After days of pre-race hype, a couple of horses and their respective owners, trainers and breeders fell short of expectations at the 2011 Preakness Stakes, the 136th running of the storied event. Favored contenders Dialed In and Mucho Macho Man both enjoyed decent odds to win the race, or at least finish in the money. Instead, both teams leave Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course with some explaining to do.
Dialed In was the favorite heading into the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and consequently lost to the surprising Animal Kingdom. Even with a frustrating eighth place finish at Lexington, Dialed In was still heavily favored here, even trumping Animal Kingdom by post time. His showing at the Preakness was better — rising to fourth in the end behind Astronomy — but that still doesn’t match the hopes behind this colt.
The same can be said of Mucho Macho Man, but on a slightly lower level. The colt, after all, has earned over $600K in its lifetime with several impressive finishes, so the odds were also favorable toward the Kentucky Derby’s third place finisher. He finished sixth in the Preakness, well out of the money and also everyone’s expectations.