By: Jim Williams

The Examiner

Kenny Mayne is excited about the 133^rd running of the Preakness and he can’t wait till Saturday to see he action. He and Randy Moss will anchor ESPN’s coverage of all the pre race activities starting Friday and then all day Saturday from noon till 4:30pm when they hand things off to NBC for race coverage.

Mayne on the Preakness: “This is a one horse race. Big Brown is such a wonderful horse to watch and I said before the Kentucky Derby that I thought that he was a real Superstar and so did a great many other people but this horse is really something special and a true Triple Crown contender.”

 Mayne on the future of the Preakness: “Look I love coming to Baltimore and the people at Pimlico have been wonderful to me. That said of the three Triple Crown race tracks they could use a coat of paint out there. But it is the race that matter and what the track looks like is not important simply put the Preakness at Pimlico is special as are the people behind the scenes that make the race come off without a hitch each year. So I hope that the race stays in Baltimore for another 133 years. I also hope that the people of Maryland understand how special that the horse racing industry is to the state and that they appreciate what they have in the Preakness because it can be taken away.”

 Mayne on the death of eight Belles: “That was one of the saddest things that I have ever seen. I know that the Vet and all of the people that cover racing said that they had never seen such a bad break in both legs at the same time. I really don’t know what happened and do think that we need to look into how the horses are bread and how we get them ready to race. I am all for investigating and learning more about why these deaths happen and how we can make the sport safer for horses and the jockeys.”

Anyone wanting to meet Kenny Mayne can today from noon till 2pm at Pimlico where he will be signing copies of his new book An Incomplete and Inaccurate History of Sport. It is a great read and like the author plenty of laughs. 

 You can also get the book from www.kennymaynehaswrittenabook.com