Preakness 2015 Post Positions: Updated Odds for Entire Lineup After Draw

With the Preakness just days away, the post positions were set on Wednesday and the morning-line odds were released. Not surprisingly, American Pharoah is the clear favorite, even with a starting position on the rail. 

Below, we'll take a look at the post and odds information and break down the difficulties Pharoah will be facing given his starting position. 

Post Positions and Odds

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

Analysis

Can American Pharoah make it two races in a row? 

Of course he can, but the Preakness draw didn't exactly make things easy on him, landing him on the inside post and fellow Bob Baffert horse Dortmund in the No. 2 position. While the eight-horse field makes that positioning less difficult to overcome than it would have been at the Kentucky Derby—where the field is much larger—it isn't exactly ideal, either. 

Simon Callaghan, the trainer for his main competitor, Firing Line, certainly liked the way the draw played out, per the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com horse racing Twitter account:

Randy Moss of NBC Sports doesn't think the draw is all that bad for American Pharoah, however:

HRTV analyst Jeff Siegel isn't worried about Pharoah on the rail, either:

At the Preakness, getting out to a fast start and settling in behind the pace-setter would likely have been the strategy no matter where American Pharoah was drawn, so that isn't going to change because he ended up on the inside. 

The fascinating thing with Pharoah, of course, is that he showed great closing speed at the Kentucky Derby, surging past Firing Line down the stretch to earn the win. That versatility and late speed will aid him even if he doesn't get out to the best start and gets buried in the pack a bit. 

Yes, he'll have to start his break earlier than he did at the Derby, giving Pimlico's shorter track, but his ability to close strongly will benefit him. I don't think anyone would describe Pharoah as a closer—he seems to fit more aptly as a stalker—but he has the make of a horse that can win any type of race. 

That's the sort of versatility a potential Triple Crown champion needs to have. American Pharoah has two races to go to earn that distinction, starting with the Preakness, but it's hard to imagine the horse losing at Pimlico unless he simply doesn't have his best stuff on the day.