The Preakness Stakes- Betting Preview
The 136th running of the Preakness Stakes from Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland is scheduled to take place this Saturday, May 21 with post time set for 6:15 p.m. (ET). The race will be broadcast nationally on NBC.
The second jewel in the Triple Crown horse racing season is attracting a little more attention that normal given the fact that this year’s winner of the Kentucky Derby, Animal Kingdom is the current odds-on-favorite to win this race as well, thus keeping his chances for an elusive Triple Crown alive. The last horse win all three races was Affirmed way back in 1978. Since then there have been 11 horses that have gone on to win the first two races only to fall short in the third and longest of the three, the 1 ½ mile Belmont Stakes. The last horse to win both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes was Big Brown in 2008.
Animal Kingdom has been opened by BetUs.com at +225 to win the Preakness and is currently at +600 to go onto win the Belmont as well. The line on him failing to win the Triple Crown is -1000. He is trained by Graham Motion and will be ridden by John Velazquez, who was a late replacement in the Derby for the injured Robby Albarado. The three-year old colt won the grade III Spiral Stakes at Turfway on March 26 and ran on dirt for the first time in his career at Churchill Downs. He has three wins and two seconds in five career races and now has $1,696,800 in career earnings.
Dialed In is the second favorite at +400. He went off as the 5-1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby but got stuck in the middle of the pack in the 19-horse field and finished out of the money in eight place. Trained by Nick Zito and ridden by Julien Leparoux, this colt’s first major stakes victory was in the grade III Holy Bull at Gulfstream on January 30. He rose to the top of the rankings with a win in the grade I Florida Derby on April 3 as 3-1 second choice.
Mucho Macho Man is the third favorite at +600 and is trained by Katherine Ritvo and will be ridden by Rajiv Maragh. His late charge in the Kentucky Derby had him finishing in the money in the show position, just a neck behind Nehro for second. This colt has never finished worse than fourth in his career and has a victory in the grade II Risen Star on February 19 and a third-place finish in the grade II Louisiana Derby also on his resume.
The fourth-favorite to win this race is Shackleford at +800. He set the early pace in the Kentucky Derby and stayed in the lead deep into the stretch, before giving way to finish fourth. This colt is trained by Dale Romans and will be ridden by Jesus Castanon. Known for his fast starts, he also set the pace in the Florida Derby but was beaten by Dialed In by a head to finish second. His only win as a three-year old was in an allowance race back in early February.
A moderate longshot at +2000 that offers some legitimate value is Midnight Interlude. He is coming off a disappointing 16th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby but prior to that he came away with a victory in the grade II Santa Anita Derby in early April. Another plus is the fact that he is trained by Bob Baffert and will be ridden by veteran jockey Martin Garcia. Garcia filled in for Garret Gomez in last year’s Preakness and guided Lookin at Lucky to the winner’s circle at Pimlico.
This should be another close race with a number of quality horses in the field, but you just cannot help get the feeling that we are due for another run at a Triple Crown with Animal Kingdom taking the second leg in the Preakness.
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