Malibu Moonshine is a lock to win the Preakness

Following the Kentucky Derby, the Washington Post's redoubtable racing scribe Andrew Beyer wrote an extremely cranky old-man screed about what a dismal race it was. He closed the column by pretty much accusing the entire 20-horse field of doping violations. The piece came off like the rantings of a man who just couldn't handle the fact that he'd been spectacularly wrong about the Derby.

Thankfully Beyer rebounds today with a persuasively argued handicapping of the 14-horse Preakness field. He's still oozing disdain for Giacomo (and pretty much every other three-year-old thoroughbred on the planet), but he makes a compelling case for why Afleet Alex is being overhyped and why Greeley's Galaxy and Closing Argument are the two most intriguing horses in the field.

Over in the Baltimore Sun, John Eisenberg has a swell column about a new Bud Greenspan documentary premiering today on ESPN Classic at 2 p.m CST. (It will air again tomorrow at 10 a.m. CST) The film details the career of 1941 Triple Crown winner Whirlaway. The mercurial colt is best known for walking out of the gate at the start of the Preakness--only to come back and trounce the field.

Personally I'll be pulling for King Leatherbury tomorrow.