Horse Racing News is the source of thoroughbred racing information with horse racing odds, betting tips, racing picks, race results, and handicapping. Latest news and articles on top horse racing contenders, jockeys, trainers, three-year-olds, race tracks, and major stakes races such as the Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes as well as the Breeders' Cup horse races.A festive Saturday at Lone Star Park for the Preakness Stakes
Posted on Friday, May 19th, 2006
Runaway Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, who improved his record to a perfect six wins in six starts, will strive to remain unbeaten Saturday when he headlines the middle jewel of horse racing’s coveted Triple Crown–the 131st Preakness Stakes from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. On Wednesday (May 17), he landed post No. 6 in the field of nine 3-year-olds and was made the even-money morning line favorite.
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For North Texans, the next best place to watch and wager on the Preakness is Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie. Preakness Stakes Day is always one of the busiest days of Lone Star’s 66-date Spring Thoroughbred Season, filled with plenty of fanfare.
The typical Preakness Stakes Day crowd of about 12,000 is a mix of serious horseplayers and numerous novices. Many will be cheering home Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro. Others will try to beat him with one of his eight rivals: Brother Derek (3-1), Sweetnorthernsaint (4-1), Bernardini (8-1), Like Now (12-1), Greeley’s Legacy (20-1), Diabolical (30-1), Hemingway’s Key (30-1) and Platinum Couple (50-1). Together, they have a common goal: to cash a winning ticket.
At approximately 5:14 p.m. CT between Lone Star’s eighth and ninth live races, the anxious crowd will stop down and focus on the giant outdoor JumboTron as Barbaro enters the starting gate for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness–the shortest of the three races that comprise the Triple Crown.
But even before the race is run, Lone Star will be bustling with activity. In addition to 12 live races, there’ll be live music and entertainment.
Saturday marks the return of Margarita Madness in the outdoor Courtyard of Champions area, courtesy of Jose Cuervo. Patrons can enjoy ice-cold frozen margaritas while grooving to live music by Panamania from noon to 4 p.m. The Robo Surfer, a beach bum’s version of the mechanical bull, will also be on hand to simulate wave riding for courageous landlocked locals.
The featured live race is the $40,000 Connecting Terms Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf test for 3-year-olds and up that haven’t won a stakes race this year. The Donnie K. Von Hemel-trained Waupaca, a winner of this race last season and four other stakes in his five-year career, hopes to use the race as a springboard to the Grade III, $200,000 Dallas Turf Cup on June 17. The 6-year-old Forest Wildcat horse has been entered and scratched twice this season when rain forced turf races to an "off" main track.
Weather forecasts this weekend call for sunny skies with temperatures in the 90s.
The daylong betting bonanza–almost $2.3 million was bet at Lone Star last year, including $622,083 on the Preakness Stakes alone–begins early. Serious horseracing fans will get to the racetrack’s simulcast center, the Post Time Pavilion, when doors open early at 8:30 a.m., one hour before the first simulcast race from Pimlico. Grandstand gates open at 11:30 a.m. and the first live race is set for 1:35 p.m. CT (the 12th and final race is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. CT).
Patrons should call 972/263-7669 to reserve seating.
"A festive Saturday at Lone Star Park for the Preakness Stakes" was posted on Friday, May 19th, 2006 at 9:40 am and is filed under Horse Racing Industry, Pimlico Track, Preakness Stakes, Race Tracks News, Stakes Races, USA Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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