A Pennsylvania-bred, Uncle Heavy emerged on the Triple Crown trail in February when he eked out a nose victory in the Withers Stakes. But he was not able to back up that performance in the Wood Memorial, finishing fifth by 11 lengths. On Saturday he will enter the Preakness Stakes as one of the most unlikely winners of the race, even if he does get back to his Withers form.
2 Uncle Heavy (20-1)
- Trainer Robert Reid
- Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.
- Last race Fifth in the Wood Memorial by 11 lengths
- Career record 5 starts: 3 wins
- Career earnings $323,580
- Best career Beyer Speed Figure 84 (2024 Withers Stakes)
- Sire Social Inclusion
What to know about Uncle Heavy
Who will be doing the biggest rain dance on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course? Those people will be the connections of Preakness longshot Uncle Heavy whose two best races came on wet tracks.
On Dec. 27, Uncle Heavy won the Wait For It Stakes at Parx on a track listed as good. In his next start, in the Withers Stakes on Feb. 3, he rallied to nip El Grande O by a nose on a sloppy surface at Aqueduct. He is a perfect 2-for-2 on wet main tracks and is 1-for-3 on dry fast tracks.
But there is very little else to think that Uncle Heavy could make his presence felt on Saturday.
He is arguably the slowest horse in the field. His career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 84 is the worst among the nine Preakness horses and far shy to be competitive against these Grade 1 rivals. To be fair, he is a late runner who is unlikely to run a massive speed figure without a hot early pace, and he has not yet been in such a race.
Perhaps the additional half furlong of the Preakness will help Uncle Heavy. In the Withers, he certainly ran as if distance will be his friend. Or maybe the switch to top jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. will move him up. Though Ortiz has never won the Preakness, he has won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey five times.
Still, Uncle Heavy would need to improve by several lengths just to be competitive.
Post draw analysis
The post draw was relatively inconsequential for this late runner, who would drop back no matter what post he was assigned. At least from post No. 2, he can save ground around the first turn. His best chance to get a piece of this would be to drop back, hope for a pace meltdown up front and come running late to maybe hit the board. And a lot of rain probably wouldn't hurt either.
