The “Early Voting” colt won the 147th edition of the Preakness Stakes, the second round of the Triple Crown, taking a late lead on Saturday in Baltimore, Maryland.
The draw was open to all nine riders and their mounts for the ‘Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown’, after the Kentucky Derby-winning ‘Rich Strike’ team forfeited and instead decided to focus on the Belmont Stakes from June 11.
“Early Voting” and its jockey, Jose Ortiz, had odds of 5 to 1 heading into the Pimlico Race Course. “Epicenter” (6-5) was the favorite, but he was frustrated once again by finishing second, like in Kentucky. “Creative Minister” completed the podium.
“Armagnac” dominated the first three quarters of the 1900 meter race, before being overtaken by the eventual winner coming out of the bend. “Early Voting” took several strides ahead before Ortiz moved his mount past “Epicenter” onto the edge of the rails to neutralize any attempt.
It was only the fourth career run for Early Voting. The jockey, stricken with emotion after the race, said the three-year-old colt was late in development, but he always knew she had something special.
The horse was trained by Chad C. Brown, who also won the Preakness Stakes in 2017, thanks to “Cloud Computing”.