Two long shots worth considering for the Preakness Stakes

Yes, Saturday's 143rd running of the Preakness Stakes figures to be (a) a very muddy affair and (b) a two-horse race between Kentucky Derby winner Justify and Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic.

Justify is the 1-2 favorite for trainer Bob Baffert, who is four-for-four when bringing the Derby winner to Baltimore and has six Preakness wins overall. Good Magic is the 3-1 second choice for trainer Chad Brown, who won last year's Preakness with Cloud Computing.

Thoroughbred racing bettors are always looking for value, however. So here are two longshots in Saturday's eight-horse field who deserve a second look.

Tenfold

One of the four so-called new shooters — horses that did not run in the Kentucky Derby — in the race, Tenfold is trained by Steve Asmussen, who won the 2007 Preakness with Tenfold's sire, Curlin, and the 2009 running with the filly Rachel Alexandra.

Like Justify, Tenfold did not run as a 2-year-old. He has raced just three times. He won his first two starts by 5 3/4 lengths and then a neck before finishing fifth in the Arkansas Derby. All three races were at Oaklawn Park.

"He's a beautiful-traveling horse," Asmussen assistant Scott Blasi told the Blood-horse.

Victor Espinoza rode Tenfold in the Arkansas Derby, but Ricardo Santana regains the mount for the Preakness. Santana rode Tenfold in his first two wins.

Tenfold also has a sponsor Saturday in Sentient Jet, which is helping the "Home for our Troops" charity. Tenfold has worn a camouflage blanket with the charity's logo this week for owners Winchell Thoroughbreds.

Diamond King

It has been 14 years since John Servis entered a horse in the Preakness, but the Philadelphia-based trainer is one-for-one in the race having saddled Smarty Jones, who won the race by 11 1/2 lengths in 2004.

Now Servis has Diamond King, winner of the Federico Tesio Stakes on April 21 at Laurel Park. It was his fourth victory in six career starts. After the win, Servis entered Diamond King in last week's Peter Pan at Belmont only to scratch in favor of the Preakness.

"Our plan is to get him to the Pennsylvania Derby," said Servis on Thursday of the $1 million race Sept. 22 at Parx Casino. "He's not there yet."

A son of four-time Grade 1 winner Quality Road, Diamond King is owned by the same connections that won the 2005 Preakness with Afleet Alex. After finishing third in the Grade 3 Swale Stakes, Diamond King took a two-month layoff before winning the Tesio.

Despite having last year's Preakness-winning jockey in Javier Castellano, Servis has no illusions of beating Justify. He does think his horse can compete, however.

"To be perfectly honest, we're just hoping to hit the board," he said.

Preakness Stakes 2018 field

This story was originally published May 18, 2018 at 3:32 PM with the headline "Two long shots worth considering for the Preakness Stakes."