Preakness....

I'll be gone for awhile this afternoon. It is Preakness day and I haven't missed one in better than 20 years. Perhaps this will be the year for a Triple Crown. It is long due for another winner. What a pity we can't run Shadowfax, then there would be no doubt. Best of luck to Fusaichi Pegasus!

Yay!! I am a horse racing fan too.....at least I like to go the track. I live in Louisville, and this was the first year that I didn't got to The Kentucky Derby in almost 10 years. I went instead to The Kentucky Oaks....Derby Day for the locals. I too am hoping for a Triple Crown Winner. I thought for sure we would have had one with one Bob Baffert's horses...oh well.

Good Luck Fusaichi Pegasus!!

No Triple Crown Winner this year. Fusaichi Pegasus came in second....Red Bullet was first, and Impeachment was third.

Oh, Drat!
I had sure hoped we would get one more before the Millennium officially ended. Oh well, there's always next year, I always say
I envy you, Anduin. I'd sure like to see Kentucky one year, preferably for the Derby weekend, of course. What fun to actually live there and enjoy the sport! Now I'll have to wait for the Breeder's Cup and maybe get a jump on next year's crop of horses.

I do enjoy going to the track, and it is a great place to take out-of-towners. But I don't keep up with horse racing, so to speak. I do think that the Breeder's Cup is going to be held here at Churchill Downs, at least it has in the past. BTW, do you live in Baltimore?

Nope, Texas. Have always had to follow it on TV and be glad of the coverage

I actually watched the race. My grandfather is staying here for the weekend, and he watched it. I caught it just before the race started. But I dont get it...the race is so SHORT!!! I thought it would be longer than that. It has so much hype, but lasts 2 minutes! I expected more than that.

No, it doesn't take long. To paraphrase, the most exciting 2 minutes in sports.
In my opinion, the significance doesn't appear until it is viewed as one race of 3. To capture the Triple Crown(which requires a great, versatile horse, I don't care what anyone says) a horse must be capable of running to differing strategies, since each race requires something different of them. To my mind, the Preakness emphasizes speed more than the other two-a horse has got to be able to make it to the front and then have the strength to stay there, holding off all challengers, or he has to be able to overcome the leader in the stretch. I know that this is the basis of all racing, but this one more than the others.
There is too much hype for what is shown--the networks used to show other races on the card before the main race and I miss that, so thanks to ESPN for admitting to the general public that there are more races than the one. Also remember that after the Kentucky Derby, the winner is usually hyped to an excessive degree because people want to see another Triple Crown winner and all those involved with the race coverage have to put their two cents in and justify their phoney-baloney jobs.
If you watch the final leg in 3 weeks, the Belmont, the hype should be off now, since the Triple won't happen this year. Had Fusaichi Pegasus won the Preakness, then the Belmont would have been at a fever pitch, and with good reason. The next one will require strength and power to win and it will be the hard one.
I have to admit, when Red Bullet came out on the track for the race yesterday, I remembered about Man O' War and at that moment, I would have regretted any bet made on Fu-Peg to win. He didn't run in the Derby either, and look how that ended. I'll bet there aren't many people around who even remember who won the Derby that year(Big Red's year I mean, not Fu-Peg).
But I digress, as usual on this subject, so I will close this while I am ahead.

If you ever do make it to Kentucky, you should try to make it to Lexington too. That is where most great race horses are born and trained, and the countryside is beautiful will all of the pristine horse farms. Also Kentucky Horse Park is located in Lexington, and there I believe, Man O'War is buried.