Contenders

     Although he first came to national attention while using Maryland as a base, he has had little luck in the state’s big race, having yet to finish in the money in 11 attempts. His best Preakness finishes to date have been four fourth-place finishes.
     Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008, he led the nation’s riders in terms of victories for three straight years, 1997-’99. More than 1,000 of his more than 6,000 career victories came over a two-year span (’97-’98), joining fellow Hall of Famers Chris McCarron and Kent Desormeaux, who also used Maryland as their base early in their careers, as the only jockeys to accomplish that feat.
     Although he hasn’t had much luck in the Preakness, he has twice been responsible for ending Triple Crown bids, beating Smarty Jones with longshot Birdstone in the 2004 Belmont and beating War Emblem with longshot Sarava in the 2002 edition. He won the Kentucky Derby of 2006 with Barbaro.
     Pletcher and Prado collaborated to win the 2007 Florida Derby with Scat Daddy.

     The nom de course of Jack and Laurie Wolf, Starlight Stables has been a major force since 2000, when they bought six yearlings, one of whom turned out to be Harlan’s Holiday, the Florida Derby, Blue Grass and Donn Handicap winner and favorite for the 2002 Kentucky Derby, in which he finished sixth. The $67,000 yearling purchase went on to finish fourth in the Preakness and to compile earnings of $3.6 million when he was retired to stud.
     A graduate of Murray St., where he was a scholarship football player, Jack was an Atlanta-based hedge-fund manager who retired to spend more time with his racehorses. In addition to Harlan’s Holiday, their silks were carried by future Hall of Fame racemare Ashado, winner of seven Grade 1s.

     This future Hall of Famer trains WinStar horses along with Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Dale Romans, Eon Harty, Shannon Ritter and Dallas Stewart, who, like Pletcher, is a former assistant to Wayne Lukas.
     Not since Lukas’ heyday has any trainer – year-in, year-out – turned up annually with as much ammunition during the classic season as Pletcher. 
     Prior to his six years with Lukas, Pletcher learned the art of training from his father, J.J. The Dallas native is a graduate of the University of Arizona’s animal-science program. His first winner, Majestic Number, on his own came at Gulfstream Park in February, 1996.
     Impeachment, third in 2000, delivered his best Preakness effort from three starters; his other two starters, Circular Quay and King of the Roxy, were fifth and sixth in 2007.
     Pletcher has had a massive arsenal to draw from the past several years, but the number of his Preakness starts are dwarfed by those of his mentor: Lukas has had 32 starters, winning with his first starter, Codex,in 1980,and

     Phoenix Farm is owned by Ramiro Salazar and his wife, Denise, who operates Phoenix Equine Therapy in Georgetown, Ky. Salazar and Belcher ran a small farm that they had leased from 2002 to 2004, but found it difficult to compete with the larger outfits. Salazar went to work at Ben Berger’s Woodstock Farm and eventually was hired as manager of Barrett Frederick’s Windwoods Farm in Georgetown, while Belcher returned to her equine therapy practice.
     The couple owned three mares: Ginger Ginger, Ginger Creek and Vic's Nostalgia, and were allowed to board them at Woodstock Farm while Salazar was working there. They had obtained Ginger Ginger after she aborted two years in a row and her previous owner did not want to spend any more money trying to get her in foal. He gave Salazar and Belcher the mare as payment for the $600 in boarding bills he owed them. Ginger Ginger had problems conceiving,so the couple sent her to reproductive specialist Michelle LeBlanc at Rood & Riddle Equine hospital near