00:00Ron, thanks so much for joining us here. Let's start with the field. What can fans expect this
00:06year in terms of competition and storylines? Well, we have some great storylines. We have
00:13the second place, a finisher in the Kentucky Derby with the journalism and a couple of new
00:18shooters. A very, very wide open field. We like that. There's no standout that's going to be a
00:23one to nine shot in there. So lots of different ways you can go. And of course, we got a Sandman
00:28who was also in the Kentucky Derby coming and trying to bounce back on, you know, at this
00:33track. So it's going to be a very exciting race. And how does not having the Kentucky Derby
00:38winner impact the race itself? Well, you know, it definitely impacts because everybody, you
00:44know, with the triple crown is something special in racing. But, you know, that's the beauty
00:49of Preakness when all the hoopla from the Derby ends, you still have great stories here. Of
00:55course, you want the number one story. But, you know, you got the second place finisher.
00:59You have horses that had trouble in the Kentucky Derby. Maybe they can bounce back. So I'm walking
01:06around for the last couple of days, despite the raining around. And, you know, just smiles
01:10on everybody's face. So I sort of think it's, you know, it's not the best, but pretty darn good.
01:18Well, it's been so wet, as you mentioned. What are track conditions like? And how is the surface
01:22getting prepared this week? Well, it looks like it's going to be sloppy. Today, there's
01:27no rain. So we're hoping it holds off. We're going to start today with a wet track. And,
01:31you know, they seal it and try and protect it best they can. You know, the big important
01:36thing that everybody loves in horse racing is the grass racing on the turf. And, you know,
01:41that has to be dry because it can be slippery if it's not dried out. So we've got our fingers
01:45crossed that if it stays like this today and we can get in tomorrow on the weekend, we can
01:49have some great racing. Just got to hope that. And that's your guys' job, what they
01:54want to tell us if we're going to get soaked or not.
01:57In your opinion, how do the horses react to different track conditions, at least what you've
02:03seen over the years?
02:04Well, you know, it always goes to you when you're handicapping, you try and look at,
02:09you know, how the horses are bred. You know, their families like, you know, that they're
02:14progeny. Do they like the mud? And you got to sort of figure that out. And of course,
02:17they've had races in the mud. And you know, the old joke that's been going around the
02:22racetrack for years, you know, if your father was a mother and your mother was a mother,
02:25you're probably a mother. I mean, you're like, you're like the race. So you try and figure
02:29out the best. And the horses that have run on it sort of gives you a sort of an indication
02:35that they'll be able to handle it. Some being three-year-olds, they're like teenagers in the
02:40Preakness. Some of them have never been on a wet track. So you sort of have to guess how
02:45they're going to handle it. Any specific horses, trainers or jockeys we should be watching closely
02:51this weekend? Well, I got an interesting horse in there. The horse that I'm going to pick,
02:55besides journalism, is a horse called River Thames that, you know, I watched run at Goldstein
03:00Park. That's where I'm stationed until I come up here for the Preakness. And I just think this
03:05horse is sitting on a good performance. And who's the trainer? Todd Fletcher, Hall of Famer.
03:10Who's the Rider Jungle? Irad Ortiz, the number one jockey in the country. So I'm taking a little
03:16bit of a shot with that horse. Breeding suggests you can handle a wet track. And when you have a
03:20wet track, you want to have horses that have some speed. Because you can imagine if you're in the
03:25back of the pack and you're running with that mud coming up in your face, it's horses. Some of them
03:30like it, some of them don't. So you like to have a horse that maybe can be in that first flight,
03:34doesn't get too much mud in its face. So that's where the money track. We got a fast track.
03:38I like the horse even better. All right. Track announcer Ron Nicoletti. Thanks again for
03:45joining us on AccuWeather Early. We're ready for the surprises. He's got me all excited about this.
03:50Thanks, guys. Pleasure. All right. Thank you. Hey, weather looks a-okay. It's going to rain
03:56Friday night into Saturday morning. It'll be gone by the track by the time the race. So you're looking
04:02good, sir. That's the best news I heard all day.
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