by Pohla Smith
    
Trainer Ken McPeek says he and Racecar Rhapsody’s owners sent the colt to Pimlico Race Course looking to test his mettle in the $1-million Preakness Stakes (G1) on Saturday.

“We want to try a higher level of competition … to see how good he is,” McPeek said on Thursday before leaving his Kentucky home for a flight to join Racecar Rhapsody in Baltimore.

On paper, at least, it appears he will get that and a lot more.

Pimlico oddsmaker Frank Carulli has posted Racecar Rhapsody at 30-to-1 on the morning line. The bay Tale of the Cat colt will try to upset impressive Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Big Brown, who was installed as the overwhelming 1-to-2 favorite.

A big reason for the long odds: just one career victory in a maiden special weight race in six career starts.
 
Racecar Rhapsody  is, however, coming off a strong fourth-place finish in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (G2) at Keeneland Race Course on April 19. He was beaten just two lengths by Behindatthebar, the 10-to-1 third choice on the Preakness morning line.

“He’s doing good right now,” McPeek said. “Whether he can beat Big Brown, I’m not going to tell you that. [If Big Brown runs like he did in the Derby] he’s going to be tough to beat.”

But a second-, third-, or even a fourth-place piece of a seven-figure purse and black type from a Grade 1 race would mean the world to the colt’s ownership group, which includes former Turfway Park and current Kentucky Speedway owner Jerry Carroll.

Jose Castanon, a former jockey who works as an exercise rider for McPeek, took Racecar Rhapsody out for his first trip over the Pimlico main track on Thursday morning. The pair jogged a mile and galloped a mile, and the horse seemed unaware of the added media and spectators gathered around the track.

“He feels good. He feels like he’ll handle the track pretty good,” Castanon said. “He’s kind of a calm horse. He sees things, but he doesn’t look around much.”

Pohla Smith is a Pennsylvania-based Thoroughbred Times contributing writer