11-1 Rombauer Takes Preakness

Rombauer has given trainer Michael McCarthy his first Triple Crown victory and denied Bob Baffert-trained Kentucky Derby winner Medina Sprint the chance at a Triple Crown—which would have come with a giant asterisk. Rombauer, ridden by Flavien Prat, won the 146th running of the Preakness on Saturday as an 11-1 long shot, the AP reports, coming on strong down the stretch to overtake Medina Spirit. Two weeks ago, Medina Spirit finished first in the Kentucky Derby, but that result remains in limbo because the horse tested positive for a steroid after the race. Baffert, who has denied wrongdoing, did not attend the Preakness.

Medina Spirit ended up third after going off as the 2-1 favorite. Midnight Bourbon came in second before 10,000 fans Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, 3½ lengths back, after going off with 3-1 odds. Rombauer covered the course in an unofficial time of 1 minute, 53.62 seconds. The bay colt had skipped Churchill Downs on May 1, and was McCarthy’s first Triple Crown entrant. The win allowed McCarthy to get a Preakness win before his mentor, Todd Pletcher, a seven-time Eclipse Award winner as trainer of the year. "There's so much history behind these races, and to win one is great, and to win the Preakness is even better," said Prat, per the New York Times. (More Preakness Stakes stories.)