Great White, the horse who reared and flipped before loading into the Kentucky Derby starting gate nearly two weeks ago, was back in the Preakness picture Friday with early betting support and a clean bill of health. John Ennis said Friday morning at Laurel Park that the horse is perfect.

The colt was listed at 7-1 as the third choice in early Preakness betting Friday afternoon, after opening with 15-1 morning-line odds. That came after the May 2 Derby incident, when Great White tumbled backward to the ground on NBC in front of 24.4 million viewers before bouncing back up. Great White and his jockey were scratched after the episode and were quickly pronounced fit.

For Ennis, a 44-year-old Ireland native who owns Great White with majority partner Three Chimneys Farm, the days since then have brought a flood of attention. He said he had received a lot of phone calls and messages about the horse, including from people in Europe and elsewhere who were checking to make sure everyone was okay. He said his girlfriend got more texts than he did. “There was a big outpouring of concern for the horse and the rider,” Ennis said. “But everything is good, and the horse is perfect.”

Alex Achard, the 34-year-old France native set to ride Great White, said the scene was hard to shake. “Obviously it was heartbreaking for everyone involved,” he said. “It wasn’t an easy thing to deal with, but at the end of the day, no one got hurt.” Achard said that in moments like that, the goal is to find something positive, even if it is difficult. He added, “That’s the best way to bounce off of it.”

The Derby gate incident became one of the most replayed moments of the spring meet, turning a routine pre-race problem into a public spectacle that drew concern from racing fans and insiders alike. Ennis said the response since then has been more supportive than critical, and that many of the people reaching out were apologetic about what happened. “Enough people have been supportive about it. They are rooting for us. It was just a freak accident. That was it,” he said. He also joked, “I’ve taken worse falls out of bed.”

Achard said he hopes Saturday marks his first start in a Triple Crown race, a chance to put the episode behind him and focus on the race itself. “Maybe somewhere people are feeling bad about what happened,” he said. “Now they want to just root for us after what happened.”

For Great White, the road from the Derby gate to the Preakness has already brought more attention than many horses get in a full season. What happens Saturday will not erase the tumble, but it may decide whether the horse is remembered for the fall or for the recovery that followed.