The 142nd running of the Preakness Stakes is in the books, and those who were hoping for the potential of a Triple Crown were disappointed. It was slated to be a duel between Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and Classic Empire, and that was the case until the third quarter of the race, when Cloud Computing surprised the field by capturing the win.
Preakness Stakes Morning Odds
Always Dreaming came in as a 4/5 favourite the morning of the race, while Classic Empire was next at 3/1. The post positions lent a little extra drama to the proceedings, as the two contenders were drawn right next to each other, with Always Dreaming in the fourth gate and Classic Empire in the fifth gate.
The two favourites went head-to-head at the beginning of the race, with Always Dreaming holding on to first by a head, but he couldn’t hold on to Classic Empire, who pulled ahead of the Kentucky Derby winner in the last turn. Classic Empire took a deep lead in the latter stages of the race, and it looked like he would win until Cloud Computing (12/1) made a late run coming into the final turn. He chased down Classic Empire in the final stretch and beat him by a head.
Shooter Victory
Having skipped the Kentucky Derby, Cloud Computing was a shooter, and he was the fourth shooter in the last 34 years to win the Preakness. He had fresher legs down the stretch, and that led him to capture his second win in four career starts. It was the first Triple Crown win for trainer Chad C. Brown, who won last year’s Eclipse Trainer of the Year award. And it was the second Triple Crown win for jockey Javier Castellano, who won the Preakness in 2006 with Bernardini – another shooter.
Now, it’s on to the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown. All of the horses from the Preakness seemed to be healthy following the race, so it’ll be interesting to see which trainers and owners will decide to hold their horses and which will enter them. A lot of big races are left in the season, and with the Triple Crown off the table, some handlers might start looking past the Belmont. The 2017 Belmont Stakes will be run on Saturday, June 10.