Always Dreaming Opens as Favorite in 2017 Preakness Stakes Odds

Always Dreaming is the 1-1 favorite to win the Preakness after his dominant showing at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday evening, per Bovada (via OddsShark).

The full list of the early odds is below:

Horse	Odds
Always Dreaming	1-1
Irish War Cry	11-2
Classic Empire	13-2
Lookin at Lee	11-1
Battle of Midway	11-1
Cloud Computing	14-1
Conquest Mo Money	16-1
Gunnevera	16-1
Malagacy	16-1
Practical Joke	18-1

Considering that Always Dreaming not only has excellent top speed but also the ability to maintain it for long distances will make him a tough horse to beat. He ran the perfect race Saturday, bursting out to a fast start, staying near the front of the race, taking the lead at the turn and pulling away from everyone in the field outside of Lookin at Lee down the stretch.

That ability to get out early and hold off the late push from the deep closers should bode well for Always Dreaming at the shorter Pimlico track.

Dan Wolken of USA Today is certainly confident the colt will have a repeat performance in two weeks:

Nonetheless, it will be fascinating to see if the smaller field will favor any of the horses that fell short in the Derby, along with a potentially cleaner track than we saw at Churchill Downs. If Classic Empire runs the Preakness, he's one to watch. Despite falling behind in the pack early and battling back throughout the race, he still pulled off a fourth-place finish Saturday.

With a cleaner run and smaller field, he could pose a major threat to Always Dreaming.