BALTIMORE—Early Voting held off hard-charging favorite Epicenter to win the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, validating the decision to skip the Kentucky Derby and aim for the second leg of the Triple Crown.
Early Voting stalked behind the leaders for much of the race before moving into the lead around the final turn. He finished 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Epicenter, who was second just like in the Derby.
“I was never worried,” Early Voting trainer Chad Brown said. “Once we had a good target, I actually preferred that. We were fine to go to the lead, but I thought down the back side it was going to take a good horse to beat us. And a good horse did run up on us near the wire and it was about the only one that could run with us.”…