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| May 19, 2006 | Friday | Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1427 |
Kentucky winner Barbaro favourite: Preakness Stake
BALTIMORE (Maryland,) May 18: Unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was made an even-money favourite for Saturday's Preakness after drawing the sixth starting spot in the nine-horse field Wednesday.
The one million-dollar showdown at Pimlico is the second jewel in American horse racing's Triple Crown, which began with Barbaro's 6 1/2-length triumph at the Derby and concludes with next month's Belmont Stakes at New York.
No horse has swept the treble since Affirmed in 1978 but Barbaro, set to make his seventh career start, could become the fourth horse in five years to reach Belmont with a chance at the Triple Crown.
Trained for former US equestrian Olympian Michael Matz and ridden by Edgar Prado, Barbaro's overwleming victory at Churchill Downs helped keep the field small for this 1 3/16ths of a mile event.
Even if all nine horses start, this will be the smallest field since 2000.
Brother Derek, in a dead heat for fourth at the Derby, is the second choice among oddsmakers at 3-1 with weetnorthernsaint, seventh as the Derby favourite, at 4-1 and starting just outside Barbaro. Bernadini is next at 8-1.
Like Now is at 12-1 with Greeley's Legacy at 20-1 and both Diabolical and Hemingway's Key, a horse owned by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, at 30-1. Platinum Couple is the longshot at 50-1.—Reuters
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