Lookin At Lucky rebounded from a disappointing run in the Kentucky Derby to win the second leg of the Triple Crown by capturing the Preakness Stakes at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course. Bob Baffert’s entry finally got a decent post position and responded well to a jockey change as Martin Garcia turned in a perfect ride. Lookin At Lucky won by three quarters of a length over second place First Dude, with Jackson Bend finishing third.

In the muddy mess of a rain soaked Churchill Downs, jockey Calvin Borel continued his mastery of the track as he guided Super Saver to victory in the Kentucky Derby. Super Saver had gone off as an 8-1 choice behind 6-1 favorite Looking At Lucky, and Borel took the ‘Run For The Roses’ for the second consecutive year and an unprecedented third time in four years. Borel was aboard 50-1 longshot Mine That Bird in 2009 and rode Street Sense in 2007. In the only Derby Borel didn’t win in the last four years he finished in the money, guiding Denis of Cork to a third place finish in 2008.

The Kentucky Derby is now less than two weeks away but plenty of questions remain about which horses will make up the field for the 136th ‘run for the roses’. Many of these questions will be answered this coming weekend after the $200,000 Grade 3 Derby Trial scheduled for Saturday’s opening day at Churchill Downs. Eightyfiveinafifty and Pleasant Prince wouldn’t be likely to make the Derby field unless they pull off a win in the Derby Trial as the $200,000 top prize would vault them into the top twenty money earner list.

The Preakness Stakes is less than a week away, and horse race betting enthusiasts are still in the dark about which horses will run in the second leg of the Triple Crown. The field is developing in a similar fashion to the Kentucky Derby, with trainers and owners assessing their horses’ condition and form and deciding whether their best ‘career move’ is to participate in the 1 3/16 mile Grade 1 stakes event at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course or look elsewhere. The lineup for the Preakness is slowly beginning to take shape as the camps of several big name three year olds have made their plans known.

With the field set for the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby this Saturday, handicappers received a little more to work with as the post positions for the race were determined on Wednesday. Further muddying what was already a potentially wide open race due to the large 20 horse field, the two favorites were assigned historically difficult post positions. 3-1 favorite Looking At Lucky drew the rail, while the second choice in Kentucky Derby betting, 5-1 Sidney’s Candy will start from the outside post.

Although the Breeders’ Cup is now the ‘richest day in racing’, no horse racing event captures the imagination and attention of the general public like the Kentucky Derby. The annual ‘Run for the Roses’ is an event that transcends the sport, giving people who don’t otherwise follow horse racing a good excuse to have a party and to place a wager. Like other mega-events in other sports including the Superbowl and March Madness, the hype surrounding the Kentucky Derby frequently overshadows the actual horse race.