Preakness 2023 Post Positions: Complete Listing for Every Horse

The field is set for the second leg of the Triple Crown.

On Monday, the post positions were announced for this year's running of The Preakness. Below, we'll go over those positions and preview the race.

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Post Position and Odds

1. National Treasure (4-1)
2. Chase the Chaos (50-1)
3. Mage (8-5)
4. Coffee with Chris (20-1)
5. Red Route One (10-1)
6. Perform (15-1)
7. Blazing Sevens (6-1)
8. First Mission (5-2)

Via WBALTV.com.

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Preview

Kentucky Derby winner Mage heads into the Preakness as the favorite, and he'll only have a small field to compete against, with just eight horses in the running.

Mage, who is gunning to become the first triple crown winner since Justify in 2018, won't have to face his toughest competition from Kentucky, as neither second-place finisher Two Phil's nor third-place finisher Angel of Empire are heading to Pimlico.

And his two toughest expected opponents at The Preakness, National Treasure and First Mission, will each be on the outside to start the race. That may not be as big of a detriment in a small field, however.

As for the favorite, he was familiarizing himself with the Pimlico course on Monday.

"He's getting to know the track mainly, and it's pretty much about him feeling comfortable with new surroundings, too, that kind of thing, but so far, so good," Mage's assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado Jr. told Pete Gilbert of WBALTV.com. "He looked good, quiet, relaxed. There were only one, two, three horses on the track the same time he was. He was getting to know the track mainly."

The race will occur in the backdrop of seven horses dying in a 10-day period at Churchill Downs leading up to the Kentucky Derby, yet again casting the sport in an inhumane and ethically dubious light.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey called the situation "very concerning."

"I don't know that we'll ever get to the bottom of it," he added. "But seven deaths in a week and they had three at Keeneland (in Lexington) that made it 10 deaths that we know about in a month, and that's too many. I don't think it's anything we should keep in the closet. I think we need to be very transparent about what's going on."