Tomorrow is the 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. (Which according to my many sources, is located in or near Baltimore, Maryland.) It will be Big Brown’s big shot at continuing down the road to equine immortality that Eight Belles could only dream of that is Horse Racing’s Triple Crown.

For those of you who remember our extensive coverage of the Kentucky Derby will know that I didn’t get a single pick right. I wasn’t even close. I wasn’t in the ballpark. Heck, I wasn’t in the state of Kentucky with any of my picks.

That was of no consequence though, because the OTB betting system crashed about an hour before the race and I didn’t get to place any of my loser bets. Good news for me - bad news for anyone who might have been lucky enough to bet and stupid enough to listen to me.

And if this post isn’t enough Preakness coverage for you make sure to tune into NBC tomorrow at 4:30 because they have two hours of coverage scheduled. Yup, that’s two hours of coverage for a 2 minute race. If you think that’s a bit excessive you obviously don’t know anything about sensationalizing an event. From the Baltimore Sun:

During the first half-hour, the telecast will feature a round- table discussion on the death of Eight Belles in the Derby and the state of horse racing, led by Bob Costas.

Fear not - Will Leitch will not be on the panel. I must say I’m excited to see how Costas’ guests work in a more filtered environment.

1 — Macho Again, Julien Leparoux, 20-1.

2 — Tres Borrachos, Tyler Baze, 30-1.

3 — Ichabad Crane, Jeremy Rose, 30-1.

4 — Yankee Bravo, Alex Solis, 15-1.

5 — Behindatthebar David Flores, 10-1.

6 — Racecar Rhapsody, Robby Albarado, 30-1.

7 — Big Brown, Kent Desormeaux, 1/2.

8 — Kentucky Bear, Jamie Theriot, 15-1.

9 — Stevil, John Velazquez, 30-1.

10 — Riley Tucker, Edgar Prado, 30-1.

11 — Giant Moon, Ramon Dominguez, 30-1.

12 — Gayego, Mike Smith, 8-1.

13 — Hey Byrn, C. C. Lopez, 20-1.

The Sure-To-Be-Incorrect Picks:

Win: 7 (Big Brown)

Exacta: 7, 12 (Big Brown, Gayego)

Trifecta: 7, 12, 10 (Big Brown, Gayego, Riley Tucker)

Superfecta: 7, 12, 10, 4 (Big Brown, Gayego, Riley Tucker, Yankee Bravo)

Long-Shot Exacta Box: 3, 8 (Ichabad Crane, Kentucky Bear)

Most Likely To Muck Up My Trifecta: 11 (Giant Moon) I blame Jerry O’Connell’s dad.

Most Likely To Make Money For People Who Have Never Seen A Race: 1 (Macho Again) He sounds tough!

Dark Horse Pick (Pun intended / horse not necessarily dark) : 13 (Hey Byrn) My guess probably isn’t as good as yours.

Storyline ironically beaten like a dead horse: Eight Belles

[Times Union, AP, CBS6]

[Photo: AP]