2011 Preakness
Everyone knows and respects the Derby contenders that are
making their way to the Preakness sound and unscathed. They all remember how
game Mucho Macho Man and Shackleford were, as they charged down the lane in the
Kentucky Derby. They all remember how Dialed In came from 19th, and a
whole other zip code, to finish 8th. And, of course, we all remember
how Animal Kingdom ran them all off their feet to take it all at the wire.
However, it would seem most people are ignoring the new shooters coming into
the Preakness, especially one colt who has yet to deliver upon his potential,
Astrology.
Astrology showed flashes of brilliance as a juvenile, while winning his maiden in his second start, beating future graded stakes winners To Honor
and Serve and Anthony’s Cross, before winning the grade three Iroquois Stakes.
However, it seems that at first glance, the son of AP Indy has delivered more disappointments
than celebrations. He finished third in his stakes debut, and after his Iroquois
victory he has finished second three consecutive times. Nonetheless, one has to wonder, even though
these may have been disappointing efforts to the bettors, were they really
disappointments at all?
In his three year old debut, Astrology faced the daunting
task of running nine furlongs after a four month layoff. The colt got floated 3
wide on the first turn and made a big move on the fina turn only to flatten out in
the last sixteenth of the race. However, one has to take into consideration that he was making his first
start in four months and needed the race badly. In his second start of the year,
Astrology got caught in traffic early on which possibly delayed him in making his move on the lead. Once he got in the clear he dug in and leveled off nicely to nip his stablemate,
Justin Phillip, for the place.
Coming into the Preakness colt has been working very well at
Churchill Downs. Two works back he breezed six panels in a snappy 1.12.4. The
Preakness will be his third race off a layoff as well, which typically is when
horses tend to hit 100% after an extended layoff. Another thing to like about
Astrology is his royal pedigree. His sire, AP Indy, over a Quiet American mare is the
same type of cross that brought us the dazzling Bernardini, who also won the
Preakness in 2006.
While most eyes will be on the Derby returnees, I would
advise everyone to not overlook a potentially dangerous new shooter like Astrology.
He has no negatives coming into the race, only upside. Be prepared for this
grand looking colt to finally deliver a performance worthy of lofty status.