Small Preakness Field Features only 1 Horse from the Kentucky Derby: Mage

The Preakness Stakes is Saturday and only one horse from the Kentucky Derby is entered in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Don’t worry if you’re having a hard time recognizing the horses running in Saturday’s 148^th Preakness Stakes from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Don’t adjust your eyes, scratch your head or begin pawing through past issues of the Daily Racing Form, because you didn’t recognize any of these horses from the Kentucky Derby.

Those of you who watched the Derby two weeks ago will recognize one name in the Preakness field—Mage. Yes, the Derby champion at 15-1 became the 8-5 Preakness favorite among the eight-horse field running the second leg of the Triple Crown.

He also became the only horse of the 18 entering the Churchill Downs starting gate for the Derby 12 days ago who enters the Pimlico starting gate for the 1 3/16-mile test. That’s the first time since the current Triple Crown schedule was set in 1969 that only one Derby horse went on to the Preakness. It’s also the smallest Preakness field since 2018, when Derby winner Justify scared off many of his classmates en route to the Triple Crown.

The reason? Let’s go to David Fiske, the racing manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds. He and trainer Steve Asmussen decided not to run Disarm, the fourth-place horse in the Derby, this weekend. Instead, Fiske and Asmussen are pointing Disarm to the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes in July and the Grade 1 Travers in August. Both races are at Saratoga.

“Disarm is doing great, but it would have been his fourth race in 56 days,” Fiske told BloodHorse. “It’s not 1988. We don’t do that stuff anymore.”

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Too Little Time Between Derby, Preakness

No. It’s 2023 and running horses two weeks apart-is frowned upon in the horse racing establishment. So no Disarm. No Two Phil’s, the Derby runner-up. No Angel of Empire, the post-time favorite, who finished third. Who’s left to answer Saturday’s call to post?

Well, unlike last year, when 80-1 freak-show Derby winner Rich Strike’s connections blew off the Preakness so he could finish sixth in the eight-horse Belmont Stakes three weeks later, we do have the Derby champion answering the bell. Like Rich Strike last year, Mage capitalized on a fast, early pace, surging from 16th place to capture the Derby for his second career victory in four starts and first since breaking his maiden in his January debut at Gulfstream Park.

In between, Mage finished fourth in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and a solid second by a length to Forte in the Grade 1 Florida Derby. He’s a stalker/closer who hasn’t been closer than fourth at any call in his last three races.

Mage runs right into two Preakness trends that aren’t his friend. The last three Preakness winners: filly Swiss Skydiver in 2020, Rombauer in 2021 and Early Voting last year, all bypassed the Derby, although in Swiss Skydiver’s case, she ran the Kentucky Oaks the previous day. There hasn’t been a Derby ex-pat win the Preakness since War of Will in 2019.

The second headwind trend for Mage is his favored status. Justify at 2-5 was the last favorite to win the Preakness. One of his vanquished foes was Good Magic, Mage’s sire. Since then, you’ve got War of Will (6.10-1), Swiss Skydiver (11-1), Rombauer (11-1) and Early Voting (5.70-1). Go back to 2017 and you find another horse who blew off Derby week who found the Pimlico winner’s circle: Cloud Computing at 13-1.

Other Contenders to Consider

That brings us to some of those new shooters to watch, starting with First Mission, the 5-2 second choice. The son of 2007 Derby winner Street Sense, who lost the Preakness by a nose to Curlin, First Mission hasn’t exactly run the A-list Derby preps, featuring only the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes on his CV. That’s the third and last of the three races on his record.

But when he has run, First Mission has made it his mission to hit the board: two firsts and a second in those three races. That includes his half-length score in the Lexington, one that came with a 98 Beyer Speed Figure. It also includes his 6 ¾-length dissection of a March Fair Grounds maiden special weight. First Mission’s pressing style is ideal for the Preakness.

The pace he’s likely to press comes from National Treasure (4-1). You’ll see the Bob Baffert—yes, Baffert is back in the Triple Crown hunt, seeking his record eighth Preakness—charge bolt from his post position the moment the gates open. But National Treasure hasn’t brought pleasure to his high-profile owners, who paid $500,000 for him as a yearling. He hasn’t found the winner’s circle since breaking his maiden at first ask last September at Del Mar.

Since then, National Treasure has a second, two thirds—including one in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile—and a fourth in the Santa Anita Derby for his efforts.