Sports, Ink

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Hello and greetings from PImlico Race Course where we've been racing since 10:45 a.m. this morning on the longest day of racing of the calendar year. The stakes portion of the card is underway and the infield is full as we've been through six races on the card.

The rain has held off so far and it's cool and cloudy at Old Hilltop. Speed has been holding so far and there have been no big surprises on the undercard. I visited the Derby champion this morning and he was nibbling on the hay outside of traditional stall No. 40 in the Pimlico Preakness barn. Orb seemed to have his appetite and trainer Shug McGaughey sat relaxing knowing a big day lays ahead of him.

I spent an hour in the infield earlier and it is quite the scene with thousands partying and enjoying the music being played. Last year's infield handle was north of $3 million, so a few folks will also be wagering while enjoying the carnival-like atmosphere. HorseplayerNow has a tent set up for racing beginner's and I visited with handicapper Brian Nadeau earlier who said business has been brisk in the Racing 101 tent.

If you've never been to the Preakness, it's a must-see. There's not many places in America that have the mix of crowd that Pimlico brings together. The main acts on the infield are Pitbull and Macklemore (yes, I have no idea who that is) and you can hear the roars from outside the stage up here in the press box.

But we're ready for racing and we're live in a Pick-3 into the second leg in Race 7 where we have 1-Notacatbutallama, 6-Shining Copper and 10-Redwood Kitten, let's get this next leg home.

2:45 p.m.: Well then, if you boxed my top three you nailed the trifecta(the $2 tri paid $102) as the $100K James Murphy finished 10-6-1, with Redwood Kitten ($6.80) wiring the field in the one mile turf race. It also keeps us alive in a fairly chalky Pick-3 wager to 3-Moon Philly, 5-Sea Island, 6-Summer Applause and 7-Brushed By A Star. The will-pays for the $0.50 bet paying from $19 on the favorite 6-Summer Applause to $54.90 on 5-Sea Island. Only the 4-Daydreamin Gracie can beat us here.

2:55 p.m.: The Grade 3 Allaire Dupont Distaff is next which also starts the Pick-5 jackpot into the Preakness, if you're so inclined. Chad Brown has Johnny V up on the favorite Summer Applause who comes out of the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn where she finished fourth behind the winner, who was the runner-up on Oaks Day On Fire Baby in the La Troienne won by Authenticity.

I'm rooting for the 5-Sea Island which is owned by Phipps Stable and trained by Shug McGaughey, both with a bigger rooting interest later this afternoon with a horse named Orb. Speaking of Orb, the current Preakness odds show him at 4-5. In case you missed my Preakness advance in this morning's paper, here is the link to it.

3:25 p.m.: 6-Summer Applause ($5.20) was much the best in the Dupont, holding off a late charging Sea Island. We cash a ticket which covers our next bet and move on. By the way, a heavy mist has enveloped Pimlico as feared before the day began. Let's hope it passes through quickly as we are just short of three hours until the Preakness. 

3:40 p.m.: The Grade 3 Gallorette Handicap for fillies and mares is up next going 8-1/2 furlongs on the turf course. We'll get a Pick-4 ticket started with four horses in the Gallorette. We've got 1-Hard Not to Like, 4-Samitar, 5-Old Tune and 9-Silver Screamer. I spend some time with Hard Not to Like at last year's Kentucky Oaks, she's a nice filly who should rebound off her last effort at Keeneland that was against tougher company. Silver Screamer is also a longer shot and gets Julien Leparoux, a great turf jockey in the irons. 

It appears it could get a little messy in the infield with this heavy mist...last check of the radar does not show any green blobs (a sign that bad things are to come) nor does it show anything close by, so I'm hoping this will pass over or just lightly mist until the big race. It would be a shame if the first two jewels are marred by off tracks.

3:55 p.m.: In case you were wondering, Pitbull is in the house.

4:10 p.m.: Hard Not to Like had me fairly excited coming down the stretch, but she appeared to slip or take a misstep around the eighth pole and could not regain momentum to catch runaway winner 3-Pianist who paid a healthy $15.40 to win the Gallorette. Our Pick-4 ticket is dead out of the gate so we'll put in a Pick-3 into the Preakness for fun or eat this giant chocolate cookie served up in McKenzie's Pub in the press box.

The next race up is the G3 Maryland Sprint Handicap to be run 6-furlongs over the dirt course. Back in a few minutes to give you my thoughts.

4:17 p.m.: Funny (or maybe not so funny) story from this morning, I ran into Paul Moran, long-time turfwriter for Newsday who now freelances for ESPN, who is also a Buffalo native who has retired to Saratoga. After exchanging pleasantries during our security search and elevator ride he told me that ESPN asked him to be available in case there was a terrorist attack at Pimlico today. Whoa. Certainly that puts things into perspective in what you have to think about when covering a sporting event.  He likes Orb, by the way.

4:30 p.m.: In the Maryland Sprint I'm going to try a four-horse exacta box and try and catch a price with two of my longer shots. We'll box 1-Action Andy (6-1), 3-Manito (10-1), 4-Hardened Wildcat (4-1) and 10-Sage Valley (5-2).

Some folks from the NYRA media office just passed out a list of Belmont Stakes likely contenders that include aside from Orb, the following: Freedom Child, Golden Soul (second in the Derby), Goldencents, Overanalyze, Palace Malice (possible), Power Broker and Revolutionary (third in the Derby).

-- Gene Kershner

By Gene Kershner

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Fiftyshadesofhay ($6.60) won the 89th running of the Grade 2 $500,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for trainer Bob Baffert edging out Marathon Lady by a neck. The Pulpit filly put blinkers back on for the first time since her first three maiden races to win the feature race on the Preakness eve undercard.

Trainer Bob Baffert won his third Black-Eyed Susan, winning the race in 2004 (Yearly Report) and 1999 (Silverbulletday). The win sets the stage for a big weekend for Baffert as he will try to win his sixth Preakness tomorrow with Govenor Charlie, whose second dam just so happens to be Silverbulletday. To win tomorrow though he'll have to defeat the jockey who won the Susan for him today.

Red hot jockey Joel Rosario gave Baffert some cause for concern when he wasn't up near the lead during the early stages of the race. "I wasn't sure turning for home because I told Rosario that she usually runs 1-2-3, but ride her the way you feel you should ride her. Rosario sort of did his own thing today, but it was the right thing," said the white-haired conditioner.

Rosario sat chilly and had her make the late run right around the three-eighths pole. "She kind of got away from me a little bit at that point, I was kind of worried about it, but she was able to get it back together and kept going," said Rosario who will ride Orb tomorrow in the Preakness. "When I passed the sixteenth-pole I could see that the horse in front of me was backing up a little."

Emollient, the 4-5 favorite, stumbled out of the gate and never threatened under jockey Mike Smith. "She stumbled out of the gate real bad, and she caught her leg. It was pretty much over for us after that," said the Hall of Fame jockey.

Third-place finisher Toasting ($5.40 to show) ran a solid race for West Point Thoroughbreds. Terry Finley, managing partner was pleased with her efforts. "She closed strong and Javier [Castellano] was very pleased with the way she responded down the stretch," said Finley. He will likely point her towards Saratoga next as she progresses in her 3-year-old campaign.

Fiftyshadesofgray finished the 1 1/8-miles in 1:52.73 and the $2 exacta with Marathon Lady paid $54.00. The $2 trifecta paid $333.40.

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association and tweets @EquiSpace.

By Gene Kershner

BALTIMORE, Md. – We’ve arrived and are ready to kickoff a great weekend at Old Hilltop which will culminate in the Preakness Stakes late Saturday afternoon. On tap Friday afternoon at Pimlico Race Course is the 1 1/8-mile $300,000 Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan. Friday’s card will include the G3 Pimlico Special and five other non-graded stakes races.  

The final and thirteenth race of the day is the Old Hilltop Stakes where Bona Ventures' Stables Summer of Fun (4-1) will take on 10 other fillies in the 1 1/16-mile turf race. Paco Lopez will be in the irons for trainer George Weaver. Graham Motion-trained Kitten's Point (5-2) looks to be Summer of Fun's main rival. She comes out of the G1 Ashland Stakes where she was trounced by 10 lengths by Emollient, who will run in the Black-Eyed Susan.  

The 89th running of the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes features nine fillies trying to step up within the  3-year-old filly division, which saw Princess of Sylmar strike first blood in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks two weeks ago.  

This year’s race will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network (4 p.m.) in a one-hour telecast as part of NBC’s weekend coverage of the Preakness Stakes.

Let’s take a look at the field for the Black-Eyed Susan (trainer, jockey, odds in parenthesis):  

1 – Makuna Honey (Terranova II, Prado, 10-1) – Borrego filly took six races to break her maiden, but has not missed the exacta in her last three races. She finished a well-beaten second in the G2 Fantasy to Rose to Gold at Oaklawn Park her last out. Not convinced she's fast enough for this field.  [UPDATE: Per trainer John Terranova, she came out of her work flat on Monday and she will SCRATCH]

2 – Lady Banks (Lawrence II, Pimentel, 30-1) – The daughter of Successful Appeal has struggled since winning the 6-furlong Ruthless Stakes at Aqueduct in January. Toss. 

3 – Fiftyshadesofhay (Baffert, Rosario, 2-1) – Baffert puts the shades on her for the first time. She's flattered by Beholder's good performance in Kentucky Oaks (finished second). Baffert held her out of the Oaks when she didn't ship well. The Pulpit filly posted a nice work on May 10 at Churchill. Dangerous. 

4 – Petit Trianon (Vazquez, Carrasco, 20-1) – Local talent has won three in a row. Receives six pound weight break from top horses, but this is an awfully big step up in class. Pass.  

5 – Walkwithapurpose (Correas, Lezcano, 5-1) – SCRATCHED on Thursday afternoon when she took a bad step and bruised her foot making her unable to compete.  

6 – Maracuya (Nicks, Velazquez, 8-1) - The unbeaten Big Brown filly is lightly raced and also takes a major step up in class. Has the pedigree to handle the 9-furlongs and should be pressing the leaders. Comes in off a long layoff and might need a race before improving. Exotics play underneath.

7 - Emollient (Mott, Smith, 9-5) – Morning line favorite rebounded from the Dreaming of Julia freak show at Gulfstream to win a Grade 1 on the polytrack at Keeneland. She also finished second to the Oaks third place finisher in the Grade 2 Demoisselle at the Big A. Could benefit from a hot pace up front as she likes to stalk and pounce. Keeps jockey Mike Smith aboard for the second straight race.  Workout pattern for Bill Mott says she's sitting on a big one. On paper she's the one to beat.  

8 – Toasting (Albertrani, Castellano, 20-1) – West Point Thoroughbreds filly that puts the shades on for the first time and has Castellano riding. Rosario jumps off to ride the Baffert horse. Surface change should help but not seeing it unless track comes up sloppy.  

9 – Marathon Lady (Hobby, Albarado, 12-1) – Raced well on the polytrack at Turfway Park two back finishing second to Silsita, who finished last. She finished behind the rail horse in the Fantasy last out. Looks likes she would thrive at a mile and could be distance challenged at 9 furlongs. 

Post Time Outlook – 1 –Fiftyshadesofhay; 2 –Emollient; 3 - Maracuya

Good luck and let’s cash some tickets.

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets @EquiSpace.

Can you wait several more days before you find out who will be this year's class in the Western New York Running Hall of Fame? You'll have to wait. The voting on which five of the 10 finalists will make the Hall took place on Wednesday, and the winners will be announced in The News a week from Sunday. Take it from a voter - any of the 10 certainly could end up honored.

It's a busy week for area running, now that the weather has warmed up again. (Note: the waterfront was rather chilly Saturday morning during the Heritage run). Here's the schedule from buffalorunners.com:

* Town of Tonawanda 5K, 1 Pool Plaza in Tonawanda, 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 876-7424. I've done this race a couple of times, and it's a nice flat course for those so, ahem, inclined.

* Buffalo Greek Fest, 5K, 146 W. Utica St. in Buffalo, 6:30 p.m. on Friday, 796-3381. Greek food at a postrace party might be a nice switch from pizza and hot dogs.

* Run with the Rapids 5K, Old Falls St. in Niagara Falls, 9 a.m. on Saturday, 278-2111.

* Bully Free 5K, 71 Lorraine Ave. in Buffalo, 9 a.m. on Saturday, 816-4809. Let's welcome this new race to the list.

* Chris Griswold 5K, Como Park in Lancaster, 10 a.m. on Saturday, 685-2640. The organizers don't let anyone go away hungry, and many runners take home a door prize. Too bad my streak of winning lawn hoses at this race came to an end a while back.
 
* SSPP's Charge of the Knights 5K, 5480 Main St. in Williamsville, 6 p.m on Saturday, 440-8003. It's rare to have a Saturday night event, and this race almost sounds like it's a chess competition. Plenty of activity after the race by the sounds of it.

-- Budd Bailey

By Gene Kershner

The post position draw for the 138th running of the Preakness was held this afternoon at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, which included nine entries into Saturday's second jewel of the Triple Crown. The race will be televised nationally on NBC (Ch. 2) on Saturday afternoon during a two-hour telecast starting at 4:30 p.m. Pre- and post-race programming will be on NBC Sports Network.  

- Kentucky Derby winner Orb drew the rail, which has only one victory in the past 51 years (Tabasco Cat, 1994). He was instilled as the even money morning line favorite at the draw.

- Mylute (5-1) was declared the second choice on the morning line with jockey Rosie Napravnik aboard, the third female to ride in the Preakness.

- Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, seeking a sixth Preakness title has one third of the field and drew the No. 6 post for Oxbow,  the No. 7 post for Will Take Charge and the No. 3 for the newcomer and long shot, Titletown Five.

- Goldencents drew the 2 hole and looks to rebound from his 17th place finish in the Derby for trainer Doug O'Neill.  

- Bob Baffert, absent from his first Derby since 2008, will run Govenor Charlie in the Preakness. Baffert has won the race five times since 1997. 

- The Illinois Derby winner Departing drew post No.4 for trainer Al Stall and comes into the race winning four of his last five races.

- The post that has the most winners since 1909 is post position No. 6, which has 15 Preakness winners. Elder statesman Gary Stevens will try and make that 16 with Oxbow on Saturday.

- The Preakness is limited to 14 starters and in 14 of the last 19 years had double-digit fields. Defections earlier this week by Vyjack and Normandy Invasion reduced the field to nine, the smallest since 2007. There will be six starters returning from the Kentucky Derby to run back in the Preakness. 

Here's a look at the posts, morning line odds as set by Frank Carulli for the field:

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association and tweets @EquiSpace.

By Gene Kershner 

The first leg is in the books. A horse named Orb will take aim at the elusive Triple Crown. Now that I mention it, is there any other term that gets the term elusive attached to it more than the Triple Crown? It's been 35 years, the longest drought in history and to keep the excitement building, the horse that dominated the late stages of Saturday's Kentucky Derby will have to beat fresh horses and familiar horses alike next weekend in Baltimore.  

 Several runners from last weekend's Derby are willing to take another shot, hoping for a dry track this time at Old Hilltop.  Likely horses that will try and avenge Orb's victory include Goldencents, Vyjack, Will Take Charge, Oxbow, Itsmyluckyday, Mylute and potentially Normandy Invasion. Chad Brown will make a decision on Normandy after training this weekend.  

Horses hoping to join the Triple Crown trail for the first time include Govenor Charlie, Street Spice, Titletown Five and Illinois Derby champion, Departing. The second and third place finishers in the derby, Golden Soul and Revolutionary are pointing at the Belmont Stakes.  

Parting Derby Thoughts

- According to Trakus, Orb ran 6,721 feet which was longer than all but two horses in the Derby (Frac Daddy ran 12 more feet; Vyjack ran 18 more feet). That's an even bigger testament to Orb's race. He ran the final quarter in 25.88 and final half in 51.02, much the best of all of the runners.

- When I encountered Robbie Albarado and Dallas Stewart on the track after the race, they were exuberant about Golden Soul's tremendous finish, maybe too much so. Albarado was shouting that he was ready for Round two in the Preakness, reminding all that could hear that he had won it before(Curlin, 2007).  It appears cooler heads have prevailed and the Perfect Soul colt will point instead at the Belmont, where his pedigree certainly seems to fit better.

- Todd Pletcher after having five horses in the Derby will not be sending any to the Preakness, but will instead regroup his troops and look to make amends in the Belmont Stakes. Revolutionary ran a
very good race, but was taken too far back and ran out of real estate. Not that anyone was going to beat Orb on the First Saturday in May, but a second place finish was not out of the question, running his final quarter in 26.09, second fastest behind Orb.

- With all the hype about Rosie Napravnik and history, she's just a good race rider. She had Mylute in great position and finished strong in fifth place taking a similar route down the center of the track as Orb. I think he could be a threat at Pimlico.

- From a betting perspective,  it was a great wagering race as six horses were less than 10-1 at post time, but none lower than 5-1 (Orb - 5.4). The $2 exacta with Golden Soul came up just short of a grand and a nice $1 exacta key box with Orb for $38 would have netted close to $500.

- If you missed it earlier this week, Buffalo ranked sixth nationally in Derby ratings and share according to Nielsen figures released earlier in the week.

- There's a lot of noise on the internet about Will Take Charge's trip and that he was running stride for stride with Orb before checking sharply at the 3/16th pole when he ran into a tiring Verrazano. I'm not sure he improves much more than a spot or two in the final finish, but he'll take a lot of money at the windows in Baltimore because of it.

Preakness Weekend Tidbits

- Bona Venture Stables' Summer of Fun, third place finisher in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf is slated to run on the Black-Eyed Susan undercard. We'll check in with managing partner Dan Collins in next week's column.

- Looks like D. Wayne Lukas will have three entries in the Preakness after saying earlier in the week that Titletown Five will enter. Hello, fast pace!

- The Pimlico Special will once again be part of the Black-Eyed Susan Day card, spicing up the Friday card with a handicap race for older horses.

- The Orioles have a 4:05 p.m. game scheduled versus the Rays on Preakness day, which unfortunately will coincide with the heart of the stakes races next Saturday.

TBN Preakness Coverage

I'll be on site at Pimlico starting on Friday morning and will provide the following coverage next week: 

- Wednesday: Post Position Draw (Sports, Ink)

- Thursday: Preview of Black-Eyed Susan and Pimlico Special Thoughts (Sports, Ink)

- Friday: Post-race coverage of the Black-Eyed Susan (Sports, Ink)

- Saturday: Preakness Advance (Print, online)

- Saturday: Live blog from Pimlico (Sports, Ink)

- Sunday: Preakness Recap (Print, online)

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and  Broadcasters Association, and tweets @EquiSpace.

Here's a lesson for runners who aren't used to picking up awards at races -- always be prepared for a surprise.

Last week I took part in the Running Water race in Amherst. There was quite a big crowd there. I ran the race, had a quick lunch, and headed home for some chores. But I didn't wait for the results to be finished. Oops. Turns out the people in my age-group were elsewhere, because I finished first - out of two - in the bracket. The chores could have waited, darn it. Remember, you can only run against the people that show up.

Meanwhile, the good runners obviously were at the Grand Island Half-Marathon. It was a News' runner of the year race; here's the way the standings look so far.

There are plenty of chances this weekend to win a medal, according to the calendar from buffalorunners.com. Be sure to hang around for the awards ceremony:

* Sedita Dragon 5K, 21 Lowell Place in Buffalo, 6 p.m. Friday, 316-5782.

* Cummins Run for Literacy, 509 Cherry St. in Jamestown, 9 a.m. Saturday, 484-7135 x236.

* Holland Tulip Festival, Holland Speedway, 9 a.m. Saturday, 537-2264. This is a little too early for me, but I always liked the idea of starting and finishinig on the speedway.

* Nancy Price Memorial 5K, Veterans Park in Youngstown, 10 a.m. Saturday, 531-1216. This race continues to be a fixture. Wonder how many times Matt Glynn has won it?

* Heritage Centers Foundation 5K, 101 Oak St. in Buffalo, 10 a.m. Saturday, 856-4202 x1228. Speaking of fixtures, this always qualifies.

* DeSales Race for Fitness, 5K, 6914 Chestnut Ridge Road in Lockport, 10 a.m. Saturday, 438-2014. I know there are people who try to do two 5Ks in a Saturday morning. It will be difficult this week.

* Save the Drama for Your Mama 5K, Weeden Road Park in Randolph, 10 a.m. Saturday. Best title for a new race in years.

* Crouse 5K Challenge, 5K, 100 Legion Dr. in Gowanda, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, 860-8782.

* The Elephant Run, 4 miles, Delaware Park's Marcy Casino in Buffalo, 9:30 a.m. Saturday, 836-7045. The postrace party concentrates on breakfast, which is nice. And the event is early enough for people to take Mom out later.

--- Budd Bailey

By Gene Kershner

Buffalo loves its horse racing, especially the Kentucky Derby.

In the overall market rankings released by the NBC Sports Communications department, the Buffalo market ranked sixth overall with a 15.9 rating and 33 share. These are improvements over last years' numbers where Buffalo finished tied for fourth with three other cities with a 13.4 rating and a 27 share, showing increases of 18.7 percent and 22.2 percent, respectively.

Overall according to the Daily Racing Form, NBC's overall ratings on the Derby was up 15 percent from 20 up to 23 for this year's Run for the Roses. Overall share also increased from 9.0 to 10.5, a 16.7 percent increase over 2012. Attendance for the event was down 8.3 percent due mainly to the heavy rain that engulfed the Louisville area on Saturday.

Trailing markets with deep horse racing roots like host city Louisville and nearby Cincinnati and Knoxville shows the demand that horse racing has locally. The only markets ahead of us outside of regions near Louisville are located in Florida. Both the Ft. Myers-Naples (second) and West Palm Beach (fifth) markets with plenty of Buffalo transplants were higher than the B-lo.

Some markets that we finished ahead of include Baltimore (15), which hosts the next jewel of the Triple Crown, Washington (18), New York (22), Philadelphia (27) and Chicago (30), all areas with race tracks and large populations.

In the past our Top 10 ranking has held up during the Preakness, where we finished fifth last year. We'll see if our fair city can continue to hold up against the larger markets.

Here's a look at the top 10 markets:

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets @EquiSpace.

Former NBA player and Syracuse product John Wallace was in Western New York to speak to youngsters:

News Sports Reporter Rodney McKissic interviewed former NBA player John Wallace during his visit to Buffalo:

Considering the parity in the National Lacrosse League this season, we all expected an unusual playoff run. But the championship game ought to be memorable if only for its location.

The Washington Stealth will host the Rochester Knighthawks on Saturday night. But the game won't be played in the Stealth's usual arena. It's booked for the weekend. It won't even be played in the United States. The Stealth opted to move its game to Langley, British Columbia, where some NLL exhibition games will be played. I believe the building holds about 5,500, and it will be interesting to see how many fans make the drive up.

Plan B was moving the game back to Rochester. About six years ago, Rochester's arena was booked for the night of the final, and the Knighthawks couldn't find a location in upstate New York. So it was off to Phoenix. This time, the NLL Board of Governors accepted Langley as a suitable location.

I like the way Rochester is playing defense right now, so I'd have to lean toward the Knighthawks. If you remember, Rochester and Washington opened the season against each other out West, and now they get to close the show.

Elsewhere, some of you may know that I have a Bandits' history web site. When I first started covering the team, I realized I didn't know anything about the history of the franchise ... and there was no place to find the information. Therefore, I wrote it myself.

Updating it each year is something of a fun assignment, in part because I have the chance to include a few videos. Makes the story-telling part a little different. Feel free to visit it at: http://banditshistory.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-2012-13-season.html

And tell your lacrosse-loving friends.

--- Budd Bailey