Kentucky Derby

Horse racing fans talk about their sport not having a Triple Crown winner in nearly 35 years much the way baseball fans lament the fact that their favorite game has gone more than twice as long without a .400 hitter. Undoubtedly, in the days leading up to the 138th Preakness at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, there will plenty of discussion about Orb's chances to repeat what he did at the Kentucky Derby and, if victorious in Baltimore, what he might do next month in New York at the Belmont Stakes.

LOUISVILLE, KY. - This year, Doug O'Neill and his assistants sat in the office at a barn in the far corner of the Churchill Downs backside. Few reporters dropped by, and O'Neill was not asked repeatedly to relive the running of the Kentucky Derby a day before. Last year's winning trainer, with I'll Have Another, O'Neill instead convened with his robust team to discuss plans for the 138th Preakness Stakes, scheduled for May 18 at Pimlico. Their Derby horse, Goldencents, finished 17th.

It's (mostly) official: Govenor Charlie will run in the Preakness. Maybe. Trainer Bob Baffert told Pimlico officials Tuesday morning that he planned to run the colt, listed as “possible” since skipping the Kentucky Derby. But later in the afternoon he tweeted that the colt wouldn't be confirmed for a Preakness run until he boarded a plane from Louisville on Wednesday. The addition of the Baffert trainee would bring the field to nine and the number of new challengers for Orb to three.

Stuart Janney III, the co-owner of even-money Preakness favorite Orb, arrived at Pimlico Race Course on Thursday morning to watch the colt once again have an easy trip around the track and then go through his morning routine. Janney, the chairman of the Bessemer Trust, traveled earlier in the week and came back to Baltimore from New York, where the company is headquartered, last night. He said he's pleased with how Orb has progressed after winning the Kentucky Derby, and has warm memories of spending mornings during Preakness week at the track 20 minutes from his Butler home.

When his first Kentucky Derby horse, Orb, was named the favorite Wednesday, Stuart S. Janney the III was not there to raise his hands triumphantly for the cameras. He won't be in Louisville at all in the days leading to the race. A short phone call with his trainer each day is all the northern Baltimore County resident requires. The rest, he'd rather avoid. "There's a lot of silliness that happens this week," he said Monday. "And I've got paperwork to catch up on. " Janney is instead in New York, where he spends much of his time at the 5th Avenue headquarters of the Bessemer Trust, the wealth management firm of which he is the chairman.

Among the concerns for jockeys at the Preakness today is the weather. Shortly before rain began to fall minutes ago, jockeys were watching the skies. Some know all too well that their horses don't respond to sloppy tracks, and they were holding out hope that the rain stayed away from Pimlico Race Cource. “I hope it stays like this [without rain] and I hope he likes the track.” said John Velazquez, who is riding Itsmyluckyday. “[Itsmyluckyday] is another horse that didn't run very good in the slop at Churchill Downs.” Itsmyluckyday finished 15th at The Kentucky Derby with Elvis Trujilloaboard.

The day after riding in the Kentucky Derby, Kevin Krigger packed his family and gear and headed for Pimlico Race Course - by way of Cincinnati. A woman there had captured his heart. She was Liliane Casey, 88, whose father, Jimmy Winkfield, was the last black jockey to win the Derby, or any Triple Crown race, in 1902. "I had to meet her," said Krigger, 29, who chatted with Casey in the living room of her apartment for nearly 2 1/2 hours. "We had a great time. She educated me as to what her father had gone through in racing.

A few low, indecipherable noises escaped from the table where Shug McGaughey, trainer of even-money Preakness favorite Orb, sat during the post-position draw Wednesday. The horse had drawn the dreaded No. 1 gate, meaning eight horses will be closing him in as they race toward the shortest path to the first turn. McGaughey, though, was not among those who thought this meant anything significant. “Some people groaned,” he said. “I didn't groan.” McGaughey acknowledged a preference to start on the outside of the field - where both the jockey and horse can watch the field open up - but said he thought drawing the rail simply didn't matter in a nine-horse field running over a mile and three-sixteenths.

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.