The Weakness

 You'll want to tune in the Preakness this afternoon, because by post time the field may be down to Kentucky Derby winner Mage and Mister Ed. Or, I don't know, My Friend Flicka.

If you're one of the millions of Americans who stop paying attention to horse racing as soon as the Derby's over, you might have missed what's gone on in Maryland this week. Horses have been bailing on the second leg of the Triple Crown like it's the Glue Factory Stakes. As of this morning, the field is down to Mage and six challengers.

That makes this the smallest Preakness field in 37 years. It's also the first time in 75 years only one Derby horse (Mage) will be in the field at Pimlico.

As Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde points out here, that's mainly because the Triple Crown schedule is a DeSoto in a Tesla world.

Modern thoroughbreds, Forde tells us, don't run every two weeks anymore, as they must in the Triple Crown. Mage, for instance, had run its three 2023 starts prior to the Derby four, four and five weeks apart. That's about average these days for stakes thoroughbreds.

All of this, of course, comes against the backdrop of horses dropping like flies these days -- including seven at Churchill Downs the week of the Derby. That makes owners, trainers and vets less inclined than ever to push their valuable assets. Even the Derby favorite, Forte, was pulled the morning of the race because of a minor foot injury. That same injury will keep him out of the Preakness today, too.

In other words, everyone's erring on the side of extreme caution these days. Or at least everyone responsible is.

In the meantime, here comes the Weakness. Er, Preakness.

I've got Mage, Trigger and National Velvet in my trifecta. You?