Preakness 2012 Post Positions: Where I'll Have Another and Favorites Will Start

In horse racing, and at the Preakness, post position is extremely important. 

Every jockey-horse combination is different, and different combos are better at thriving in different situations. Being near the rail isn't always a death sentence, and neither is being on the outside.

It just depends who prefers what, and if someone gets a position they excel at, watch out. 

With that being said, let's take a look at where the favorites at Pimlico will be positioned at the starting gate. 

Bodemeister (No. 7)

At the Kentucky Derby, Bode (are people calling him Bode for short? I hope so) ran arguably the greatest losing race in the history of horse racing.

He got off to an impossible pace thanks to Trinniberg, but somehow he kept it up until finally being passed in the final 100 yards. The hopes at Preakness, a shorter track, are certainly high for trainer Bob Baffert, who secured position No. 7:

"

I think it’s a good post. With him, anything in the middle would have been fine. In the Preakness you just don’t want to be stuck down on the inside, where you have to use your horse a little bit.

"

For what it's worth, Bodemeister had a similar middle position at Churchill when he drew No. 6.

I'll Have Another (No. 9)

I'll Have Another was just two spots from the very outside at the Kentucky Derby (No. 19) and now he'll be just three spots from the outside at Pimlico.

That is good news for trainer Doug O'Neill:

"

I thought the draw was really good. I’m very happy with that. Being outside of the legitimate speed, most jockeys would be real happy with that. We’re OK with that. It's in (Bodemeister's jockey) Mike Smith's hands to set the pace.

"

I'll Have Another stayed perfectly behind Bodemeister at Churchill, so it will be interesting to see them separated by only one horse.

Creative Cause (No. 6)

Wouldn't you know it, the third favorite and most likely horse to upset Bode or I'll Have Another is starting just one position inside Bodemeister.

That means the top three horses are Nos. 6, 7 and 9, which is going to make things very fun to watch. 

When it comes to trainer Mike Harrington, of course, it seems like he couldn't care less about his post position: 

“It’s fine, right in the middle. It doesn’t make a whole lot of difference to me. It’s a good post; that’s all I know.” 

We'll see if he's as nonchalant after the race.

Post Positions

*Post Positions according to NJ.com

*Odds via VegasInsider.com

Post	Horse	Jockey	Odds
1.	Tiger Walk	K. Desormeaux	20-1
2.	Teeth of the Dog	J. Bravo	20-1
3.	Pretension	J. Santiago	25-1
4.	Zetterholm	J. Alvarado	20-1
5.	Went the Day Well	J. Velazquez	12-1
6.	Creative Cause	J. Rosario	8-1
7.	Bodemeister	M. Smith	3-1
8.	Daddy Nose Best	J. Leparoux	15-1
9.	I'll Have Another	M. Guitierrez	3-1
10.	Optimizer	C. Nakatani	12-1
11.	Cozzetti	J. Lezcano	20-1

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