts and hopes squarely on the nose of a horse with a rags-to-riches story befitting the time.

As Orb charged to the wire at Churchill Downs last weekend, he established his clear superiority to the other 18 thoroughbreds on horse racing's biggest stage, the Kentucky Derby. But compared to Derby champions of the past, Orb's time is less impressive - his 2:02.89 run doesn't rank among the top 10 in the race's history. It is slower than the times of many winners from the 1950s and 1960s, and well behind Secretariat's 1973 record. Blame the muddy track? Fair enough, but none of the past decade's Derby winners recorded a top 10 time either.

She had a cool name and a hot jockey, but Fiftyshadesofhay didn't look like she had much of a chance for most of Friday's 89th Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course . Riding the 3-year-old filly for the first time, Joel Rosario also gave the horse a new reputation for being able to win coming from behind. Running near the back of the six-horse back for most of the one and an eighth-mile race, the Bob Baffert-trained horse chased down Marathon Lady to win by a neck in 1:53.73.

The top local entrant for Friday's 89th running of the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico took one wrong step on Thursday and had to be scratched. Walkwithapurpose, a Maryland-bred owned by Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, was expected to be one of the top contenders in the $500,000 Grade II race run at a mile and one-eighth for 3-year-old-fillies. Thursday afternoon, however, the Sagamore Farm filly had to drop out of the race after bruising her foot earlier in the day during her final gallop on the track at Pimlico in preparation for Friday's race.

Here are our picks for what horses to bet in the 2011 Preakness Stakes: Race 1 10:45 a.m. Analysis: Expect Boreal Forest to set the early fractions, as he has in his previous starts. He will have less competition on the lead than in previous efforts. As a result, he could carry his speed a long way. He is tested at this level, so the class is no problem. Issues and Answers comes in off just a maiden win, but he did win at a good level and should compete well here.

Real Quiet, who shocked many horsemen during his life as he moved his skinny, imperfect body from the starting gate into the winner's circle in five Grade I races, including the 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, shocked the horse world again Monday when he died after a fall. Real Quiet, 15, was in his paddock at Penn Ridge Farms near Harrisburg, Pa., when he somehow fell on his left shoulder. A necropsy at New Bolton showed he fell so hard that he drove his shoulder into his neck, fracturing five cervical vertebrae, according to Mike Jester, owner of Penn Ridge Farm and majority shareholder and manager of the syndicate that owned the stallion.

Colleges No. 1 Terps men lose in soccer at Clemson, 2-1 The No. 1 Maryland men's soccer team (13-2-2, 4-2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), sporting a makeshift backline, fell, 2-1, at Clemson (6-8-1, 3-4 ACC) on a cold, rainy Friday night. John Stertzer scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season for the Terps , who played a man up for the majority of the match after a red card was issued to the Tigers' Jack Metcalf in the 23rd minute. Stertzer's header flicked over goalkeeper Cody Mizell from 8 yards after a free kick from Taylor Kemp in the 36th minute.

On a cool morning at Laurel Park, Promenade Girl's narrow brown face appears over the stall door. She must know timing is everything. It is just then that her trainer, Larry Murray, happens by with a handful of peppermints. The 4-year-old daughter of Carson City eagerly dips her nose into Murray's hand for the treats, and the trainer rubs her forehead with his free hand. These two became a successful team over the summer, as Murray has turned the filly into a winning interstate traveler.

Ben Perkins said he has no plans for his talented filly Stormy Pick, which is unusual for a trainer speaking in the winner's circle following a $100,000 stakes race. But Perkins is in an unusual position. Yesterday's $100,000 Stormy Blues Handicap for 3-year-old fillies at Pimlico may have been the final race for his productive daughter of Storm Creek. The filly is being sent to a Keeneland sale next month, where owner Raymond Dweck figues to fetch a bit more than the $130,000 he paid for Stormy Pick as a yearling in Florida two years ago. "It's part of the business," he said.