Elio cashes the Preakness from a dance recital

The Preakness is always the middle child of the Triple Crown — no Triple Crown bid this year after Great White went down at Churchill, no glamour like Belmont, just Pimlico and a field that begged for a price. The Barstool gambling crew spent all week trying to find the number, and by Friday the preview show was already pointing toward longshots over chalk.

Barstool Gambling

@stoolgambling

The Preakness Preview Show with @stoolpresidente and @elio82 @DKsports #DKPartner

Portnoy locked in on Great White, the Derby faller looking for redemption at a shorter price. Elio went a different direction entirely and stuck his flag in Napoleon Solo at a juicy number, then said it on camera so there'd be receipts.

Barstool Gambling

@stoolgambling

.@elio82 makes his pick for the Preakness @DraftKings #dkpartner

Then came Saturday, and the real twist: while horseplayers were glued to NBC, Elio was reportedly stuck at a kid's dance recital with no signal. Napoleon Solo ran the 151st Preakness down at 7-1 anyway, and the original Stool Streams syndicate member nailed it without even being able to watch it live.

Barstool Gambling

@stoolgambling

NAPOLEON SOLO WINS THE PREAKNESS

The aftermath was peak Elio. He made it home, took the lap from Portnoy congratulating the pick, and then dropped the line that should be stitched on a pillow at Pimlico — that with WiFi at the recital, the new track might be his.

elio imbornone

@elio82

If I had WiFi at the dance recital we might have owned the new Pimlico

This is exactly the kind of weekend that keeps people locked into horse racing twice a year. A scratched Derby favorite, a 7-1 winner, a Barstool guy putting his name on it 24 hours early, and a punchline about missing the WiFi window at a kid's recital. Bring on Belmont.