But only Aptitude finished as high as second in the Derby before skipping the Preakness.
In fact, Aptitude finished second to Fusaichi Pegasus in the Derby after running second to Red Bullet in the Gotham and third behind both of them in the Wood Memorial.
The new favorite became Aptitude, who finished second to Pegasus in the Derby but sat out the Preakness.
In the case of Aptitude, who finished second in the 2000 Kentucky Derby, Frankel waited months for the colt's puffy ankles to heal, fitted him with blinkers and shipped him east for the summer to take advantage of the softer tracks.
He had a horse named Aptitude finish second to Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000 and he dourly noted this past week that only obsessive track buffs would remember Aptitude's name.
And on April 15, Red Bullet again outran Aptitude in the Wood, but both finished well behind the flying horse.
Following the last race of the day, the Classic, where Aptitude, one of his three favorites, finished eighth, he declined to comment, muttering, "I ain't saying nothing".
Aptitude, second in the Derby, and Wheelaway, who finished fifth, will skip the Preakness but wait for the Belmont Stakes.
The two favorites -- Aptitude, the Derby runner-up, and Impeachment, who finished third in the Derby and Preakness -- have won only once each in their lifetimes.
Aptitude ran out of track half a length short, but he finished four lengths in front of Performing Magic.
Aptitude, who ran third behind Fusaichi Pegasus in the Wood Memorial in New York three weeks ago, finished strongly for second place, four lengths in front of Impeachment, with More Than Ready fourth.
