Trainer Bob Baffert went through a rollercoaster of emotions. In the end, Baffert wound up at a familiar place — in the winner’s circle after the Preakness Stakes.
Baffert’s National Treasure took the lead from the start, then survived a stretch duel with Blazing Sevens to win the second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday.
Kentucky Derby winner Mage, who went off as the 7-5 favorite, had to settle for third.
Baffert, whose reputation has been marred by a two-year Kentucky Derby ban, set a record with his eighth Preakness victory.
“I love Pimlico. I love Baltimore,” Baffert said in a postrace TV interview. “I love these horses. … This horse deserves it. We always thought he was a good horse.”
Baffert, who trained Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify, picked up his 17th Triple Crown victory.
Baffert couldn’t enter National Treasure in the Kentucky Derby due to his two-year suspension. That stemmed from the 2021 Derby, when first-place finisher Medina Spirit was later disqualified for a medication violation.
National Treasure came into the race after a six-week layoff. He finished fourth in the Santa Anita Derby in his last start and hadn’t won since breaking his maiden at first asking last September at Del Mar.
Baffert was choked up after National Treasure’s victory, but it wasn’t simply tears of joy.
After winning the Sir Barton stakes with Arabian Lion early in the card, Baffert saw his sprinter Havnameltdown break down during the sixth race. That 3-year-old colt had to be euthanized.
“This business is twists and turns, the ups and downs,” he said. “We start out great and we had a horrible race. We’ve been just totally wiped out after that horse got hurt.”
National Treasure’s jockey, John Velazquez, had won the Derby and Belmont Stakes but this was his first victory in the Preakness.
“Not having won the race, it was definitely missing (on his resume),” Velazquez said. “It’s very special to have it.”
The pace of the race played a major role in National Treasure’s victory.
Adding blinkers, he broke well from the inside post and was able to set moderate early fractions while the only other speed horse in the race, Coffeewithchris, tracked him. As the latter horse dropped back, Blazing Sevens made his move entering the turn.
The top two finishers bumped several times in the stretch but National Treasure, the second choice at 5-2 odds, proved to have enough stamina to pull off the mild upset.
Mage, who habitually breaks slowly, actually got out of the gate well. He sat fourth in the early going but couldn’t threaten the top two despite the urgings of jockey Javier Castellano.
Mage benefitted from a fast pace in his 15-1 Derby win but the tepid fractions in the Preakness stifled his stretch kick.
“Very, very, very slow,” trainer Gustavo Delgado said of the pace.
Blazing Sevens improved off a third-place effort in the Blue Grass at Keeneland last month. National Treasure’s tenacity denied Blazing Sevens’ trainer, Chad Brown, from winning the Preakness for the third time.
The field was reduced to seven due to the early scratch of morning-line second choice First Mission. He was withdrawn due to a left hind injury. The field size was the smallest in the Preakness since a seven-horse field in 1986.
–Field Level Media
