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Preakness Stakes 2007 top contenders
Preakness Stakes 2007 top contenders and odds to win the 2nd leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland.
Street Sense won the Derby by 2 1/4 lengths closing from 19 lengths off the pace. Street Sense's "out of the clouds" running style is a negative at Pimlico, as Preakness Stakes winners are rarely more than 10 lengths off the pace at any call in the race. As well, he has 1 point in the professional wing of his dosage profile, which also earns him a knock. He scored on all other factors, so his two knocks dropped him below the top two who have 1 knock each.
Hard Spun made all the running at Churchill Downs only to be caught by favorite Street Sense in the stretch drive, and his trainer Larry Jones is confident because regular rider Mario Pino is the winningest rider in Maryland. His runner-up effort in the Derby earned him a 107 Beyer, giving him an edge on Curlin in that category. However, Hard Spun's front-running style is not preferred in the Preakness Stakes 2007, as explained above, which is his only knock giving him eight total points, tied with Curlin.
Curlin was the highly regarded but lightly raced horse who was the second choice on the board in Louisville, and despite many knocks in that race, finished a respectable third. That effort makes him a contender here. The Derby was Curlin's 3rd start as a 3-year-old, he has 2 stakes wins this year (Rebel and Arkansas Derby), his running style is in the preferred range (stalker or "shallow" closer, not more than 10 lengths back) , and he has no professional points in his dosage profile. His only knock is that he still has not run a 106 Beyer which is the par for Preakness Stakes winners. His best effort was a 103 in the Arkansas Derby, and he regressed to 98 in the Kentucky Derby.
Tags: Preakness, Preakness Stakes, 2007 Preakness Stakes
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