Lookin At Lucky bags Preakness

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Lookin at Lucky won the 135th Preakness on Saturday, dooming the Triple Crown bid of Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and giving jockey-switching trainer Bob Baffert a historic triumph.
Lookin at Lucky, still 12 days shy of his third birthday, charged into contention on the outside in the final turn then moved ahead and held off runner-up First Dude to win the 1-3/16-mile race in 1 minute 55.47 seconds. “This horse has so much heart. He’s a warrior. I didn’t feel confident until I saw those colours and him cruising. Turning for home I just thought, ‘Please nobody run me down,’” Baffert said.
First Dude was three-quarters of a length back with Jackson Bend third and Yawanna Twist fourth followed in order by Dublin, Paddy O’Prado and Caracortado.
Super Saver finished a woeful eighth in the 12-horse field at Pimlico after challenging in the final turn but fading down the final stretch, foiling jockey Calvin Borel’s prediction of a Triple Crown sweep for the colt.
“When I asked him (to charge), he just kind of folded up. It happens. Perfect trip. I wouldn’t have changed it for nothing in the world. He just come up empty,” Borel said.
No horse has swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes since Affirmed in 1978.
Lookin at Lucky took a measure of redemption for a shocking sixth-place Kentucky Derby finish, one that prompted Baffert to switch jockeys from Garrett Gomez to Martin Garcia, a 25-year-old rider who won in his Preakness debut.
“This means a lot for me. I tried to get out of trouble and he felt really good. I tried to save him in the first turn and after that, do whatever he wanted. He respon-ded when I asked him to go. When I had a chance I went for it,” Garcia said.
Baffert enjoyed his ninth Triple Crown victory and fifth Preakness triumph to match D. Wayne Lukas for second on the all-time Preakness list.