The Preakness will feel somewhat back to normal, even if everything carries a giant asterisk.

The limited capacity of 10,000 fans expected today is far less than the crowd of 100,000 that usually packs the grandstand and infield and is a fraction of the 50,000 who saw Medina Spirit win the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs two weeks ago. The Bob Baffert-trained colt was cleared Friday to run in the second leg of the Triple Crown after failing a post-Derby drug test.

All eyes are on the Preakness to see what will happen next in horse racing’s latest drama.

Because of the presence of the Derby winner with a Triple Crown still possible when the starting gates open, the Preakness is usually the safest bet on the sport’s calendar. The past two years broke that trend: the races were out of order in 2020 because of the pandemic, and the 2019 Preakness came out on the short end the Derby mess after first-place finisher Maximum Security was disqualified and Country House was named the winner — though both horses skipped the Preakness.