BALTIMORE – There’s no Triple Crown on the line Saturday with the 145th Preakness at Pimlico, but there’s still plenty at stake. There’s an impending validation of the Kentucky Derby upset by Authentic, who figures as part of a front-running phalanx in a race with considerably more pace. There’s the legacy of Bob Baffert, who could stand all alone as the winningest trainer in Preakness history if Authentic or his second starter, Thousand Words, can emerge victorious. There’s supremacy within the 3-year-old division, which Authentic and his main challenger Art Collector are looking to wrest from the absent Tiz the Law as they all look to assimilate with older horses next month in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. There’s the rarity of a filly trying the boys, with Swiss Skydiver taking on male rivals in looking to become just the sixth filly winner in Preakness history. There’s the racing industry itself, which deserves some sort of credit for reaching this final leg of an out-of-order Triple Crown series in commendable fashion despite all the constraints of a coronavirus pandemic that has precluded spectators from attending any of the three races. And then there’s the fact the Preakness is, after all, an American classic, one that many a horseman would give his or her left arm to win. “The Preakness is the kind of race we all dream about,” said trainer Tommy Drury, who will send out Art Collector as second choice to Authentic in the $1 million Preakness. “It’s why we get up early every single morning and do what we do.” Art Collector and Swiss Skydiver, neither of whom raced in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby, both are capable of flashing early speed, meaning Authentic and his jockey, John Velazquez, might not have things as easy on the front end as when the Into Mischief colt essentially led wire to wire in defeating the odds-on Tiz the Law as an 8-1 shot at Churchill Downs. Throw in the possibility of Ny Traffic and/or Thousand Words being revved up early, and Authentic might well be in for a different sort of pace challenge Saturday when he breaks from post 9 in a field of 11 going the traditional 1 3/16-mile distance. “I don’t really think about that kind of stuff until I talk to the riders,” said Baffert, the iconic Hall of Famer whose seven Preakness triumphs have him tied with R.W. Walden, whose last win came in 1888. “The jockeys, they’ll figure out their own deal. They know their horses pretty well. Usually, Johnny will just play it by ear, see how the break goes. “Of course, you’ve got to have fast horses. My job is to make sure when I put that saddle on them that they’re ready to roll. If they’re ready to roll, then when the jock asks them to do something, they’ll show up. If not, it doesn’t matter what instructions I give.” Remarkably, Baffert won the Preakness all five times he previously brought a Kentucky Derby winner here from Louisville. Since Authentic gave him his record-tying sixth Derby win, he has often said he wished the timing of the Preakness was still two weeks after the Derby, as is the case in non-coronavirus years. With a reshuffled 2020 schedule that resulted in the Belmont Stakes – won by Tiz the Law on June 20 – being held first instead of last, there’s a four-week span between the Derby and Preakness. “I would’ve loved to run two weeks later because [Authentic] was just full of himself,” said Baffert, the all-time leading trainer with 16 wins in Triple Crown events. “I think this has given other horses time to freshen up. You have new shooters now, so everything’s kind of turned around. But I feel real good about it. He’s going to run his race. He hasn’t regressed, he looks great. We’re happy to be in this position.” Three other Preakness runners besides Authentic ran in the Derby – Mr. Big News (third), Max Player (fifth), and Ny Traffic (eighth). Of the other seven, Art Collector is being given the best chance to prevail, given the way the Bruce Lunsford homebred has dominated his four races this year. Brian Hernandez Jr. will break from post 3 aboard Art Collector, who missed the Derby with a minor injury that barely interrupted his training but forced his untimely defection. The Bernardini colt has struck a grand impression since arriving here Tuesday evening from Churchill. “He’s an extremely intelligent horse with a stop-and-go ability that makes him very handy,” said Drury, who is making his debut in a Triple Crown event at age 48. “Brian has told me plenty of times you can give him a breather when you need to. He’s said, ‘I can ride this horse with my fingertips.’ It’s almost like the horse is waiting on his cue. That can be a big advantage.” Swiss Skydiver (post 4, Robby Albarado), the Kentucky Oaks runner-up with four graded wins this year, all versus fillies for trainer Kenny McPeek, will be looking to emulate the great Rachel Alexandra, who in 2009 became the first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness. Albarado won the 2007 Preakness aboard Curlin. Thousand Words (post 5, Florent Geroux) was the 10-1 fourth choice on the Churchill toteboard when he suddenly flipped over in the paddock, forcing him to be scratched some 25 minutes to post. The colt was not injured and has continued to train regularly. This will be his first start since he won the Aug. 1 Shared Belief at Del Mar in a four-horse field. Mr. Big News (post 2, Gabriel Saez) stands to benefit from a too-fast pace, given a late-running style that won him the Oaklawn Stakes in April and made him a looming threat when he outperformed his 46-1 odds in the Kentucky Derby. His Oaklawn victory gave him an expenses-paid berth into the Preakness under an arrangement between track managements. Max Player (post 8, Paco Lopez) is one of three runners in here for trainer Steve Asmussen, along with Excession (post 1, Sheldon Russell) and Pneumatic (post 10, Joe Bravo). Max Player, third in the Belmont, is the only horse who will compete in all three Triple Crown races this year. Ny Traffic (post 7, Horacio Karamanos) was a Derby disappointment, giving close chase to Authentic before beating a steady fade at 12-1. The gray colt had been a model of consistency in five prior starts this year. Rounding out the Preakness lineup are a pair of longshots, Jesus’ Team (post 6, Jevian Toledo) and Liveyourbeastlife (post 11, Trevor McCarthy), whose connections paid a $25,000 supplementary fee because the horse was not nominated to the Triple Crown. The Preakness is scheduled to be run at 5:36 p.m. Eastern as the 11th of 12 Saturday races on a sensational all-stakes card that starts at 11 a.m. NBC will carry the race on a 90-minute broadcast (4:30-6 p.m.). Sunshine and a high of 68 are in the forecast.