Preakness Draw 2015: Post Positions for Each Horse in the Field

Although the race will ultimately be decided on the track Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Wednesday's Preakness Stakes post draw was an entertaining appetizer to what should be a dramatic event.

After winning the Kentucky Derby from an outside post, American Pharoah seemingly has the ability to excel from anywhere on the track. That should once again hold true in the Preakness, especially since the field is much smaller. With that said, jockey Victor Espinoza will have to earn his keep, as he'll break from the No. 1 post this time around.

Prior to American Pharoah's attempt at taking the second leg of the Triple Crown, here is a full listing of starting positions as well as further analysis regarding horses with sleeper potential.

Preakness Stakes Lineup

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	4-5
2	Dortmund	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	7-2
3	Mr. Z	Corey Nakatani	D. Wayne Lukas	20-1
4	Danzig Moon	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	15-1
5	Tale of Verve	Joel Rosario	Dallas Stewart	30-1
6	Bodhisattva	Trevor McCarthy	Jose Corrales	20-1
7	Divining Rod	Javier Castellano	Arnaud Delacour	12-1
8	Firing Line	Gary Stevens	Simon Callaghan	4-1

Breaking Down Top Sleepers

Divining Rod

Most horse racing fans are naturally pointing toward the likes of American Pharoah, Firing Line, Dortmund and Danzig Moon as the likeliest Preakness Stakes winners due to their strong showings in the Kentucky Derby. With that said, it wouldn't be wise to count out the horses who didn't run at Churchill Downs.

Chief among them is Divining Rod, who is coming off an impressive victory in the Lexington Stakes. He is also well-rested compared to the Kentucky Derby horses, which is something that should work to his advantage.

According to Karen M. Johnson of ThoroughbredRacing.com, Divining Rod trainer Arnaud Delacour questions if American Pharoah, Firing Line and Dortmund will have enough left in the tank to perform well in the Preakness:

"

I still think the first three horses in the Derby who are running back in the Preakness are very solid horses, and there is not much between them. They all had to fight hard and I thought they all had a great performance. I'm not sure who will come out of the Derby in the best shape because it was a hard race for the three of them. So, my guess is the one to beat is the one who comes back the best from the Derby.

"

If none of them react well at Pimlico, then that could open the door for a horse such as Divining Rod to come away with a shocking victory.

In addition to being fresh and having momentum, Divining Rod also has the benefit of being guided by arguably the best jockey in the world right now in the form of Javier Castellano, per Jonathan Lintner of the Courier-Journal:

Castellano is a former Preakness winner, and he figures to put Divining Rod in the best possible position to triumph at Pimlico regardless of his starting position.

It will come down to whether Divining Rod has it in him to win such a prestigious race, but there is little doubt that most other factors are working in his favor ahead of the Preakness.

Mr. Z

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Among the five Kentucky Derby horses in the Preakness Stakes field, there is no question that Mr. Z is the forgotten colt due to his pedestrian 13th-place finish. Even so, he has enough punch to at least pose a threat to the favorites.

Mr. Z wasn't even expected to run at Pimlico, but according to Ron Mitchell of BloodHorse.com, he was sold from Zayat Stables to Calumet Stables, and his new owners have decided to enter him into the race.

Per Mitchell, Calumet Stables paid a hefty price to secure Mr. Z's services:

It is a somewhat surprising move since Mr. Z is a heavily run horse with just one win to his credit, but perhaps the fact that he has so much experience against elite horses has prepared him to turn in the race of his life at the Preakness.

He finished third to American Pharoah at the Arkansas Derby and third to both Dortmund and Firing Line in the Los Alamitos Futurity, so he is no stranger to the very best three-year-olds horse racing has to offer.

With that in mind, Churchill Downs announcer Travis Stone has no problem with Mr. Z being part of the field:

One of the biggest things working against Mr. Z is a lack of rest since he was in the Kentucky Derby, but he didn't run as hard or expend as much energy as American Pharaoh, Dortmund and Firing Line did.

That means he could have just the right mix of form and rest, and maybe that perfect storm could lead to an unexpected result.

Bodhisattva

Like Divining Rod, Bodhisattva is a talented horse who also enters the Preakness Stakes with the benefit of not having run in the Kentucky Derby.

He is also coming off a victory, as he won the Federico Tesio in April. That was just the second win of the colt's career, but it also happened to be his best performance, which bodes well for the Preakness.

Few are giving Bodhisattva a chance due to the quality of the other horses in the field, but owner and trainer Jose Corrales believes his horse has a legitimate chance to win, according to Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun:

"I am not a person who likes to talk about my horse is this and that, he should win," Corrales said. "I'm not a big talker because if I don't think he had a chance, I would not run him. I'm not running for the show or people to see my face or my name. Let the horse talk."

Bodhisattva is somewhat of an unknown since he doesn't have much experience when it comes to running against the very top horses. That may seem like a bad thing on the surface, but he could potentially raise his level as the competition gets fiercer.

Because of the uncertainty, Bodhisattva will definitely be a horse worth watching at Pimlico outside of the usual suspects.

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