I am sure that the TV coverage will be the "Bob Baffert Story" for the entire program instead of focusing on the horses, and the tradition of the Preakness. (Will they allow "Maryland, My Maryland" be played this year?) Be that as it may, here is the field for the race if you haven't seen it already. 1. I, for one, am disappointed that D Wayne Lukas has entered Ram. He's shown a lot of promise in his last two races but dumping him in a Grade One at this point...well, I guess worse has been done. But, to me, it's Lukas' hope for "just one more". He's 85 years old. I guess it would be wonderful...and certainly this story might overshadow the Baffert one. But I doubt it. Anyway, the colt is by AMERICAN PHAROAH (remember him? Baffert does....)....so the pedigree on the sire side is there. The dam is unraced, having sold as a yearling for $250,000. She did produce stakes winner COAL FRONT (a $575,000 purchase as a two year old) and he did alright for himself at the races, earning 1.8 million $. His best races were at a mile or a mile and a sixteenth. When bred to Belmont winner Birdstone, (Sire of Derby winner Mine That Bird and Belmont winner, the ill-fated Summer Bird), Miner's Secret produced another stakes winner, this one a gelding named Conquest Titan which won a 7 furlong stake in Canada a few years ago. She is also the dam of LAAFY, which was sent to Europe and tho he didn't burn up the track, he did finish 3rd in a 12 furlong minor stake race. Bred to American Pharoah's sire, Pioneerof the Nile, she foaled a filly who also was sent to England and she won her only start last year, that at 7 furlongs. The broodmare sire is MINESHAFT, a phenomenal distance horse (by A P Indy, another Belmont winner) & ultimate Horse of the Year who has been an exceptional sire. So, the pedigree is there. As for Ram, he is two for nine (won his last two starts, the last start being on Derby day). Jockey is Ricardo Santana Jr. 2. KEEPMEINMIND made his 7th career start in the Kentucky Derby and he has a single victory (last November). Robertino Diodoro is the trainer & David Cohen returns as the rider. He ended up 7th in the Ky Derby after getting off slow and trailing for at least half the race. Then he pretty much passed tired horses but ended up only 9 1/4 lengths in back of the winner (well, the winner as of today anyway -- Medina Spirit) I gave you a thumbnail of him prior to the Derby. 3. MEDINA SPIRIT drew post 3 and will once again be ridden by Johnny V. I don't have to tell you who his trainer is unless you have lived under a rock for the past 48 hours. Never mind after the Derby win. Enough said, I guess. But he does come into this race with 3 wins in 6 career starts & 3 seconds. The pedigree as I noted before is unfashionable and he's a colt in a plain brown wrapper but as he showed in the Derby, he can run and he is tough. 4. CROWDED TRADE comes into the Preakness with a 1-1-1 record in three career starts, the last being a 3rd place finished in the Wood Memorial to the 72-1 Bourbonic. His sire is More Than Ready which was 4th in the Kentucky Derby and Haskell of 2000 and on the track was a much better 7 furlong horse. As a sire, he is a "shuttle" stallion who has made his mark in Australia as well as the United States. (and Hong Kong) and he pretty much gets foals that can win at any distance. His best in the US was the filly Rushing Fall which won at 9 furlongs, Eclipse Champion mare Uni which won at 9 furlongs as well, 2x Breeders Cup Sprint winner Roy H, & 2018 Travers winner Catholic Boy. Down Under he begot New Zealand Oaks winner More Than Sacred (at a mile and a half), top sprinter/miler More Joyous, crack sprinter Phelan Ready, and so many more. Tho they seem to prefer grass they pretty much can run on anything and win at any distance. The dam is Maude S, a minor stakes winning daughter of Jump Start, which sired SW Prayer For Relief, Louisiana Derby winner Pants on Fire, 10 furlong Hollywood Gold Cup winner Rail Trip and others. He is trained by Chad Brown and will be ridden by Javier Castellano (he rode Catholic Boy to win the Travers), and was the rider on Highly Motivated in the Kentucky Derby. 5. MIDNIGHT BOURBON returns from his 6th place finish in the crowded Kentucky Derby and there was a jockey change from Mike Smith to Irad Ortiz Jr. in an ongoing jockey swap. He has an 8-2-2-3 record, a good distance pedigree. Steve Asmussen is the trainer. I gave a thumbnail of him prior to the Kentucky Derby. Do need to say that he did get bumped in the Derby, was far back and managed to work his way to a hard fought 6th. 6. ROMBAUER was a come-from-behind winner of the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate in his next-to-last start. He won by a neck as favorite but I looked thru the field he beat and he didn't beat much. They ditched rider Kyle Frey in favor of the more experienced Flavien Prat (who rode Hot Rod Charlie to a 3rd place finish in the Kentucky Derby). Also keep in mind that Golden Gate's course is synthetic. In his last start, he was 3rd to Derby favorite Essential Quality in the Blue Grass Stakes (1 1/8 miles) in what I still think was the best Derby prep. During the race, he was bumped and according to the charts his was "in tight" at the start which may provide him with excuses but he wasn't getting by the top two that day if Pegasus rode with him. His sire is the 9 furlong stake winning Twirling Candy, a son of the horse for all distances, Candy Ride (Arg). Twirling Candy's dam is House of Danzing who told her connections early she wanted nothing to do with the racetrack (was 2cd once in 2 starts). Her sire is the distance loving Chester House which preferred grass. House of Danzing did produce the 9 furlong winner Dubai Sky which is now at stud in Chile & Del Mar Derby winner Ethnic Dancer. Rombauer's dam is the unraced Cashmere who is also the dam of 2 other minor stakes placed horses. Cashmere is by Cowboy Cal who seemed to prefer turf but did finish second in the Blue Grass Stakes of 2008 and won the 9 furlong dirt Strub Stakes. (BTW, "Cal" was 9th in the Kentucky Derby to Big Brown and he was ridden by Johnny V. Rombauer's record is 6-2-1-1. Trainer here is Michael W. McCarthy who has trained 5 or 6 Grade One winners, including City of Light which won the Pegasus World Cup when that race's purse was dropped to 3 million from the 16 million dollar high a few years earlier). I include his middle initial only coz there are a few "Michael McCarthy" horse trainers. 7. FRANCE GO DE INA. I just shake my head at this entry but I do keep in mind that 50 years ago, Canonero won the Preakness after an unbelievable Kentucky Derby upset. Also in Preakness history is Bee Bee Bee which cantered in the mud when put to the front in a race that was supposed to be a "given" to Kentucky Derby winner Riva Ridge (you know, Secretariat's stablemate?). And then there was Cloud Computing, trained by Chad Brown, which won the Preakness a couple of years ago in a Triple Crown series I'd like to forget. Certainly the worst in years. So....all those memories...and I still shake my head. This colt was bred in Kentucky and sold to Japan for $100,000. He raced 3 times in Japan, winning two races. Interesting, they were at a mile and an eighth but neither at stakes level and he didn't beat much. But he did win. So maybe that is why they went ahead and entered him in the UAE Derby in Dubai where he was 6th to an Irish bred horse named Rebel's Romance (who I think is 4 for 5 and could possibly start in the Epsom Derby in June). It was a 14 horse field (on dirt) and he was some 10 lengths in back of the winner. Not earth shattering or even attention getting. OK...so let's get to the good part about this colt (there must be one) and that is the sire, Eclipse Champion three year old Will Take Charge, by Unbridled's Song. This colt won at 9 and 10 furlongs and even hung around to race and win stakes as a four year old (which in today's Thoroughbred world isn't the norm...they usually shuttle them right to the stud farm while their good records are fresh on the brain...). Tho he has had winners in Japan, Russia and S Korea, his US offspring haven't really come into the spotlight.