Race

With nearly every eye at Pimlico fixated on either the uncatchable leader, Oxbow, or the Kentucky Derby winner and heavy betting favorite, Orb, Itsmyluckyday cruised under the radar to earn a little bit of redemption in Saturday's Preakness. After failing to challenge Orb on the muddy track at Churchill Downs two weeks ago and finishing near the back of the pack, Itsmyluckyday finished in second place in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. "We did run our race, but we just weren't lucky enough to win," trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. said.

Rosie Napravnik will get another shot at history in the Belmont Stakes - just aboard a different horse than in her previous two Triple Crown races. On Thursday, trainer Bob Baffert announced that Napravnik will mount Code West in the Belmont Stakes on June 8 after connections to Mylute decided Wednesday to pull the horse out of the race. Napravnik rode Mylute in the first two jewels of the Triple Crown, finishing fifth in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Preakness. She also rode Code West to victory in the race after the Preakness, finishing comfortably in front of the pack.

May. 18, Post Time: 10:45AM Entries and comments provided by the Maryland Jockey Club First - Purse $55,000, AOC $25,000-$20,000, 3 yo's & up, One And One Sixteenth Miles Post, Horse, Jockey, Trainer, Odds 1 Aussi Austin, Rosario, R.Rodriguez, 3-1 2 Bob's Gone Wild, Vargas, J.Lopez, 20-1 3 Jarrod's Commando, Karamanos, C.Garcia, 10-1 4 Warrensburg, Boyce, D.Barr, 20-1 5 Benny Or Local, Cruise, D.Kobiskie,...

For as long as Ryan Hunter-Reay can remember, the Indianapolis 500 was a huge deal. As a small child growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Hunter-Reay used to plop down a plastic race track and line up his miniature race cars in front of the television set on the Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend. For the next few hours, he was mesmerized. "My dad was a gearhead - he loved cars. I grew up loving cars as well," Hunter-Reay recalled Monday. "He took me to a few races as a fan, and that's where it started.

Bob Baffert strode into the Preakness stakes barn Friday morning, shouting toward Orb's trainer Shug McGaughey loud enough so all could hear. "OK, Shug, I'm here to take away that media spotlight for you," he said. Baffert, indeed, is one of the few people in the sport who could have swiped some of the attention from McGaughey and his heavily favored colt this week . Baffert has won the Preakness five times, and on three occasions he's moved on to Belmont with a chance at the Triple Crown.

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.

If the Black Eyed Susan were a race horse, it would be a sprinter. It makes one strong move, then fades quickly. The strong move occurs this weekend when the cocktail will be in demand at Pamlico Race Track, during both the running of the Black Eyed Susan Stakes on Friday and the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. Over these two days, about 25,000 servings of the libation, poured into commemorative glasses, will be sold at $8 apiece, track officials say. But as soon as Preakness weekend ends, so does the does the local thirst for the Susan.

Rosie Napravnik will get another shot at history in the Belmont Stakes - just aboard a different horse than in her previous two Triple Crown races. On Thursday, trainer Bob Baffert announced that Napravnik will mount Code West in the Belmont Stakes on June 8 after connections to Mylute decided Wednesday to pull the horse out of the race. Napravnik rode Mylute in the first two jewels of the Triple Crown, finishing fifth in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Preakness. She also rode Code West to victory in the race after the Preakness, finishing comfortably in front of the pack.

(NOTE: To download Liam's full cheat sheet for all of Saturday's races, click here . Following is his analysis on the Preakness Stakes.)   There are always lots of hard luck stories in the Kentucky Derby, and some of those hard luck horses come to the Preakness looking to set the record straight. Several of those guys are here to take on Orb. And a handful more Derby grumblers are skipping the Preakness to set their sights on the Belmont. However, recent history shows that the Derby winner tends to back up the Derby win and beat most if not all of those Derby finishers again.

Race 1: Jockey Joel Rosario rode Aussi Austin to victory in the first of 13 races on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course . Bake Shop took second and Pretension finished third in the 1 1/16-mile dirt race. The winner finished in 1:45.23. Bake Shop and Pretension held with Aussi Austin, but Pretension weakened late. Aussi Austin paid $5.40 to win while Bake Shop paid $6.60 to place. Race 2, Deputed Testamony Starter Handicap: Hello Lover, the race's heavy 3-5 post-time favorite, surged past the leaders to win. No Brakes finished second while Who Dat Boy, ridden by Rosie Napravnik, took third.

The audience for NBC's coverage of the Preakness was up by as much as 24 percent during the afternoon, according to overnight Nielsen data provided by the network. The audience for the block of time that includes the race (5:45 p.m.-6:45 p.m. ET) was 9% up from 2012 with a 6.0 ratings versus 5.5 last year. Pre-race on NBC (5 p.m.-5:45 p.m. ET) was up 24% from 2012. That's a 3.6 ratings versus 2.9, and that's the largest audience since 2009. Not surpisingly, Baltimore was the top market with the telecast drawing a 15.7 rating and a 32 share.

The Preakness forecast remains a tough call with varying chances of rain predicted. Weather is a major factor every year. From the May 12, 1940, edition of The Baltimore Sun: "Weather man had a tough time making up his mind. Sunshine and gayety until the first race. Everybody talking about first decent Preakness day in three years. ... Sun disappeared, cool wind blew, fancy parasols topping tables on Clubhouse lawn being took off like kites, after second race. ... Sun out again for third race.

Robert Vigorito knew he had changed some lives over the years since he helped start the Columbia Triathlon in 1984. He transformed an inaugural event that attracted fewer than 100 competitors into one of the top triathlons in the country with as many as 2,500 coming to Centennial Park each spring since 1988. It wasn't surprising, considering that Vigorito knew how competing in triathlons had changed his own life. Vigorito, whose friends growing up in East Haven, Conn., called him "Pig Iron" because he was usually among the slowest in whatever sport they were playing, went from not knowing what a triathlon was to competing in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii six times.

John Velazquez's run of misfortune began when he broke a rib and his right wrist during a tumble at Aqueduct Racetrack in April. When the 41-year-old jockey returned for the Kentucky Derby, it was not aboard the victorious Orb - the horse he had ridden to victories at the Florida Derby and Fountain of Youth Stakes - but rather on Verrazano, which finished 14th. Velazquez was trying to reverse his hard luck Saturday when he rode Itsmyluckyday in the Preakness Stakes. And he nearly did. After winning two preliminary races Saturday, Velasquez and his horse had a solid showing in the Preakness, finishing second to Oxbow.

It's not always in the Preakness Stakes, but every year, John Carroll graduate Nicole Stall urges her husband, trainer Al Stall Jr., to find a race for one of his horses on the third Saturday in May. This year, Departing gave Al Stall his second Preakness mount, finishing sixth in the nine-horse race while his wife and her family were treated to another memorable Preakness Day. “I used to always come growing up, and we try and run horses on...

For all of his laser focus on Saturday's Preakness, Claude "Shug" McGaughey couldn't help but dream ahead to the possibility of his colt, Orb, going for a Triple Crown at his home track of Belmont Park in New York. "I wouldn't be telling you the truth if I said I didn't think down the line a bit," McGaughey said. "I thought that if we could get it done today, going back to Belmont, we'd be comfortable there and we'd probably really have a big chance. " For McGaughey and Orb, the story ended the way it has for every other Triple Crown aspirant since 1978 - in defeat.

For as long as Ryan Hunter-Reay can remember, the Indianapolis 500 was a huge deal. As a small child growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Hunter-Reay used to plop down a plastic race track and line up his miniature race cars in front of the television set on the Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend. For the next few hours, he was mesmerized. "My dad was a gearhead - he loved cars. I grew up loving cars as well," Hunter-Reay recalled Monday. "He took me to a few races as a fan, and that's where it started.

Taking refuge in Harborplace's Light Street Pavilion from a sudden downpour yesterday evening, Mayor Martin O'Malley and others officially welcomed the Volvo Ocean Race to Baltimore. A three-piece band led a procession of the eight racing teams around the pavilion's food court before race officials, businessmen and local dignitaries took to the podium before a crowd of onlookers to thank those who had brought the international sailing race to Maryland once again. The rain storm caused some booths at the accompanying Baltimore Waterfront Festival to shut down and visitors to flee.

He kept coming back, year after year, horse after horse, trying to get another victory in the Preakness Stakes before he was done. Going into the 138th running of the Triple Crown's middle leg, D. Wayne Lukas had tried eight times since Charismatic won at Pimlico Race Course in 1999 - with 12 different entries. The best any of his horses could do was third place - twice - with Proud Citizen in 2002 and Scrimshaw in 2003. But as the 77-year-old Hall of Fame trainer pointed out after 15-1 shot Oxbow took the lead nearly out of the gates and held off Itsmyluckyday by 1 ¾ lengths to give Lukas his sixth victory in the Preakness, even winning a record 14th Triple Crown race was not going to change his career plans.

Race 1: Jockey Joel Rosario rode Aussi Austin to victory in the first of 13 races on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course . Bake Shop took second and Pretension finished third in the 1 1/16-mile dirt race. The winner finished in 1:45.23. Bake Shop and Pretension held with Aussi Austin, but Pretension weakened late. Aussi Austin paid $5.40 to win while Bake Shop paid $6.60 to place. Race 2, Deputed Testamony Starter Handicap: Hello Lover, the race's heavy 3-5 post-time favorite, surged past the leaders to win. No Brakes finished second while Who Dat Boy, ridden by Rosie Napravnik, took third.