So it's Preakness Day. Instead of gobbling down mint juleps, we enjoy delicious crab cakes. Mmmm...crab cakes. But that's not the only difference between the Derby and the Preakness. Traditionally (and again this year), the Preakness field is much smaller and the race is more truly run.

In addition to Derby winner Barbaro, Sweetnorthernsaint and Brother Derek are coming out of the Kentucky Derby. The latter two horses ran well two weeks ago, but they ran into traffic problems while Barbaro was sitting pretty in the garden spot just behind the leaders. For some reason, I think that horses have a harder time recovering from a rough race than from a relatively easy one. It's not about the speed of their performance, but what they did to achieve that performance. In other words, I expect Barbaro to bounce back from his Derby far better than Sweetnorthernsaint and Brother Derek bounce back from their Derbies.

So, can anyone beat Barbaro? Of the newcomers to the race, I'm most interested in Bernadini. This son of A.P. Indy is well-bred and won his last race rather impressively. He's moving up in class, but his speed figures indicate to me that he should be competitive at this level.

I think the Preakness will be run like the Derby. The pace won't be particularly strong, so it sets up for a stalker. Both Barbaro and Bernadini fit the bill. I'm torn between the two. On one hand, yes, Barbaro had the dream Derby trip, but he did run a great race. On the other hand, Bernandini could be a solid upset pick. It's hard not to fall for a horse like that. In the real world, I'd box the two in an exacta. In my online fantasy world, I want Bernadini to win, but I think we're going to have another Triple Crown try this year, so Barbaro is the pick.

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