Much like the Kentucky Derby, there are only a select few horses that look to be the best of the bunch for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico in Baltimore.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
Always Dreaming closed as the favorite and ended up winning the first leg of the Triple Crown two weeks ago. Now the 2017 Kentucky Derby winner is listed as -125 chalk to finish first again in the Preakness according to oddsmakers.
Last year, Nyquist won the Kentucky Derby but placed third in the Preakness behind winner Exaggerator and runner-up Cherry Wine. Classic Empire will be looking to play Triple Crown spoiler this time around as the +300 second choice.
After sitting as the Derby favorite for much of the time, Classic Empire finished fourth and is one of four horses besides Always Dreaming to race in both. The others are Lookin At Lee (+1000), Gunnevera (+1600) and Hence (+2000). Lookin At Lee placed second in the Derby with Gunnevera finishing seventh and Hence 11th.
Always Dreaming figures to have a bit of an edge in drawing post position No. 4, with 13 other previous winners also starting from that spot. Classic Empire got a more favorable draw in the No. 5 post position after starting from No. 14 in the Kentucky Derby.
Cloud Computing will start from post position No. 2 and is listed as the +1400 fourth choice. He did not run in the Kentucky Derby and is racing for just the fourth time overall after placing third in the Wood Memorial and second in the Gotham Stakes. But he did win the very first race he entered, a maiden special weight at Aqueduct on February 11.
Rounding out the 10-horse field are four longer shots in Conquest Mo Money (+1800), Term of Art (+3300), Senior Investment (+3300) and Multiplier (+4000). Senior Investment won the Lexington Stakes while Multiplier took home the top prize in the Illinois Derby. Term of Art finished seventh in the Santa Anita Derby, and Conquest Mo Money was the runner-up in the Arkansas Derby.
