Early Voting justifies Kentucky Derby decision to land the Preakness Stakes

Early Voting provided his owner with the best birthday present he could have asked for when taking the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.

The three-year-old, kept out of the Kentucky Derby by trainer Chad Brown, rewarded his connections' judgement call by running out a one and a quarter-length winner over the favourite Epicenter - second in the Derby - in the middle leg of the Triple Crown.

This was swift compensation for Brown after he had watched Zandon finish a hard-fought third after a gruelling pace battle in the first leg of the Triple Crown, and Early Voting provided him, and owner Seth Klarman, with their second victory in the Preakness.

"To win this race on Seth's birthday in Baltimore, where he grew up, and to be able to deliver a gift like that is hard to explain," said Brown. "When you can deliver a Classic win it makes the job worthwhile.

"I told Seth having a target would be better and down the backstretch we looked at each other and he said, 'You're getting your wish.'"

The victory marked a special 65th birthday for Klarman, a hedge fund manager and billionaire investor who has formed a powerful team with the Brown stable.

The owner said: "This was extraordinary. It was a brilliantly executed plan by Chad and jockey Jose Ortiz. It's hard to think of a better birthday.

"It's such a wonderful feeling. This sport has a lot of ups and downs but the ups are incredibly sweet."

Early Voting was said to have benefited from the break after finishing a neck runner-up in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct on April 9.

The same plan had been in place when Brown and Klarman won the 2017 renewal with Cloud Computing, who also missed the Kentucky Derby in favour of the Preakness after running in the Wood Memorial. Both were New York-based during the winter and came into the Preakness after just three starts.

Brown said: "They were both lightly raced horses. There will be Wood Memorials when we'll run in the Derby, but it depends on the horse.

"I can't thank my staff enough, especially the winter-time crew. I've always felt that New York is a fine place to develop these kind of horses."

Brown has no intention of going to the final leg of the Triple Crown - the Belmont Stakes - and instead will look to the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

"I know it's a tick farther," Brown said about the Travers, "but I don't think he will have any trouble getting the mile and a quarter. Growing up just 20 minutes from Saratoga, what the Preakness is for Seth, the Travers would be for me. So that's at the top of the list."

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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday