Big Brown 1-to-9?
The Preakness always is the most riveting Triple Crown race, because it’s the only race among the three that always matters.
The sad truth about horse racing is that the sport in the mainstream-American landscape has been reduced to these three races, which ultimately come down to a race for the elusive Triple Crown.
Which makes the Kentucky Derby virtually irrelevant. Some horse has to win. It’s not a horse anyone cares about except for the human-interest stories told the week or two before the Derby. It’s not a horse any of us ever heard of until the Derby coverage. About all we have to go on are the horses’ names.
So some horse wins the Derby, and then the intrigue starts. Can that same horse win the Preakness? That makes the Preakness always more interesting than the Derby. Because in the Preakness, you can cheer for, or against, a Triple Crown opportunity.
That also makes the Belmont Stakes often irrelevant. If the Derby winner doesn’t win the Preakness, the Belmont becomes two-plus minutes of who-cares. If the Derby winner does win the Preakness, then the Belmont owns the title of most fascinating horse race of the season.
But today might challenge that theory. Big Brown is a 1-to-9 favorite in the Preakness. That’s the crazies odds I’ve ever seen. That means you bet $9 to win back $1 extra. Those odds have to start climbing, just for pure math purposes.
Which means the Preakness today can’t lose. It’s either going to have a horse that sets up a Triple Crown chance, or it’s going to have one of the biggest upsets in history.
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