BALTIMORE — Tomorrow’s 134th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico is haunted by the ghosts of Preakness horses past. Mine That Bird, who upset the Kentucky Derby at 50-1; superfilly Rachel Alexandra, the 8-5 favorite; Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile: We’ve seen them all run here before, under different names and guises.
The same holds true for Friesan Fire, who tossed in a stinker as the 7-2 Derby favorite. After being bumped at the break and gouging a slice off his left front heel, the son of A.P. Indy struggled to get hold of the slippery track. On the far turn, when the situation became hopeless, jockey Gabriel Saez wrapped up and coasted home, saving him for another day.
Friesan Fire finished 18th of 19, beaten 42 lengths. But that was not the only bad race run by a Derby favorite, and a memorable few of them wore the Black-Eyed Susans two weeks later.
In the 1957 Derby, Bold Ruler was favored at 6-5. He chased the pace, then faded to finish fourth, beaten six lengths. In the Preakness, Bold Ruler led every step to beat Derby winner Iron Leige by two lengths.
Flash forward to 1986. Snow Chief, the Derby choice at 2-1, called it quits to finish 11th, 20 lengths back. He rebounded to win the Preakness by four lengths over Derby winner Ferdinand.
In 1991, Hansel was favored in the Derby at 5-2 but staggered home 10th, beaten 11 lengths. Ignored in the Preakness at 9-1, he dusted them by seven lengths, with Derby winner Strike the Gold sixth.
Point Given looked unbeatable at 9-5 in the 2001 Derby. Wrong. He checked in fifth, beaten 13 lengths. That was his only loss all year, as he won the Preakness by 21⁄4 lengths. Derby winner Monarchos was off the board.
Can Friesan Fire follow in their footsteps?
“I think he’ll move forward,” trainer Larry Jones said. “If he’d run a mediocre race in the Derby, finishing fifth or sixth, you might say he just doesn’t belong. Unfortunately, he picked that day to run the worst race of his career.
“Hopefully, he’ll have a lot better trip, and he’s training as well as he has all spring. His last workout (five furlongs in 58.2 seconds at Pimlico on Tuesday) was a better work than the one before the Derby.
“I hope he bounces back like Snow Chief and the others did.”
What of Friesan Fire’s chief opponents? What Preakness ghosts do they conjure?
Rachel Alexandra, riding a five-race winning streak, is coming off a 20-length romp in the Kentucky Oaks. That prompted Kendall-Jackson wine magnate Jess Jackson to buy her for untold millions and send her against the colts.
She would be the first filly to win the Preakness since Nellie Morse in 1924. The last filly to run in the Preakness, Excellent Meeting, was eased in 1999.
Because no Oaks winner has run in the Preakness, the closest comparison with Rachel Alexandra would be the filly Winning Colors, who won the Derby in 1988. Favored in the Preakness at 9-5, she was hooked in a speed duel by Forty Niner — see Big Drama in this year’s race — and had nothing left for the stretch drive, finishing third.
Racing back in just 15 days and facing colts for the first time, Rachel Alexandra is an underlay at 8-5.
Mine That Bird seeks to join the ranks of improbable longshots that won the Derby, like Canonero II, Charismatic, War Emblem and Funny Cide, who doubled up in the Preakness.
But there is a longer list of Derby upsetters — Proud Clarion, Dust Commander, Ferdinand, Lil E. Tee, Sea Hero, Monarchos and Giacomo — who failed to reproduce their Kentucky form in Maryland, at much shorter odds.
Pioneerof the Nile, whose streak of four straight stakes wins was snapped in the Derby, has a bit of history in his favor.
In the previous 20 years, Risen Star, Summer Squall, Prairie Bayou, Timber Country, Afleet Alex and Curlin were well-bet contenders in the Derby and ran well enough to hit the board. Two weeks later, they all finished first at Pimlico.
