2012 Preakness Contenders: Brimstone Island

Horse: Brimstone Island
Trainer: William Campbell
Pedigree: By Tiznow out of a Broad Brush mare (Broad Sound)
Career Record: 10-4-3-1
Career Earnings: $90,403
Notable Races: None

Can He Win The Preakness?

It’s really tough to pick out reasons to like Brimstone Island in the Preakness. He’s won four times in his career, but all four victories came in claiming races and the Preakness is a far cry from a $16,000 claimer at Laurel in early February. (For the non-hard core horse racing fan: a claiming race is one in which all the horses in the race can be purchased for a set amount.) This spring, Brimstone Island raced against ungraded stakes company at Laurel, Charles Town and Pimlico, and failed to win any of those races (although he did finish ahead of a decent colt, My Adonis, in his last race). On paper, this colt just doesn’t measure up to his rivals.

Brimstone Island has some early speed in his arsenal and we should expect him to run a length or two off of the lead in the early stages. The Preakness will be his first attempt racing further than a mile and a sixteenth, and while his pedigree suggests that the distance shouldn’t be a huge issue, this is a tough spot to run the longest race of your life.