As Preakness Approaches American Pharoah Negative Buzz Surfaces

One of the great things about covering racing as a blogger now instead of as a reporter is that I can write whole posts around something a couple unnamed sources said. My grandfather’s folk called that grist for the mill back when his folk worked in a mill.

Anyway, Preakness Stakes week in Baltimore is different from Kentucky Derby week in Louisville. Whereas in Kentucky, many members of the local press corps fashion themselves as horse racing experts, the Mid-Atlantic once-a-year contingent is happy to yield thoughts on physical presence and husbandry to those who do this for a living.

So when I do hear some chatter about how a horse looks in his first appearance at Old Hilltop—particularly the odds on Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands winner—I try to listen.

Some anti American Pharoah buzz this morning

— Ed DeRosa (@EJXD2) May 14, 2015

The two comments that prompted the above tweet were, “American Pharoah was working awfully hard out there” and “He looks worse here than he did Kentucky Derby week; He’s a different horse.”

I am only reporting what I heard. It will not affect my approach to the race, which is to pick American Pharoah “on top”, but in a week full of drama with changing owners and post positions what’s a little more?

In other Thursday-morning-of-Preakness-week news, Danzig Moon is a horse that seemed to catch people’s eye. He’s the “price horse” (i.e. not one of the top three choices) I’m most interested in. He was out of his element early in the Derby and ran well late.