Can Medina Spirit and Concert Tour light up the Preakness Stakes?
Wagering for the 146th Preakness Stakes opened Friday morning, and the odds for the race now reflect the current betting patterns.
The odds will continue to fluctuate until post time, but it's highly unlikely for them to change enough for any other horse to break into the top trio of Midnight Bourbon, Medina Spirit, and Concert Tour.
Concert Tour (Post position 10, current odds of 4/1)
Concert Tour, the winner of the 50-20-10-5 Rebel Stakes and third-place finisher in the 100-40-20-10 Arkansas Derby, easily qualified for the Kentucky Derby. His connections however, held him out of the first jewel of the Triple Crown to concentrate instead on the Preakness Stakes.
The Arkansas Derby on April 10th ended an unbeaten beginning to his racing career, and he'll come into the Preakness well-rested, as opposed to Medina Spirit and Midnight Bourbon, both of whom were in the field at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.
Bob Baffert trained colts Medina Spirit and Concert Tour have arrived at Pimlico and will hit the track tomorrow morning between 7 and 9 in preparation for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes. pic.twitter.com/I0Ky8sYwbO
— Eric Crawford (@ericcrawford) May 10, 2021
With all of the turmoil in the Baffert camp due to the Medina Spirit controversy, it's possible that Concert Tour could be adversely affected in his preparation for the Preakness.
Medina Spirit (Post position 3, current odds of 3/1)
The Kentucky Derby winner's positive test for illegal levels of the anti-inflammatory betamethasone has been well documented, as has the decision by the Maryland Racing Commission to allow the Bob Baffert trained colt to run in the Preakness.
Medina Spirit has not finished worse than second in six races and has only been passed once in his career, and that was briefly down the stretch of the Kentucky Derby by eventual runner-up Mandaloun.