The field for the race included ten horses, led by Always Dreaming, the winner of the 2017 Kentucky Derby. Always Dreaming arrived at Pimlico on May 9 and was put in Stall 40 of the Preakness Stakes Barn, which is traditionally reserved for the Derby winner. His main challenger was expected to be Classic Empire, who finished fourth in the Derby despite being heavily bumped at the start. Other leading entries include Lookin at Lee (2nd in the Derby), Gunnevera (7th) and Hence (11th).[6]Cloud Computing had qualified for the Derby in the 2017 Road to the Kentucky Derby point system, but his connections decided to bypass that race to focus on the Preakness.[7]
The field also included several horses who did not qualify for the Derby, including Conquest Mo Money, who had to be supplemented to the Preakness at a cost of $150,000 as he had not been nominated to the Triple Crown series earlier in the year.[8] Royal Mo was originally scheduled to enter the Preakness but injured himself during a workout and was retired.[9]
The draw for post positions was held on May 17. Rivals Always Dreaming and Classic Empire drew posts 4 and 5, setting up a head-to-head matchup of the two morning line favorites.[10][11]
Race description
Despite rain the night before the race, the track dried out over the course of the day and was listed as fast for the Preakness. The race drew a record crowd of 140,327 beating the previous year's record of 135,256.[12] The pari-mutuel take of $97,168,658 for the entire day's races also broke the previous record of $94,127,424 from 2016.[13]
Cloud Computing (on the outside) closes ground on Classic Empire (on the rail) as they near the finish line
Always Dreaming and Classic Empire went to the early lead and set a solid pace while Cloud Computing rated a few lengths behind in third. Around the final turn, Classic Empire surged to the lead, but Always Dreaming tired and dropped back. In mid-stretch, Classic Empire had a three-length lead and looked the likely winner before Cloud Computing angled out from traffic and started closing ground rapidly. Classic Empire tried to rally but could not hold off Cloud Computing, who won by a head.[1][14]
Cloud Computing became just the fourth horse in the last 34 years to win the Preakness after not having raced in the Derby. The last horse to do so was the filly Rachel Alexandra in 2009.[14] It was the first win of a Triple Crown race for his trainer Chad Brown and the second for jockey Javier Castellano, who was riding the colt for the first time.[15][16] It was also the first Preakness win for owners Seth Klarman of Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence. Having grown up in Baltimore just a few blocks away from Pimlico, Klarman called the win incredibly special. "I think possibly some of the reason we won today was because we were patient and didn't throw an inexperienced horse against a 20-horse field in the Derby on a very difficult track", he said.[2]
"I'm not going to dispute the fact that I brought in a fresh horse as part of our strategy", said Brown. "Classic Empire and Always Dreaming are two outstanding horses and our strategy was, if we were going to ever beat them, let's take them on two weeks' rest when we have six, and it worked."[15]
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