What to watch in the Preakness: Derby fallout and a wide-open field

The music is blaring, the beer is flowing and the crowd in the infield at Pimlico Race Course for the Preakness is … smaller than usual. It could be for the first time since 1996 there is no Kentucky Derby winner in the Preakness and thus no chance for a Triple Crown.

Ramona Hill matched the stakes record and became the second filly in three years to capture the $1 million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands on Saturday, posting a one-length victory in trotting’s biggest race of the year. Driven by Andrew McCarthy, the 3-year-old daughter of Muscle Hill covered the mile in 1:50.1 in equaling the record set by her father in 2009. Ramona Hill made a late last-to-first move and posted the fastest time (1:51.2) in winning one of the two eliminations held last week.