all in Triple Crown

Running in the Preakness Stakes had not originally been on Mark Casse’s radar for Sandman.

Journalism may be in the record books as the seventh straight beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, but that doesn't mean trainer Michael McCarthy has lost any faith in his Grade 1-winning 3-year-old colt.

This is the story of an obscure big-league baseball journeyman from a half-century ago and the Preakness Stakes horse that bears his name.

Jim Gosger is the former ballplayer, now an 82-year-old Michigan man who bounced around the Majors in the 1960s and ’70s with six different clubs, was the last batter to face immortal pitcher Satchel Paige, and who was once declared dead by the New York Mets.

The 150th running of the $2 million, Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico will be run without Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve winner Sovereignty, who is skipping the race and is expected

Each week, members of the national media vote on the nation's top contenders on the Triple Crown trail in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll.

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