Preakness

Preakness Day is done, and yes, ever since Kegasus was pushed off the infield urinal there's always a tinge of sadness about the day for us all. But Justify got the job done, thrilling the crowd (and Chris Kay).

There's quite a bit to chew on.

The weather was sad. And this always annoys me, because despite being an outsider that people on twitter who work inside the game block at times, I feel terrible for them. The work that goes into these days from our friends in the business ..... they deserve better.

Not sad was the handle.

Handle at PIM today not all that bad considering. Down 4.3% (-$4.3M) on 32 *fewer* betting interests. Per interest up 28.5% (+$223.5K). Handle on the Preakness itself up 2.9% (+$1.76M) despite 2 fewer horses this year.

— o_crunk (@o_crunk) May 20, 2018

Big days are cray. People were firing it in on short fields that had more chalk than a crime scene at a Tarantino movie, but fire it in they did. I'm guilty, hey, it's Preakness Day.

I don't know how to type that little guy shrugging his shoulders that all the kids know how to type, but if I did, the announced attendance was over 134,000.

In this week's "TV Ratings For One Off Triple Crown Races Have too Much Noise and are Meaningless So Don't Pay Attention to Anything But 5 Year Trends" file, ratings were up 12%!

Justify - the win was fun, but as an added bonus we got to see fans and bettors argue on social media.

Bettor: Not the way I want a 2-5 shot to win.
Fan: He's had a bunch of tough races, and he beat last year's Breeders Cup Champion!
Bettor: Sure, but I'll fade him if he goes to the Belmont.
Fan: He's the first horse since Apollo to win the Derby without racing at two. He's not seasoned yet. Great, amazing horse to accomplish what he has in his career. And he did it off "Hoofgate".
Bettor: Sure, he's a good horse, I'm just not sure I want to bet him in his next race after that.
Fan: I don't know what personal issue you have with this horse.

Twitter is a great place to argue things......... where often the two sides are arguing two completely different things.

"The Ride" on Good Magic is causing great dismay it seems. Leaving aside we talk about rides way too much when they don't work, I see both sides. It was a speed favoring track and the odds board says it's a match race, so make it so. And, that's not Good Magic's game, and he was inside the speed on that track, which could cost him a length or two or more.

Whatever happened, the field caught up to those two because they both arguably regressed. There was just no Keen Ice to pick them up. And, frankly, the result between the two was formful, no? Isn't Justify a few lengths better than Good Magic right now?

I hope everyone enjoyed the day, despite the weather. There are few things in the sport better than a Triple Crown Day. We'll do it again in a few weeks.

Have a nice Sunday.