Long shot three-year-old Cloud Computing with jockey Javier Castellano on board took the 142nd running of the Preakness stakes at Pimleco last Saturday, May 20 with an upset victory to shoot down any possibility of a Triple Crown champion for 2017. Derby winner and the race favorite Always Dreaming started fast out of the gate on a muddy track and held the lead into the home stretch, when Cloud Computing made his move and passed into the lead. Dreaming faded out of the running and finished 8th. Cloud Computing had not run at the Derby and only had one victory in three previous starts and was rated 12-1 by oddsmakers at the call to the post. Computing’s trainer Chad Brown grew up in the Baltimore area and this was his first Triple Crown win of any kind so it was a big day for him.
Classic Empire who finished 2nd had finished 4th at the derby while Look At Lee who had finished second at the Derby was fourth at the Preakness. Third place finisher at the Derby, Battle of Midway didn’t run at the Preakness and Preakness 3rd place finisher Senior Investment didn’t run at the Derby…did you get all that?
Cloud Computing’s sire is Maclean’s Reasoning and his dam is Quick Temper. Mommy has Seattle Slew as a grampa and Secretariat as a great grampa so that’s a pretty impressive bloodline. His owners are Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence. He was bred by Hill’ n’ Dale Equine Holdings and Stretch Run Ventures. When asked about his son’s win, Maclean’s Reasoning said “His mom picked me up in a field and she had a nice set of legs. Well, she got me drunk so I don’t remember too much about the encounter. I guess it turned out okay but she didn’t have to threaten me with a paternity suit. She really lived up to her name!”
His mom, Quick Temper said “He gets all the good stuff from my side of the family. His ‘father’…..is just a horses axx!”
Indy Qualifications
So the two big moments of last weekend’s qualification runs were Sebastien Bourdais’s horrifying crash on his qualification run on Saturday and Scott Dixon’s blazing pole run on Sunday. Dixon will start from the pole with a speed average of 232:164, the fastest qualifying run since Arie Luyendyk’s record setting run of 236:964 set during the 1996 qualifications 21 years ago. Saturday saw rain for much of the day so things didn’t get going until around 4 p.m. when Pippa Mann rolled out and qualified. Since there were only 33 cars entered, everyone on them was assured a starting spot, so it was a question then of where in the field the cars would start from. The track was damp and tires were slick. Team Penske was down on speed for four of their five entered cars with only Will Power running fast enough to make the fast nine and then just barely. Honda engines ruled the day with seven of the top nine qualification speeds. Then Sebastien Bourdais took the track; the Frenchman driving a Dale Coyne Honda had been at top speed all week and was a definite pole threat. He took the green flag and sure enough his first lap was a smoking 231:472. His second lap was even faster at 231:596. He looked for sure like the man to beat for the pole. Going into his third lap he slid at top speed head on into the second turn SAFER barrier, did a half flip and came to a stop. The crash was horrendous looking. The good news was that Sebastien came out of the crash with just a broken pelvis. The bad news was that he is done for the season. Ed Carpenter put his Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevy on the provisional pole with a 230:468 average.
Day two saw much better weather and speeds rose accordingly. Ryan Hunter-Reay was the fastest qualifier outside of the fast nine with a 231:442 putting him in 10th starting position. Juan Pablo Montoya was the fastest Penske Chevy (outside of Will Power) and will start 18th. Aussie James Davidson was named to replace Bourdais and will start 33rd. He has two previous starts at Indy including starting 33rd in 2015. Rookie Zack Veach will start 32 in an A. J. Foyt Team Chevy. “Rookie” Fernando Alonso, a two time World Formula 1 Champion is the fastest and highest starting rookie, starting 5th. He has taken to the track like a duck to water. The handsome Spaniard has become very popular with the lady fans. Seven former winners will be in the field. There will be four rookie starters. Eighteen cars will be powered by Honda. Fifteenth will have Chevy power plants.
Scott Dixon won the pole in Sunday’s fast 9 shoot out with the fastest time in 21 years. This is Dixon’s third pole start. In his sole previous win in 2008 Dixon started on the pole. As he ran on Sunday, he said he saw 232 MPRs on his wheel screen and thought it was a mistake. He drove a smooth run with no bobbles of any kind. Ed Carpenter will start second in the top qualifying Chevy. This is Ed’s home track and he knows it better than everyone. Defending champ Alexander Rossi will start 3rd. He could be a factor. Despite their mediocre qualifying showing, you can never count out Team Penske. At this moment, however, Scott Dixon looks to be the man to beat.