2014 Preakness: Video Replay, Purse Earnings and Belmont Stakes Odds

California Chrome raced to a triumph at the 2014 Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore to take home a major payday.

Not the afterthought it used to be, the middle leg of the Triple Crown upped the stakes this year with more cash payouts to the winners. Which means the top five horses, jockeys, trainers and owners took home significant coin for their efforts.

Ride On Curlin and Social Inclusion came in second and third place, respectively. That made the action more entertaining than most could have predicted, but California Chrome found a new gear late to ensure the talk of the globe is the upcoming Belmont Stakes.

Here is a look at the final order, followed by the new and improved purse earnings and a breakdown of Saturday's action.

Results

Pos.	Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Lengths
1	3	California Chrome	Victor Espinoza	Art Sherman	-
2	10	Ride On Curlin	Joel Rosario	William Gowan	1 1/2
3	8	Social Inclusion	Luis Contreras	Manny Azpurua	8
4	2	General a Rod	Javier Castellano	Mike Maker	8
5	4	Ring Weekend	Alan Garcia	H. Graham Motion	12 1/4
6	9	Pablo Del Monte	Jeffrey Sanchez	Wesley A. Ward	14
7	1	Dynamic Impact	Miguel Mena	Mark E. Casse	15 3/4
8	7	Kid Cruz	Julian Pimentel	Linda Rice	15 3/4
9	5	Bayern	Rosie Napravnik	Bob Baffert	20 3/4
10	6	Ria Antonia	Calvin Borel	Tom Amoss	30 3/4

Purse Earnings

Finish	Horse	Owner	Jockey	Payout
First	California Chrome	Steve and Carolyn Coburn and Perry and Denise Martin	Victor Espinoza	$900,000
Second	Ride On Curlin	Daniel J. Dougherty	Joel Rosario	$300,000
Third	Social Inclusion	Rontos Racing Stable Corp.	Luis Contreras	$165,000
Fourth	General a Rod	Starlight Racing, Skychai Racing	Javier Castellano	$90,000
Fifth	Ring Weekend	West Point Thoroughbreds	Alan Garcia	$45,000

It's on to the Belmont Stakes on June 7 at Belmont Park in New York for California Chrome, who becomes horse No. 34 in history to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown, as Daily Racing Form notes:

Trainer Art Sherman is one of many who hopes California Chrome has what it takes early next month:

Jockey Victor Espinoza, who remains undefeated atop California Chrome, echoed those sentiments, via USA Today's Gary Mihoces:

"I hope OK. You never know until he runs but it seems like he's going to be all right. A little bit more time, he's going to get back his energy. And you know what? We'll get it done."

As one might expect, California Chrome is a heavy favorite in comparison to the rest of the field, as ESPN's RJ Bell captures:

Danonymous Racing provided an early look at the contenders with sound odds:

Second-place finisher Ride On Curlin appeared momentarily to have a shot at first place on Saturday before fading. One can almost go as far as to suggest California Chrome faded down the stretch and will struggle on a longer track in New York, but that's still a stretch considering the rest of the field sans one was so far behind.

NorthJersey.com's Art Stapleton put it best:

It's easy to forget that California Chrome entered Saturday the winner of five straight by a combined 26 lengths. Espinoza played the field perfectly in the early goings Saturday to get through traffic, while his horse did the rest.

So it's no surprise the odds are so favorable for California Chrome. Like any other Triple Crown event, a sleeper who did not participate in the other events can shock the field, but one has to feel confident in the safe money that has continuously been provided by California Chrome.