Preakness Stakes 2018: Pimlico track conditions and weather
By Zoe West
This year the Preakness Stakes will be run under similar conditions to the Kentucky Derby, after a series of storms soaked (and continue to soak) the track.
On the morning of the Kentucky Derby, the track at Churchill Downs was listed as fast. That didn’t last. Before the races had even started the sky opened up. The track was downgraded, first to wet, then to muddy, then to sloppy by the time the Derby kicked off. The Preakness doesn’t have that uncertainty. The track for the Preakness will be sloppy,
It is raining in Baltimore, the site of the Pimlico race track. And it has been raining there on and off (mostly on) for a few days. The track has already been listed as wet or sloppy. Ironically enough, this might actually make the race easier to predict. That’s only because of the similarity the track will have to then Derby. The rain expectancy does go down this afternoon, but even if it does clear up completely by post time the track will still be very wet.
But again, this makes the race almost easier to predict for the Derby horses. We know that both Justify and Good Magic can run well in the wet, because they did just two weeks ago. How well the other Derby horses will end up in the mud is a little more questionable. They all finished in the middle of the pack in the Derby, so they weren’t totally outclassed. But they were either slightly effected by the mud or just not good enough. Maybe both.
Next: Each State's Sports Mt Rushmore
The horses that did not run in the Derby are a little more mysterious. While some of them have run in (and won on) mud, none of them did it in races that were as pressure filled as the Triple Crown. And some of them, including the most interesting: Quip, have never raced on an “off” track at all. So find your mudders and bet on them, because the track should be to their liking.
Post time for the Preakness Stakes is at 6:20 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast on NBC.