Kentucky Derby 2015: Early Preakness Predictions After Churchill Downs Results

As exhilarating and memorable as the 2015 Kentucky Derby was, it quickly fades into the background with a quick turnaround for the Preakness Stakes.

American Pharoah justified his status as the Derby favorite and galloped away from the field down the final stretch at the 141st Run for the Roses, with Firing Line and Dortmund finishing close behind. While things went pretty ideal for those top finishers, the same can't be said across the board.

What happens at Churchill Downs has no small impact on the immediate future, as the Preakness winner since 2007 has run in the Derby. But can American Pharoah follow in California Chrome's footsteps and win the two back-to-back, injecting hopes of a possible Triple Crown?

Let's take an early look at Preakness predictions, after glancing at the full Derby results.

2015 Kentucky Derby Results

Place	No.	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Lengths
1	18	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	-----
2	10	Firing Line	Gary Stevens	Simon Callaghan	1
3	8	Dortmund	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	3
4	15	Frosted	Joel Rosario	Kiaran McLaughlin	3 1/4
5	5	Danzig Moon	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	6 1/2
6	3	Materiality	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	7 3/4
7	14	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	Dale Romans	8 3/4
8	6	Mubtaahij	Christophe Soumillon	Mike de Kock	9 1/2
9	13	Itsaknockout	Luis Saez	Todd Pletcher	10 1/4
10	2	Carpe Diem	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	11
11	21	Frammento	Corey Nakatani	Nick Zito	12
12	9	Bolo	Rafael Bejarano	Carla Gaines	12 3/4
13	17	Mr. Z	Ramon Vazquez	D. Wayne Lukas	15 1/2
14	1	Ocho Ocho Ocho	Elvis Trujillo	Jim Cassidy	15 1/2
15	20	Far Right	Mike Smith	Ron Moquett	15 3/4
16	16	War Story	Joe Talamo	Tom Amoss	19 1/4
17	4	Tencendur	Manny Franco	George Weaver	35
18	19	Upstart	Jose Ortiz	Rick Violette Jr.	60 1/2

Preakness Stakes Predictions

1. American Pharoah

Every reason why American Pharoah will win the Preakness lies in the above video.

One single race isn't enough to win the Triple Crown, but American Pharoah undoubtedly proved to the critics that he can run with the best. And not only that—he can stay neck-and-neck with them during a tight stretch and pull away late for the win.

That sort of victory had eluded American Pharoah to this point, but not anymore. Every potential contender entered the gates fresh and some ran their best races, but it didn't matter.

Things bode well for American Pharoah entering the Preakness. Not only does the shorter distance (1 3/16 miles) play in his favor, but he doesn't have enough mileage on him to make trainer Bob Baffert nervous, per The Courier-Journal's Kentucky Derby Twitter:

As for jockey Victor Espinoza, he's been able to ride some spectacular horses in his career, and it has resulted in him going two-for-two at Churchill Downs and Pimlico Race Track on multiple occasions, per Frank Angst of The Blood-Horse:

Most importantly, American Pharoah showed his almost effortless ability to overtake quick horses down the stretch. Riding comfortably and confidently, just about the only thing that could prevent American Pharoah from running his race is getting bunched up on the rail, which is tough to do at Pimlico with a more exclusive field.

2. Dortmund

Rob Carr/Getty Images

American Pharoah trainer Bob Baffert has the luxury of training two of the top horses this year, but that also gives him at least some control over whether the Triple Crown hopeful's biggest test will indeed suit up or not for the Preakness. 

Many trainers would put in a word to try to help the chances of a Triple Crown. Not Baffert.

Dortmund is coming off a disappointing third-place finish at Churchill Downs, where he led the vast majority of the race before being overtaken by the top-two finishers down the stretch. He didn't have what it took on Saturday, but that isn't stopping Baffert from endorsing his horse for Pimlico, per The Courier-Journal:

Dortmund's career has been a magnificent one with a 6-0 record prior to the Derby and a spectacular run for most of that loss. But many first-rate contenders such as Dortmund are held out of the Preakness to avoid the short turnaround, instead getting five weeks off before tackling the Belmont Stakes.

Experience may push Dortmund's camp to hold him out for added rest, but his ability to set the pace at the Kentucky Derby should leave them confident that he can keep it up. A shorter track at Pimlico should also play into Dortmund's favor, as he gets into a dead heat with American Pharoah for the Black-eyed Susans.

3. International Star

Garry Jones/Associated Press

The Preakness is no stranger to a redemption story, and another one could be on the horizon with International Star.

One of the sleeper picks for the Kentucky Derby, trainer Ken Ramsey's colt was scratched the morning of the race due to a foot issue, as per Angst, who noted Ramsey's confidence that the horse would be fine for the Preakness: "Something's brewing in there, probably an abscess. There's nothing major wrong with the horse whatsoever. We think we'll probably have him ready to come back for the Preakness, but time will tell."

There's no definitive word, but Daily Racing Form's Jay Privman doubled down on the likelihood he'll be in the field:

Among the second tier of favorites for the Derby with a three-for-three record in 2015, International Star has the chance to turn his fresh legs into a shot at redemption.

While no horse has missed the Derby and gone on to win the Preakness since 2007, few horses of International Star's caliber have had to miss the Triple Crown opener. As Tonalist showed in last year's Belmont Stakes, fresh legs can often be the biggest advantage.