Bob Baffert’s National Treasure held back Blazing Sevens in a heart-pounding stretch battle to win the Preakness Stakes by a head on Saturday, just hours after the embellished fitness instructor’s go back to the Triple Crown phase after a two-year suspension was spoiled when among his horses was euthanized on the track.
“He battled the entire method,” stated John Velazquez, the Hall of Fame jockey who lastly broke his Preakness hoodoo after stopping working to win in his very first 12 efforts. “He set up an actually excellent battle. … That’s what champs do.”
Mage, the Kentucky Derby champ who went off as the 7-5 preferred, ended up third in the 1 3/16-mile race after discovering himself caught on the backstretch and being available in 2 1/4 lengths behind the front-running set. The 7 horses got in represented the tiniest Preakness field considering that 1986.
Baffert’s 8th win in the Preakness eclipsed the longstanding record of 7 very first set by RW Walden in the 1800s, however was delegated resist tears over in the winner’s circle over the most recent prominent equine death.
“Losing that horse previously truly injures,” Baffert stated. “It’s been a really psychological day.”
Earlier Saturday in the $200,000 Chick Lang Stakes, the Baffert-trained Havnameltdown broke down on the far turn and tossed jockey Luis Saez off his back prior to continuing to diminish the stretch.
The distressed three-year-old black colt was confined by veterinary personnel and led behind a black camping tent where he was put down, a grim scene that played out as Lil Jon’s Get Low dipped into ear-splitting volumes from a performance phase just a few hundred feet away in the infield.
“He sustained a truly extreme injury of his left front ankle,” track vet Scott Hay stated. “It was generally difficult to transfer him and they needed to euthanize him humanely on the premises right away.”
Saez, among the leading jockeys in the United States, was stretchered off the dirt course and taken by ambulance to a close-by Sinai Hospital for assessment, where track authorities stated he was mindful with complete motion of his extremities however experiencing leg discomfort.
“We never ever had a problem with him,” Baffert stated. “We do grieve when these things occur. There is absolutely nothing even worse than returning and the stall is empty. He is a good horse. He might not have actually been doing any much better.”
The Chick Lang was the 6th race on a 14-race card headlined by the Preakness, the middle gem of pedigreed racing’s Triple Crown and among the couple of days when the sport draws in traditional attention in the United States.
The casualty in Baltimore came just 2 weeks after the Kentucky Derby was eclipsed by the deaths of 7 horses at Louisville’s Churchill Downs in a 10-day period, consisting of 2 on the day of the race.
The 70-year-old Baffert was back in the spotlight following a two-year restriction from Churchill Downs coming from Medina Spirit’s removed win at the 2021 Kentucky Derby after checking favorable for betamethasone, a corticosteroid. Medina Spirit passed away after an exercise in December 2021.