Between Preakness Day and Black-Eyed Susan Day, Pimlico Race Course has easily its two biggest days of the meet. Outside of these two major race cards, Pimlico isn't the most exciting track in the North American racing circuit, but it sure will be on May 15 and 16.
Looking specifically at the 16th, Preakness Day, we've got a full slate of races, including eight straight with purses equal to or in excess of $100,000.
The card is headlined by the second leg of racing's Triple Crown, the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes. However, don't sleep on the Grade 2 Dixie, as that tends to be a highly competitive race.
That said, this is all about the Preakness.
American Pharoah will look to become the seventh horse since 2000 to take both the Derby and Preakness, but some quality animals, including Derby runner-up Firing Line and the physical specimen Dortmund, will look to keep that from becoming a reality.
Before diving into a preview of the 140th running of the Preakness Stakes, take a quick look below at all the info you'll need to take in Saturday's race card.
Preakness Day Info
When: May 16, 2015
Where: Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland
First Post: 10:30 a.m. ET
Where to Watch: NBC Sports Network (1-4:30 p.m. ET) and NBC (4:30-6 p.m. ET)
Schedule of Races
Preakness Preview
The current field for the 2015 Preakness features one of the weakest fields in recent memory, and we could be in for a race that looks eerily similar to the Kentucky Derby earlier this month.
As of now, pending and confirmed runners for the Preakness include four runners from the Derby, as well as Tale of Verve, a Derby also-eligible. This could produce a very similar race in terms of who breaks to the front, who leads through the backstretch run and, eventually, who wins the race.
With the introduction of the points system, cheap speed has been essentially nonexistent in the Derby. The Churchill Downs dirt track practically looked like a merry-go-round, with little-to-no passing, aside from Frosted and Materiality.
With neither of those colts running this weekend, we'll look to a few newcomers to the Triple Crown scene—Divining Rod, Bodhisvattva, Tale of Verve and Grand Bili to provide us with a brisk pace on the front end to shake things up.
Unfortunately, none of these colts are going to provide us with that, and the only interesting one in the group is Divining Rod.
This Arnaud Delacour-trained colt has shown class in the past, finishing no worse than third in any of his five career starts. His three most recent starts were all of the graded stakes variety, and he posted second-, third- and first-place finishes in the Sam F. Davis (Grade 3), Tampa Bay Derby (Grade 2) and Lexington Stakes (Grade 3), respectively.
The Tapit colt also sports some sturdy bloodlines, including the ever-potent Pulpit, A.P. Indy, Seattle Slew line on his father's side, as well as ties to Mr. Prospector and Storm Cat on his dam's side.
The Lexington Stakes (shown below) was an impressive victory for Divining Rod, but I think he's a notch below the major players. Sporting a running style and preferred position similar to that of American Pharoah won't help him, either.
So the rest of the field looks rather uninspiring, but what about favorites like American Pharoah, Firing Line and Dortmund?
Pharoah is an absolute monster, and if he gets a good trip this time out, he'll run away with the victory this weekend. That said, Firing Line is going to give him a good run for his money.
The Line of David colt set a track record in the Sunland Derby (shown below) prior to logging a second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby and has never finished any worse than second in his six career starts. Firing Line's pedigree screams mid-distance runner, and the Preakness could be the perfect place for him to get out in front, control the pace and steal a victory.
Throw in the fact that he'll return the soon-to-be all-time mounts leader for the Preakness Stakes, Gary Stevens, as his rider and you've got a monster contender at a pretty fair price of 4-1, per Bovada via OddsShark.com.
Dortmund I'm not as high on. The Big Brown colt was full out to hold off a charging Frosted, and while the cut back in distance for the Preakness and a similar run would likely ensure him a third-place finish, a good trip for Danzig Moon and the presence of some fresh legs—e.g. Divining Rod—could bump him down in the fourth-place range.
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