National Treasure, a Bob Baffert trained horse, wins the 148th Preakness Stakes

LOUISVILE, Ky. (WDRB) -- National Treasure, a Bob Baffert trained horse, crossed the wire first to win the 148th running of the Preakness Stakes at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course on Saturday.

This was Baffert's eighth Preakness victory and jockey John Velazquez claimed his first win.

Mage was the favorite coming into the race after winning the Kentucky Derby but finished third.

First Mission was Mage’s other top challenger before being scratched Friday on the advice of veterinarians who had a concern about the horse’s left hind ankle. The withdrawal comes after five horses were scratched from the Kentucky Derby for various reasons, including the favorite, Forte.

A horse in one of the undercard races Saturday at Pimlico — Bob Baffert's Havnameltdown — had to be euthanized after suffering a injury to his left front ankle, throwing jockey Luis Saez to the track as they were racing in first coming into the final turn. Saez was transported to a nearby hospital, complaining of leg pain.

We are just devastated. This is a shock to everyone at our barn who love and care for these horses every day. Hanvameltdown was obviously hit pretty hard coming out of the gate. We don’t know if that contributed to the injury, but we will be fully transparent with those…
— Bob Baffert (@BobBaffert) May 20, 2023

Havnameltdown went off as the 4/5 favorite in the race and was leading coming down the back stretch when he took a bad step, throwing Saez forward onto the track.

Earlier this month leading up to the Kentucky Derby, there were seven horse deaths in 10 days at Churchill Downs after two sustained injuries on the day of the Derby.

The third leg of the Triple Crown, the mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes, will unfold on June 10 in New York.

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