Preakness 5.5: What would you do?
 

If you qualify, would you skip the Derby and just run in the Preakness for 5.5 milly?

To earn the bonus, a horse must first win the Holy Bull or Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream; the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields; or the Grade 2 Robert Lewis or Grade 2 San Felipe at Santa Anita. Those qualifiers must then win either the Grade 1 Florida Derby or Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby as a prelude to a victory in the Preakness.

there should be an option of "run in the Derby and skip the Preakness"

You run in the Derby.

It obviously depends on the connections, but I don't see how you don't at least consider skipping the Derby because of the cash involved.

I would point toward the Preakness .

It depends on what kind of horse I have... speedball who is unlikely to get 10f's I'd try and take advantage of Pimplico, the slightly shorter distance etc.

That said, I find it hard to believe, with the way the Derby has grown even just in the last decade, that most people would be able to skip it with a horse who was winning preps like those.

What am I missing? Why couldn't you run and possibly win both the Derby and the Preakness?

Yeah if you have a gelding MAYBE. No colt will ever miss the Derby.

What the what? Who is offering the bonus?

Because you need that 6 weeks or more to get that peak performance. ;)

If my horse is that good, I'm running him in the Derby unless he tells me otherwise.

Joe the Dude is pointing to the Belmont.

Is there a maiden 12500 at Parx, starter allowance at Penn, 25000 nw3 at Presque Isle, Belmont bonus available?

I'd find some soft G1 filly races out west and win 4 races so I could have the HOY.

Wow. Tough choice. Skip the Derby for a CHANCE at 5.5 million! I don't think that I would skip the Derby if I qualified for the Kentucky Derby. As a horseplayer I think the biggest dream is to win the Derby and I would have to take a shot at winning it if I could. One of the rare times in this game that money would matters less to me.

more:
http://www.drf.com/news/pursuit-prea...arts-holy-bull

didnt Spend A Buck skip the preakness to run at MP for a Bonus?

Wasn't it the Jersey Derby at Garden State?

I think you are right it was a Brennan special event..lol

Recently it seems that running in both has been the recipe for getting a good if not great effort in the Preakness. Other than last year (slop) the two weeks is perfect for most of them.

Three word history lesson, Spend A Buck.

Would definitely do it with a gelding or a filly...

It's not like the Derby purse is peanuts- $2M....no question I'd rather win the Derby-with or without the winners share, than have $5.5 million.

I honestly believe that for most owners, it isn't about the purse (sure a big payday is nice), but it's about winning (arguably) the biggest race out there. So the majority of them are always going to opt for the Derby, especially when you could win both races anyway.
But, you would think that if money was a real issue for an owner, it would probably never really come down to which race anyway. Because he/she would probably sell the horse and cash out before the Derby anyway.