Because we know some of you would rather watch a steaming pile of horseshit and like it.

If you are one of these people and if you’re wondering who to put your money on for the 134th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course, we have you covered. Of course, we don’t guarantee wins here but since you’re probably dumbfounded at this point, you need all the advice you can get.

While Mine That Bird resumes his quest to become the 2009 Triple Crown champion, the rest of the field will be looking to put an abrupt end on the horse’s Triple Crown trail. One of which is Papa Clem. And yes, there is a lot to like about the thoroughbred.

Papa Clem comes into the 2009 Preakness Stakes with odds that seem to indicate he’ll play a big part amongst top finishers in this race. The Kentucky Derby was a decent enough race for the three-year old and you should keep an eye out for this horse at the finish line because he has a legitimate shot of taking home the 134th Preakness Stakes title.

Papa Clem started off pretty slow with 6th and 5th place finishes at Maiden Special Weight races but has since turned it on quite a bit. In his last 5 starts, he has two 1st place finishes to go along with two 2nd place finishes. And after finishing at Churchill Downs fourth fastest, riding Papa Clem’s bandwagon could prove to be…

Read More » Is Papa Clem a good bet for the Preakness Stakes?

After all the rumors about these two missing the Preakness, it turns out that they’ll run after all.

The second leg of the Triple Crown trail will be held at the Pimlico Race Course where the 134th Preakness Stakes will be featured. Kentucky Derby champion Mine That Bird will, just like any other horse that won at Churchill Downs, look to win the second leg and be that closer from winning the Triple Crown. Of course, that’s easier said than done.

For those of you who didn’t know, Mine That Bird, despite winning the Kentucky Derby, wasn’t scheduled to run in Pimlico. The horse’s handlers felt that running the second leg of the trail won’t be ideal for the derby champion and they would rather skip the Preakness and run in New York for the Belmont Stakes instead, just like the horse’s dad.

On the other hand, Friesan Fire didn’t have the luxury to choose what race to skip. Just a few days after the Derby, the thoroughbred was found to be in bad shape after injuring his left front foot while coming out of the gates at Churchill Downs. Everybody thought the horse was a goner for sure and would be forced to miss the Preakness Stakes.

But since Friesan Fire WAS the heavy favorite to win the Derby, (before Mine that Bird came up with the flukiest win ever in horse racing…) and his handlers know how much money is at stake in the 2009 Triple Crown trail, they’re giving the thoroughbred the green light to run and probably injure his left front foot.

So who would you rather be riding on..?

Read More » Mine That Bird vs Friesan Fire in 134th Preakness Stakes

In case you haven’t heard, one of the biggest events in the horse racing calendar is set this Saturday.

And in case you have no idea what that is, it’s the 134th Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the three-legged race for the Triple Crown title. You see, the Triple Crown is horse racing’s Holy Grail since winning all three races of the series is not a walk in the park. And if you’re wondering, we haven’t had a Triple Crown champ for quite a while.

But since Mine That Bird won the first leg, that automatically makes him the prime and ONLY candidate to become the new Triple Crown champion. You can bet your ass that there will be a lot of people rooting for this thoroughbred once the gates are opened at the Pimlico Race Course.

And while the rest of the field prepare to stop Mine That Bird from his 2009 Triple Crown bid, there are some horses out there that were initially primed to run at Pimlico but were later canned.

One of which is West Side Bernie. Handled by trainer Kelly Breen and owned by Bernstein, West Side Bernie is a multiple Irish Group 3-winning son of Storm Cat who was unplaced in his only start beyond a mile in the 2000 River City H. (G3).

Another no-show in the Preakness Stakes is Mr. Hot Stuff. The thoroughbred boasts a strong pedigree for 1 1/4 miles. His sire, $6.4 million earner and 2009 Hall of Fame inductee Tiznow, scored all of his most notable victories at…

Read More » More No-Shows in the 134th Preakness Stakes

The second leg of the Triple Crown trail is this weekend and right now, I’m not liking the Derby champion’s chances.

While people who have a thing for the dramatic will likely root for Mine That Bird in the 134th Preakness Stakes at the Pimlico Race Course, these guys better realize that the Derby champ is really not that good of a bet if you’re looking to earn a lot of dough during the weekend.

You see, while Mine That Bird had an amazing run at Churchill Downs, the horse is just not that good of a contender on paper. And while some of the horse’s handlers believe that they have a shot of winning the 2009 Triple Crown title, they know deep down inside that their win at Churchill Downs was the flukiest win to ever transpire in the sport of horse racing.

So if Mine That Bird won’t win at Pimlico, who will? In case you haven’t realized it yet, we have a lot of contenders lined up for the Preakness that are solid choices to win the second leg of the Triple Crown trail. The obvious choice is of course, Mine That Bird’s nemesis Friesan Fire. The heavy favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, the horse had a somewhat problematic start out of the gates at Churchill Downs, leading to a disappointing 18th place finish. On the positive side, he has run a triple digit Beyer, a 104 in the Louisiana Derby, is exiting the Kentucky Derby, has made 4 starts this year…

Read More » The 2009 Triple Crown Trail continues, who can stop Mine That Bird in the 134th Preakness Stakes?

I have no idea why we’re wasting our time on some horses you can’t bet on.

But since we are, and if you are looking forward for this weekend’s running of the 134th Preakness Stakes at the Pimlico Race Course, then you’re probably reading this anyway.

And if you go this far, we will be bringing to ya’ll the thoroughbreds that won’t be able to challenge Mine That Bird and stop him in his bid for the triple Crown title.

Horse racing fans have been looking forward for the second leg of the 2009 Triple Crown trail ever since we saw Mine That Bird came up with that fluke win at Churchill Downs. The second leg, that’s the 2009 Preakness Stakes, will run in Baltimore, Md., at the Pimlico Race Course on May 16.

And while some people will probably root for Mine That Bird this weekend, one horse who won’t be having the same luxury is Mr. Fantasy.

Winner of the Gr. 3 Withers Stakes on April 25 at Aqueduct in only his fourth start, the son of El Dubai was taken off the Derby trail after a disappointing third-place finish in the Gotham Stakes in March. He regrouped in the 1-mile Withers Stakes and showed his affinity for shorter distances.

Another horse who won’t be seeing the light of day in Pimlico is This Ones For Phil. Florida-bred This Ones For Phil kicked off his…

Read More » Horses that will miss the 134th Preakness Stakes

It’s time to learn more about the horses running in Pimlico this weekend.

The 134th Preakness Stakes is shaping up to be a very contentious race with Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird expected to try for the second jewel of the Triple Crown. All eyes will be on him to do so, but there is a filly waiting in the wings with an eye on an upset.

Let’s take a closer look at the colts that will look to stop Mine That Bird in his bid for the 2009 Triple Crown title.

Papa Clem exits a fourth place finish in the Derby, which is the most favored prep race but does not qualify as a sharp prep. He also lacks a stakes win as a juvenile. He does have a stakes win this year, the Arkansas Derby where he ran a 101 Beyer.

KY Derby second place finisher Pioneer Of The Nile would probably go off as the second or maybe third choice from the windows if Bob Baffert decides to run the royally bred son of Empire Maker. Pioneer of The Nile also has 2 key knocks against him in the Preakness. He has points on the professional wing of his dosage profile, and has not run a triple digit Beyer, his best being a 96 in the Santa Anita Derby. He does have stakes wins both at 2 and 3, is coming off a sharp prep (2nd in the Derby), and can either stalk or rally when asked.

Rachel Alexandra won the Kentucky Oaks by a record 20 1/4 lengths, and takes on males for the first time in the Preakness. She has…

Read More » Thoroughbreds to bet on for this Saturday’s 134th Preakness Stakes at the Pimlico Race Course

After Mine That Bird was rumored to miss the Preakness barely a week after winning the Derby, it turns out that the horse will make it after all.

You read it, the 51-1 longshot will run in the 134th Preakness Stakes and resume his quest to become the new Triple Crown champion in years. Nobody knew who Mine That Bird was before he shocked the world and won the first leg of the Triple Crown trail. Now that the thoroughbred is as popular as an Oprah Winfrey, I guess every horse racing fan is now jumping on his bandwagon.

And after getting his new fan base worried that he might miss the Preakness Stakes and throw his chances of grabbing the Triple Crown title out the window, Mine That Bird was proclaimed ready for the second leg of the Triple Crown trail after a somewhat spirited early morning job.

‘’The horse will be the judge, but as good as he looked this morning, we plan on being at the Preakness,'’ Bennie Woolley Jr. said.

Woolley was trying to keep his, as well as his horse’s routine as normal as possible since they shocked everybody by winning at Churchill Downs. But since they did win the first leg of the 2009 Triple Crown trail, their routine was anything BUT normal.

Of course, winning with 51-1 odds is obviously not normal by any stretch of the imagination.

Some people are even calling the thoroughbred’s win at Churchill Downs the…

Read More » Mine That Bird will run in the 134th Preakness Stakes

For all ya’ll who were disappointed with the way heavy favorite Friesan Fire finished the Derby, you won’t have to go through the same ordeal.

I know you guys ain’t quitting so soon already and I know you already have your own picks for the 2009 Preakness Stakes, hoping that the bandwagon you’ll be riding on at the Pimlico Race Course will be good enough to let you climb out of that hole Friesan Fire pushed you into.

And for those of you who are worried about having a repeat of that disappointing run you had at Churchill Downs, you’d be happy to know that you won’t be going through the same ordeal in Pimlico.

For one, Friesan Fire’s trainer, Larry Jones, won’t be available to woo gamblers into making any wagers on his horse. The recently concluded 135th Kentucky Derby was suppose to give him his very first Kentucky Derby trophy. After all, everything was set up for Friesan Fire to have a fiery weekend at Churchill Downs.

Instead, Friesan Fire got into trouble coming out of the gate and the fiery weekend the thoroughbred was suppose to have ended up with the horse finishing in 18th of the 19-horse field.

The disappointing loss was too hard for Larry Jones to…

Read More » I guess Friesan Fire and Larry Jones won’t make it to the 134th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course

In case you missed it, a longshot won the first leg of this year’s Triple Crown trail.

You read it, it was a huge payday for some people who like underdogs as virtual longshot Mine That Bird came out of nowhere to win the 135th Kentucky Derby last weekend.

It was a shocking result to what has been a disappointing outing for some of the Derby favorites. One of the favorites, Friesan Fire, deemed by some as the horse that will finally give the sport its first Triple Crown champion in years, finished second to last.

Who would’ve thought that Mine That Bird would go on and win the Kentucky Derby after being listed by sportsbooks with 51-1 odds of winning? Heck, who would’ve thought that the thoroughbred would snatch the race lead after running in dead last coming to the final turn?

Incredible.

And while many bettors are now probably putting their money on Mine That Bird already for the next leg of the Triple Crown, that being the 2009 Preakness Stakes at the Pimlico Race Course, we found out that the Kentucky Derby champion’s availability for the next big race is still uncertain.

Yes, after shocking horse racing fans, Mine That Bird is…

Read More » Will Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird run in the 2009 Preakness Stakes at the Pimlico Race Course?

How about that, after hobbling from last place at Belmont Park, the one-legged Big Brown will be racing again.

That’s right, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes champion, Big Brown, will be back on the race track competing in the $1-million 2008 Haskell Invitational on August 3 at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.

Much to our surprise here on OddJack, Big Brown was given a clean bill of health during a post-race veterinary examination and now will look to capture the Haskell Invitational after failing to win what many thought was his for the taking a few weeks ago, this year’s Triple Crown.

‘’The Haskell’s clearly a first target right now,'’ IEAH Stable president Michael Iavarone said.

Owned by IEAH Stable, Big Brown finished last to 38-1 longshot Da’Tara at the 2008 Belmont Stakes last June 7 at Belmont Park, making him the first Triple Crown hopeful to finish last at Belmont Park. You can just imagine how utterly irritated those people were, riding the Big Brown bandwagon.Iavarone also said that he had specific reasons for choosing the Haskell over the upcoming Jim Dandy Stakes at the end of July.

‘’We’re trying to avoid certain things that happened in the Belmont,'’ he said. ‘’We’re trying…'’

Read More » Big Brown will race the 2008 Haskell Invitational