Golden Tempo Scratched, Laurel Park Preakness, & Camera Cleaning
Posted by Pat Hathaway | May 14, 2026
Just when you think you have the board figured out and the bankroll allocated, the racing gods decide to throw a wrench directly into the gears. I’m on my second cup of coffee, staring at the updated scratch list, and recalibrating the entire weekend.
The Laurel Park Pivot & The Golden Scratch
First things first: we aren’t at Pimlico this year. With the old grandstand undergoing its massive renovation, the Preakness has temporarily packed its bags and moved down the road to Laurel Park. Different dirt, different turns, different variables.
If that wasn’t enough to shake up the handicapping, the news broke this morning that my Kentucky Derby golden goose is out.
Golden Tempo has officially dropped out of the Preakness Stakes.
I was really hoping to see Cherie DeVaux make a run at the second jewel, but you don’t push a horse if they aren’t 100%. So, the Exacta money I was planning to roll over on her is going back into the
BetAnything account holding pen. I need to take a hard look at the morning line again before I lay down a single dollar.
Dan’s Great White Hopium
You can probably guess how Big Boy Dan reacted to the Golden Tempo news.
He pulled into my driveway in the Land Yacht about twenty minutes after the alert hit my phone, carrying a box of donuts and a concerning amount of confidence. With the Derby winner out of the picture, Dan is doubling down on his obsession with Great White.
“The track change favors him, Pat. He hates Pimlico anyway. And with the filly out? The waters are clear. It’s a feeding frenzy.”
I tried to remind him that the horse literally forgot how to stand up in the starting gate two weeks ago, but Dan is immune to logic right now. He’s treating this race at Laurel Park like a guaranteed ATM withdrawal.
Blowing Out the Plastic Computer
Since I’m keeping my wallet closed until race day, I spent yesterday afternoon detailing the gear. Judge Roy Bacon will be devastated to know that the Sony α1 II survived the Sierra mud trip without a single internal casualty.
I took a microfiber cloth and an air blower to the body. There was some fine dirt crusted around the mode dials, but the weather sealing did exactly what it was engineered to do. I’m taking it down to the coast this weekend to shoot some pelicans while Dan yells at the television.
Meanwhile, the AI tech sector is keeping the lights on.
AMZN and
MSFT are steady, letting me focus on the important things—like figuring out how to wash the remaining Sierra clay off the ATV’s undercarriage.
Comments
BigBoyDan: Laurel Park is Great White’s personal playground. Get on the train before it leaves the station, Pat.
JudgeRoy: An air blower just pushes the dust deeper into the sensor cavity. You’re playing a dangerous game.
Video Recommendation
Since we are racing at Laurel Park this year instead of Pimlico, here is a great breakdown of the track differences and how the surface might impact the field this weekend.
Handicapping Laurel Park vs. Pimlico for the Preakness (YouTube)
