Preakness Odds 2012: Current Betting Odds from Favorites to Long Shots

The field and the post positions are set for the 137th Preakness Stakes.

Get the colts onto the track and some folks into the stands at Pimlico, and we'll just about have ourselves a horse race!

Exciting stuff, I know. But before you go flinging wads of cash (or credit cards) at one entrant or another, be sure to check out the odds of the horses in the field.

Which, it just so happens, I've conveniently listed below, from the odds-on favorite to the longest long shot, along with each horse's post position.

Bodemeister (8-5)

Bodemeister will start from post 7 as the favorite to win the Preakness.

A luckier post number than post 6, perhaps, which is where Bob Baffert's beauty started at the Kentucky Derby on the way to a runner-up finish.

The shorter track and smaller field at Pimlico should be boons to Bodemeister's chances of ending up at or near the top of the crop again.

I'll Have Another (5-2)

The race to keep the Triple Crown alive will begin at post 9, where I'll Have Another will line up at Pimlico.

He's not the fastest, the most gifted or even the most experienced horse, though her certainly has the stamina to withstand the shortest of the Triple Crown runs and still have something left in the tank down the stretch.

Went the Day Well (6-1)

There's a lot to like about Went the Day Well coming out of post 5. Starting in the middle of the pack should suit him well, especially after the way he dealt with traffic at the Kentucky Derby.

Rather than panic or fall too far back, Went the Day Well stuck with it and wound up in fourth on the strength of a late charge. Don't expect him to be any more daunted in Baltimore. 

Creative Cause (6-1)

Next to Went the Day Well will be Creative Cause, who'll have the privilege of starting smack-dab in the middle at post 6.

He's finished in the top three of every race he's run except for the Kentucky Derby, and he's run well against the likes of I'll Have Another and Bodemeister in the past.

Daddy Nose Best (12-1)

A 10th-place finish at the Derby won't necessarily discourage Daddy Nose Best from doing well out of post 8. He's won four times before and ranks among the most experienced colts in the Preakness field.

Teeth of the Dog (15-1)

Conversely, Teeth of the Dog, who drew post 2 at Pimlico, is among the least experienced. He's raced just four times in his career, though he's never finished worse than third.

Zetterholm (20-1)

Zetterholm will look to extend his winning streak to four races out of post 4, coincidentally enough.

Don't be fooled, though. He pulled off those victories while racing against subpar competition in New York.

Optimizer (30-1)

There may be no easier horse to avoid than Optimizer, who gets the start out of post 10. He's failed to finish first in each of his last nine events, including an 11th-place result at the Kentucky Derby earlier this month.

Tiger Walk (30-1)

His name and his ownership (Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank) aside, Tiger Walk appears poised to do damage of some sort from post 1 at the Preakness. He finished a solid fourth at the Wood Memorial and has posted some blistering times in Practice at Pimlico so far.

Pretension (30-1)

Pretension will look to make it two wins at Pimlico in a row, this time out of post 3. The New York-bred colt spent Derby Day dashing to the front of the field at the Cananero II and, as a result, will be the only horse in the Preakness to have won in Baltimore before.

Cozzetti (30-1)

The speedy Cozzetti will start from far outside at post 11, but sports the sort of speed that may allow him to make up that ground before too long. His fourth-place showing at the Arkansas Derby, at which Bodemeister obliterated the field, also bodes well for his chances of leading the pack at Pimlico, at least for a short while.

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