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****Undercard plays at the bottom****

With Sovereignty out, looks like a watered-down Preakness again this year and its obvious a change is needed to the structure of the Triple Crown as horses need more than 2 weeks’ turnaround time.

We will hope for change in the years to come and perhaps the traditionalists will finally cave.

The Preakness is not my strongest leg of the 3 races but let’s give it a go with some tepid bets, saving the large bankroll for the Belmont.

Journalism looks like a strong favorite and if he is 100% fit he should win easily. A famous jockey once said of horses coming off short layoffs: “Regardless of how he looked before the race I never really knew how much was in the tank until I asked him at the top of the stretch”. Lets hope the tank is half-full on SAT because he is by far the best horse in the race and if he shows up, he should romp vs. a weak field that resembles a Grade 2 or 3 race. We will play him as a back stop superfecta hedge in the event he rolls home in front as the strong 6-5 favorite.

One of my strongest angles in the toolshed is the fresh face in a field of donkeys, which usually works well in the maiden claiming races. The quality of this field is terrible and most of the horses on the TC trail don’t really excite me. So, let’s pivot and go in a different direction, pulling a page from this strong angle in the database.

The two fresh faces that intrigue me most are Clever Again and Heart of Honor.

8 – Clever Again (5-1) – Sold for half mil as a yearling and made a big splash as a 2YO in a maiden race at KEE early in his 2YO campaign. Then went to the sidelines and came back and won 2 easy races at Oaklawn. I think there is some hidden talent here and tons of stamina on the dam side which makes him a candidate to play spoiler. Love the post draw as well and may get the stalk and pounce trip, flanking the 1 and 3 early. If he was skipping the Preakness and heading to the Belmont I would be all over him as the pedigree says, “run all day” and will have a future on the turf. And, if he has the lead turning for home, the only one running by him is Journalism. Lots to like and he is a fresh face in a field devoid of talent, outside of the race favorite.

MUSH ALERT !!!

The biggest downside for this guy is that he could possibly be the proverbial wise guy horse, and my guess is we might see the so-called experts on NBC TV like Eddie O and Matty B make Clever Again their top pick, which will be the ultimate cooler for us. Randy Moss may even like him too. It’s almost a lock that the NBC crew will be all over this horse. And, if so, you can go ahead and tear up your tickets, and tell your buddies “We’ve been MUSHED” !!!!

4 – Heart of Honor (12-1) – Another fresh face and has been pointing to this race since his nose defeat in the UAE Derby. Connections have had success bringing horses over from Europe as they almost pulled a shocker in the 2014 BC Classic with Toast of NY. I like a few things here: First he always shows up. In 6 races he has never finished worse than 2^nd. Secondly, he has had some time off to develop and is well rested coming off a 6-week break. The breeding is there as well as Honor AP and the Scat Daddy dam side is the perfect combination of stamina and speed. And lastly, he added blinkers in the last race and was able to stay closer to the early pace as a result, which gives him a more tactical trip for the Preakness. No one is talking about this horse so I can see the 12-1 turning into 18-1 come post time. Will mainly play underneath but he is worth a saver win bet in the event he is primed for an A plus effort. Biggest downside might be the jock, as an unknown commodity.

The underneath horses to clunk up for 3^rd or 4^th could likely be Sandman (7) and Gosger (9). The Tik Tok crew really showed up in KY for Sandman and made him one of the worst betting propositions – without reason – since My Boy Jack about a decade ago. Any kind of pace develops and these are two clunk up candidates for the minors.

Betting the Preakness:

We will play it like this:

• $25 win bet – 8
• $10 win bet – 4
• $2 TRI box – 2-4-8 = $12
• $1 super 2 with 4-8 with 4-8-7-9 with 4-8-7-9 = $12
• $3 super 8 with 2 with 4 with 7-9 = $6

Total investment = $65

Undercard Plays

I love the undercard today and my strongest plays are below !!! Fire away !!!

GOOD LUCK !!!!

Race 8 – Chick Lang

• 10 – Touchy 8-1 – Gets dream set up with fast pace
• 7 – Faster Gator 6-1 – May change tactics and take on stalker role

Race 9 – Jim McKay

• 4 – Witty 10-1 – Greatest value of the day – loves soft turf – gets nice set up with the abundance of speed in race
• 1 – Boats a Rockin 20-1 – speed of speed, could hit the board at number.

Race 10 – Sir Barton

• 9 – Just a Fair Shake 6-1 – Benefits from fast pace – has the talent
• 8 – Authentic Gallop 8-1 – Only other closer in race

Race 11 – James Murphy

• 5 – End of Romance 9-2 – Will like footing
• 3 – Clock Tower 5-1 – May try to wire a field that is lacking pace