Preakness Stakes week kicks off on Thursday afternoon at Laurel Park where they have a 9-race card that gets started at 12PM eastern. The Preakness will be run at Laurel for the first time since 1908 due to construction at Pimlico, so it should be a great chance if you have not yet done so to get familiar with a racetrack that will have a quicker run into the first turn for the second level of the Triple Crown and a bit shorter stretch than we are accustomed to. Here are a few horses I am most interested in to kick off the 3-day Preakness weekend.


Race 5:
This open $20k claimer at one-mile over the grass kicks off the late Pick 5 where I like the chances of #8 Barnstorming. The son of Quality Road was claimed by trainer Bruce Brown at Saratoga last summer. Brown raised the 6YO gelding up in class once at Saratoga where he won at 22-1 before heading to the sidelines for over 6 months. Brown brought him back on the main track at Aqueduct, which did not go well, but he moved Barnstorming back to the grass in late April where he tried to win a race over this course during the middle stages with a 3-wide middle move. That run was turned away relatively easily by the eventual gate-to-wire winner, but is not the kind of trip that stands much of a chance in most turf routes. The speed looks far less underwhelming in this spot and the cutback from 9-furlongs should benefit his chances. Hopefully, jockey Mychel Sanchez gives Barnstorming a better chance in his second time aboard.

Play: #8 Barnstorming (5-1 ML)


Race 7:
The pace should be fast and contentious in this allowance event at 6-furlongs over the main track given the presence of #2 Poor Peanut, #3 Laysen, and #6 Caseofthemondays. I am hopeful it is #1 Palacios that benefits. The son of Enticed makes his third start off the layoff after breaking slowly, making a 4-wide middle move, and understandably tiring over the final sixteenth of a mile. Trainer John Salzman Jr. should have the 3YO gelding set for his best third off the layoff in a race where he should get the right setup. If Joe Rocco Jr. can avoid losing too many lengths at the start he should be able to save ground early and have enough energy late to get by the tiring speeds and earn his third lifetime score.

Play: #1 Palacios (9-2 ML)


Race 9:
The card concludes with this 5.5-furlong turf dash for MSW foes where I landed on #8 Clearly Sophia. The On Your Left Racing filly makes the second start of her 3YO campaign after a solid third to shake off the rust on April 10. In that similar spot over this course, the daughter of Caravaggio broke from well from the inside, but was forced to take back because she was not as fast to the front as the eventual gate-to-wire winner. In her second start off the layoff, Clearly Sophia draws more favorably to the far outside in this compact group of 8. This should give jockey Raul Mena the ability to play the break and base his tactics on the runners to his inside. The Michael Gorham trainee should get a stress free trip early, which should allow her to finish the deal late for the first time in her career at what appears to be a playable price based on the morning line.

Play: #8 Clearly Sophia (5-1 ML)