Arrive at five

When it comes to covering the Preakness Stakes, the story Turf writers live for the most is the arrival story.

Whereas most of the major Kentucky Derby players are at Churchill Downs by the week of the race, the Preakness field is a mixed bag when it comes to who makes it here and when, and for something as mundane as shipping horses—which happens many multiple times every day all across the country for myriad reasons beyond racing—the Pimlico arrival stories always seem to carry a little extra juice, and last year was especially interesting.

The Derby winner, Mine That Bird, vanned from Louisville to Baltimore, which must have seemed like just a hop, skip, and jump for trainer Bennie "Chip" Woolley Jr. and the Birdstone gelding after they vanned from New Mexico for the Derby. Woolley stopped for lunch at a Shoney's in West Virginia while Mine That Bird hung out in the parking lot. I'd have given anything to get a picture of that scene.

General Quarters also went the whole way by van, though owner-trainer-groom Tom McCarthy didn't drive. Unfortunately for team GQ, the guy who did drive got in an accident on Northern Parkway near the track. Everyone was fine, but of all the phone calls an owner-trainer-groom could get while waiting for his horse to arrive, "I've been in an accident" from the van driver has to rank in the lowest percentile.

Eventual Horse of the Year and Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra was among the last to arrive last year, which sort of made for a cool "I'm ready for my close up" moment as she got off the van that transported her from the airport. By the time she made it to Pimlico most of the media was there, so her arrival had a fair amount of press present, and she preened for the cameras accordingly.

The first 2010 arrival story is setting up to be just as riveting because there are already about a dozen print media on the grounds, and we are hungry for any slice of Preakness news following a morning in which no Preakness horses were present. So trainer D. Wayne Lukas will have quite the audience when Dublin and Northern Giant arrive at about 5 p.m. EDT, and I will be covering it live via Twitter with video to follow on the Thoroughbred Times website.