By the 1920s, horse racing was rebounding from the trying circumstances of the previous two decades, where the sport has contracted from more than 300 racetracks prior to 1900 to only 25 by the end of the 1910s.
The Preakness Stakes is the second leg of the prestigious Triple Crown series and winning the race is high on the wish list of just about every jockey. This year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve winner Mage will be ridden by Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano in the Preakness.
Reigning Japanese Horse of the Year Equinox maintained the top spot in the 2023 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings with a rating of 129, four points better than Hong Kong-based Golden Sixty at 125.
Equinox earned the 129 rating via a dominant 3 ½-length win in the $6 million Longines Dubai Sheema Classic March 25 at Meydan. The Kitasan Black colt closed out his 3-year-old season with back-to-back Group 1 wins in Japan and made his lone start to date in 2023 in the Dubai Sheema Classic.
Mage pulled off a 15-1 upset in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, but the Good Magic colt was not a complete surprise coming off a runner-up finish by a length to champion Forte in the
