The next step

Ralph Siraco

Friday, May 19, 2000 | 9:44 a.m.

On Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Maryland, Fusaichi Pegasus will try to take another step toward racing immortality. The Kentucky Derby winner will try to add the 125th edition of the Preakness Stakes to his racing dossier and along with it, the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.

Most are betting he does it. As a matter of fact, he will be the heaviest favorite to attempt it in 20 years. That, by the way, was about the same span over which a Derby favorite last visited the coveted winners circle at Churchill Downs.

Spectacular Bid was the last horse to win the Kentucky Derby as the favorite and then capture the Preakness Stakes as the betting choice in 1979. Although five additional favorites have won at Baltimore since, none went off as the favorite in their Derby. And, only two -- Pleasant Colony in 1981 and Alysheba in 1987 -- convinced the betting public they should be favored after their Derby victories.

In each of the last three years, the Derby runner-up went off as the Preakness favorite. In 1997 it was Captain Bodgit over Silver Charm; in '98 it was Victory Gallop over Real Quiet; last year, Menifee garnered more betting money than Charismatic. But none turned the trick on the track.

This year there will be no such scenario because Derby runner-up Aptitude will not be in the Preakness field. He lies in wait for another shot at the Derby winner in the Belmont Stakes June 10.

Although the Derby runner-up will be missing, there will be four Derby refugees to try Fusaichi Pegasus again. They are: Impeachment, High Yield, Captain Steve and Hal's Hope. But most experts agree that if there is a serious challenge to the Derby champ at Ol' Hilltop, it will come from the new shooters led by Red Bullet, with Snuck In and Hugh Hefner rounding out the trio of fresh faces.

However, even those who passed the Derby in favor of the shorter Preakness may have to buck some recent history.

Not since Deputed Testamony won the 1 3/16-mile run in 1983 has a horse skipped the Derby and won the Preakness Stakes. During the last 16 years, 71 non-Derby starters have contested the middle jewel of the Triple Crown and only eight have managed to finish in the money, accounting for four seconds and four thirds.

In the end, history, new challengers, the shorter distance, the longer span between races and the different scenery may not matter. Fusaichi Pegasus may very well transcend it all.

Fusaichi Pegasus touched down in Baltimore on Wednesday and arrived at Pimlico for his date with destiny without incident. That may be the most anxious moment the Derby winner will have before he rolls into New York as the fourth consecutive horse seeking a Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes.

Here is the field for the Grade I, $1 million Preakness Stakes, in post position order with the morning line odds and jockeys:

We stay with Fusaichi Peagasus as the pick with Red Bullet and Impeachment to fill out the trifecta.

Ralph Siraco covers horse racing for the Sun. Reach him by e-mail at racedayLV@aol.com.