Hey! Did y’all watch the Kentucky Derby last Saturday? Great race from Justify who, in my very humble opinion, ran a better race than American Pharoah did back in 2015. Does this mean he’ll win the Triple Crown? Impossible to say. Nyquist also ran a good Derby in 2016, but looked tired at the end of the Preakness and lost to Exaggerator. Last year’s winner, Always Dreaming, ran a Derby race similar to Justify, but faded badly in the Preakness running out of steam half way through the last turn. For many Kentucky Derby winners, the Preakness, run only a short two weeks after the Derby, has proven to be their nemesis. There is, however, one Derby winner who lost the Preakness through no fault of their own and that is Winning Colors, only the third filly in Kentucky Derby history to win the “Run for the Roses” (Regret won in 1915 and Genuine Risk in 1980), and that was because the boys ganged up on her. Guess they were angry at losing the Kentucky Derby to a filly (she went wire to wire in that race, by the way.) In spite of being bumped around in the Preakness, she still managed to finish a respectable third.
Only 34 Kentucky Derby winners have gone on to win the Preakness, and only 12 have gone on to win the Triple Crown. Will Justify be number 13? Only time will tell. See you May 19th at the Preakness!
