Preakness Recap: Kismet

The traditional Alibi Breakfast, held two days before the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), had just concluded, and Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, owners of Lookin At Lucky, were milling about near the souvenir stand, ready to head down the stairs, when a crash was heard a few feet away.

There on the floor, shattered in small pieces, was the commemorative plate given to the owners of each Preakness starter, on which was engraved the name of the horse and the owner’s silks. One could barely make out Pegram’s familiar colors.

John Miller, the Maryland Racing Commission representative who was assigned to Lookin At Lucky’s owners the day before, had been carrying the plate when it slipped out of his hands.

That’s all the poor horse needed -- more bad luck after four disastrous trips and drawing the dreaded post 1 in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

The always optimistic and jovial Pegram looked down at the fragments on the floor and said, “Well, at least they ain’t on the rail.”

He then burst into laughter. When Baffert, who had been referring to the colt after the Derby as Lookin At Unlucky, learned of the broken plate, he said that was the kiss of death.

But little did he know that Lookin At Lucky’s luck was about to change.

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