A lot of fans anticipate all the horses except Big Brown will be running for second place in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes from Baltimore. You can count Jake Mauer, who has been handicapping races for nearly a quarter century at Canterbury Park, among them.
Mauer marveled along with a national TV audience when Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby earlier this month by about five lengths. Not only did Big Brown easily outdistance the field, but he did it by starting from the unfavorable 20th post position.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, coming from the 20th hole,” Mauer told Sports Headliners. “Powerful strides and pace. …”
Mauer said Big Brown is the best he’s seen since Secretariat and likes his prospects for the Triple Crown. The last of the Triple Crown races is the Belmont Stakes from Elmont, New York on June 7.
“I think he’s going to go to the Triple Crown,” Mauer said. “I can’t believe it. Do you know how many extra furlongs he had to make up in that Churchill Downs from the 20th hole? …”
Big Brown was bred and raised in Kentucky by Dr. Gary Knapp, a native Minnesotan. Knapp, who was raised near Fergus Falls, sold Big Brown in 2006, according to a recent story on the Fergus Falls Daily Journal Web site.
Wagering on the Preakness Stakes begins at Canterbury on Friday. Mauer sells his tip sheet in the Canterbury lobby on live racing days at the Shakopee track.