PREAKNESS Rivals are together as an entry
Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas train horses owned by the same family.
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas are having way too much fun this week.
As usual, both trainers are focused on winning another Preakness -- an achievement that provides wealth, fame and bragging rights in horse racing's most intriguing rivalry.
Lukas and Baffert have been competing in big races for several decades. This year, however, is unlike any other: In a strange twist of fate, the two have been thrown together as an entry in Saturday's race.
Scrimshaw, trained by Lukas, and Baffert's Senor Swinger are both owned by Bob and Beverly Lewis and therefore linked for betting purposes.
It's the first time that Lukas and Baffert have been paired in a Triple Crown race, and both are having a blast.
"I'll have to carry him on this one," Baffert joked.
To which Lukas responded, "I said that line first, and he stole it from me."
Exchanged barbs
The two trainers have exchanged good-natured barbs all week. Both take great satisfaction in beating the other, but this a friendly rivalry fueled by respect.
"We have a nice friendship. The media over the years has tried to pit us against each other, but that isn't the case," Lukas said. "We go back about 30 years. We go at it because it's the nature of the game, but we have a good rapport with each other."
Although Scrimshaw and Senor Swinger are teamed at the betting window, Baffert and Lukas won't share the wealth if the other wins the $1 million Preakness. The goal for both is to beat favorite Funny Cide and derail the gelding's pursuit of the Triple Crown.
Lukas has five Preakness victories and Baffert has won four, including the past two with Point Given and War Emblem. The trainers have been coupled as an entry in California before, but never with so much on the line.
"It was by chance. He decided to enter and I was already pretty much committed since the Derby," Lukas said.
Gary Stevens will ride Scrimshaw and five-time Preakness winner Pat Day will be aboard Senor Swinger, which makes the entry even more attractive.
A win by Senor Swinger or Scrimshaw, 11th in the Kentucky Derby, seems unlikely. Funny Cide is the 7-5 morning-line favorite, with Peace Rules, third in the Derby, next at 8-5.