Kentucky Derby 2012: Impressive Race from Trinniberg Is Great Sign for Preakness

If you're starting to think about the 2012 Preakness Stakes, which many of us already are, there is one Kentucky Derby participant that you need to start familiarizing yourself with: Trinniberg

Trinniberg proved that he is able to run with the best of the best at the Derby, and he's set himself up very nicely for a good, if not a winning showing at the Preakness.

The thing you have to like about Trinniberg at the Preakness is that he's a sprinter. Here's how owner Shivananda Parbhoo described his horse before the Kentucky Derby, via Joe Drape on nytimes.com:

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We’re going to run as fast as we can for as long as we can,” said Parbhoo, a truck driver who helps finance the stable of his father and trainer, Bisnath. “We’re going to steal the race, and nobody will know it.”

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Even though Trinniberg didn't end up stealing and winning the race, he had a very impressive showing.

He came out of the gates firing and challenged Bodemeister for the lead for most of the race. Where Trinniberg and Bodemeister both failed was on the final stretch, where jockey Mario Gutierrez and I'll Have Another roared out from the crowd and overcame both of them to win the Kentucky Derby.

In the end it was a great race by Trinniberg and his jockey Willie Martinez, but it turned out to be a better one from I'll Have Another.

This race does shed a whole new light on the upcoming Preakness though, and Trinniberg has to be considered one of the better options going into the next major race.

It seemed as if the Kentucky Derby was just a bit too long for the sprinters like Trinniberg and Bodemester, so the shorter Preakness should suit them much better.

We now know that Trinniberg can hang with the likes of Bodemeister, who is extremely fast, and we know he won't back down from the challenge up front. What we need to see next though is the ability to finish.

The shorter race is going to bode well for Trinniberg, so get used to hearing his name now.

He may not have won the Kentucky Derby, but he showed us what we needed to see. I expect great things for this horse in the future.