The Preakness; Kegasus!
 

Is, oddly enough, shaping up to be the most interesting race of the year.

Besides the Derby horses going there, I've recently read from the connections of both Cal Nation and Maclean's Music that the Preakness is on their radar.

I'd also not be surprised if Bind showed up there as well.

Will Uncle Mo get redemption after flopping in the Derby? Stay tuned.

Cal Nation simply isn't competitive in the Preakness right now... he won an empty MSW race at GP. He came back in what looked like a sneaky tough spot - an N1X alw race where both his stablemate and a 17/1 outsider had clearly superior pace numbers to him. He did not respond well to having to work a lot harder early on at grossly overbet odds. A two-turn cutback with better pace numbers beat him in surprsingly weak time.

Maclean's Music should not be rushed to make the Preakness. He is not freaking Curlin. If they handle him like a sprinter and don't rush him - he will be a much better sprinter than a Curlin ever was as a router.

yeah i didn't understand the hype behind why winstar plots out a course for a nx1 horse, or why bloodhorse feels the need to make it its top story.

as far as Maclean's music goes, i think distance will be an issue for him... regardless if he's in the preakness or not.

As of right now there are 3 horses pointing for the Preakness

Cal Nation
Norman Asbjornson
Bandbox

I thought Cal Nations maiden race was massively overrated. Nevertheless, it still makes for an interesting race.

I understand Bandbox pointing to the Preakness, as he ran a few times at 2 and has been doing fairly well on the Maryland circuit.

But why are these "late bloomer"-types (Bind, Maclean's Music, etc.) who would be hard pressed (and likely ruined) to make the Derby somehow viable Preakness candidates?

It's only 1/2 a furlong shorter and only 2 weeks after the Derby. Is that enough cushion to bring them "up to speed"? I wouldn't think so.

These horses should be targeting the Haskell and Travers if they even prove to be route horses in the first place.

It's the earnings thing.

Say hello to Kegasus...

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/b...t-of-the-year/

I wonder if he could have won the Sunland Derby.

Not sure.

Personally am too busy trying to figure out if he was based on anyone around here... :eek: :D

(Kidding).

:eek:

Here is the Baltimore Sun Version:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/b...,4896905.story

But wait.. there's more!

http://www.theinfieldfest.com/

That's incredible marketing! :eek:

At least we know RH10 is ok

They don't call it the sport of kings for nothing. :p

How appropriate will it be when Bruno Mars sings "Grenade?"

Please God make it stop!

Howard Wolfendale looks so different with that wig on......

Kegasus is pretty awesome.

I heard he's hung like a horse.

:D That's classic!

The Preakness does a great job of using clever advertising! I love Kegasus! Last year it was "Get Your Preak On!"

only in MD



-bt-

I keep getting the feeling a roomful of potheads are coming up with these marketing campaigns.

The craziest idea they ever had was to end BYOB. That move absolutely killed their revenue from that day. It was tantamount to putting bacon on every sandwich at Jewish deli and then wondering why you aren't selling anything.

Face the facts. People are by nature animals. I have been to eleven runnings of the Preakness. It had begun to get worse in the infield. I can understand wanting to rid the infield of the full beer can toss that had become a staple. People were getting hurt. However, they should have rolled out Kegasus and the $20 bottomless plastic mug that first year they killed BYOB.

This marketing campaign isn't crazy, the fact that they had to lose millions of dollars before launching it is CRAZY.

Godspeed MJC.

Crabsfest.


Pay me.

Oh, and he tweets!!!

http://twitter.com/#!/allhailkegasus

AllHailKegasus Kegasus
Bedtime is always a conflict. My top half wants to lie down, but my bottom half sleeps standing. Goodnight Twitter world. Catch ya in the AM

Frank DeFrancis just rolled over in his grave. In any case, I love the name Kegasus. But, when I saw the mascot I nearly puked. It's silly and tactless.

Freddy Mo's pic would have been nice as the mascot.

I think they need a couple more shovels on the wall.....................fairly lame.

All it will take is one alcohol/drug induced 'incident' to happen and then Kegasus will go the way of "Down with Disco Night"

What a gut. Kegasus needs to lay off the grain...alcohol.

I completely disagree. People were eventually going to die because of the BYOB policy. I'd rather lose out on 20-30k in attendance who spend virtually nothing on betting than have a bazillion dollar wrongful death lawsuit.

i guess mjc has someone else to blame now when they run out of beer for their "bottomless" beer mugs by the 3rd race again this year....
this coming from a state who's just now getting slots..... it all makes sense


-bt-

And just now getting slots...that are at the mall and not the racetrack. Just brilliant stuff.

How can you say disagree when I said BYOB was removed to eliminate danger from full cans being tossed? You can still get plowed only you don't have to carry it in now. You may still have a wrongful death suit. On that topic, it is called insurance. You pay for it, so use it once in a while.

As for the lost revenue, it is more than gambling. Tix cost about $60 bucks and then the people buy beer, food, memorabilia, etc. I bet each infield head is valued at near $100 to MJC. That multiplied by the near 50k drop caused by the change in policy adds up to $5M. You can chose to lose whatever you want, but MJC and MD racing needs the $5M.

You honestly think MJC lost $5 million by not allowing 22 year olds from Dundalk to bring in as many cases of beer as they could carry? Really?

Having seen the yokels that end up in the infield on many an occasion, I'd say the average amount brought to MJC from infield patrons was roughly 37 cents a head. Those dummies weren't buying cotton candy and Preakness t-shirts when they had 96 meisterbraus on their person.

The short answer is yes. The long answer would involve breaking down your obvious ignorance and prejudice and I won't waste my time.

Oh no, I'd love to hear about how the kids from Glen Burnie were spending $40 per head by your estimate on top of the $60 ticket price on memorabilia and refreshments, let alone betting. You've clearly never been in the Preakness infield before, nor is math your strong suit. But yeah, I'm ignorant and prejudiced.

And from what year to what year did the Preakness attendance decline by 50k?

ETA: a Thoroughbred Times article detailing how Preakness attendance has never dipped more than 35-ishk in the last dozen years. Moreover, the article also discusses how handle was down in 2010 despite a substantial increase in attendance. So yeah, I'm sure those Baltimore County kids are spending a ton on things other than $20 all you can drink beers when they show up at the track.

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/nat...ss-stakes.aspx