Bill Christine, HorseRaceInsider.com

You'll need a scorecard for the 133rd running of the Preakness. Yankee Bravo? That name sort of rings a bell. Behindatthebar? Seems familiar. Giant Moon? I remember him. Vaguely. The Preakness has always been a haven for the Triple Crown's new shooters, but this is ridiculous. This isn't a field, it's a road company of "Ben-Hur." These were the understudies for the Kentucky Derby. They weren't good enough to run in Louisville, and now some of their names will actually be hung on the marquee in Baltimore. This Saturday, Pimlico should let everybody in on twofers.

What happened to Denis of Cork? Didn't he earn enough shipping money at Churchill Downs? Recapturetheglory, fifth in the Derby, was Preakness-bound for a while, but now he's not scheduled to run. Louie Roussel, his trainer, says that Recapturetheglory has a temperature. Roussel may have also noticed that his horse finished 11 3/4 lengths behind Big Brown in the Derby.

There have been some pretty bland Preaknesses--the 1982 running, which didn't even have Gato Del Sol, the Derby winner, comes to mind--but unless Big Brown wins by 50 lengths or sends the timer spinning, this version is as pale as an albino, and will be as thrilling as fishing through the ice. It figures to be as one-sided as a bullfight. Rick Dutrow, who trains Big Brown, said that he'll ship his charge from Kentucky to Maryland on Wednesday, but why bother? Big Brown ought to be able to mail this one in.

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By Patrick Patten, NYTimes.com

There were 38,191 North American foals born in 2005 (hat tip to the Jockey Club), and only 20 will be allowed in the gate in a little over a week. That is, one-twentieth of one percent get into the gate, and yet I am about to tell you that Recapturetheglory, winner of the grade II Illinois Derby is a complete toss. That’s because I’m going to give you my Top 7 Who Won’t Win the Derby list.

Most writers that cover the Derby will give you their top 10, or top 15, or just be extremely lazy and give you every horse in the gate and maybe even a stable pony or two and after the two minutes is over they’ll say, “I told you.” Well, I want to be different, and seeing this is a short-term gig, I can afford to be wrong. I’m going to give you 7 horses that won’t win the Derby; maybe they’ll come close, but no Virginia, there is no Derby winner here.

Adriano Winner of the grade II Lane’s End at Keeneland and confirmed mount for Edgar Prado has only run well on synthetic tracks or the turf. I won’t even hold his lone try on the dirt in the Fountain of Youth against him, where he finished ninth. Graham Motion, his trainer, told me everything I needed to hear after the Lane’s End, “I think we all agree he’s probably more of a turf horse.” And, if you didn’t know, the Derby is held on conventional dirt.

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