American Pharoah's Biggest Threats to Triple Crown Hopes

Much to trainer Bob Baffert's chagrin, his horses drew less than favorable post positions to start the 2015 Preakness Stakes on Saturday. His top horse got the shortest end of the stick. Here's a look at the post positions, odds, jockey and trainer information for all eight horses in the field.

Post Position	Horse	Odds	Trainer	Jockey
1	American Pharoah	5-6	Bob Baffert	Victor Espinoza
2	Dortmund	15-4	Bob Baffert	Martin Garcia
3	Mr. Z	25-1	D. Wayne Lukas	Corey Nakatani
4	Danzig Moon	16-1	Mark Casse	Julien Leparoux
5	Tale of Verve	50-1	Dallas Stewart	Joel Rosario
6	Bodhisattva	40-1	Jose Corrales	Trevor McCarthy
7	Divining Rod	16-1	Arnaud Delacour	Javier Castellano
8	Firing Line	17-4	Simon Callaghan	Gary Stevens

Baffert had this to say about the starting positions for American Pharoah and Dortmund, per the Associated Press (h/t the News & Record):

“I can’t believe I drew the 1-2 of all draws. It’s the luck of the draw. I don’t love it, but it will be easy to watch.”

Despite drawing the first post position at the 2015 Preakness Stakes, Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah is still the favorite to win at 5-6 odds, per Odds Shark. 

With that said, there are two horses that pose a big threat to American Pharoah capturing the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown.

Dortmund

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Baffert's other horse is not only the second-best horse in the field, he'll also be running right alongside American Pharoah for at least the beginning of Saturday's race. This could have an adverse affect on American Pharoah, as some horses don't respond well to being on the rail and having a fast competitor so close out of the gates.

However, if American Pharoah can prevent himself from falling too far behind at the beginning of the race, he may be able to close in and take the lead, as he has already exhibited superior closing ability at Churchill Downs. Chances are, he'll run down Dortmund again if he's within striking distance as the horses come down the stretch.

Firing Line

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Not only is Firing Line fast, he also drew the coveted eighth post. If he gets off to a fast start, it may be too much even for American Pharoah to overcome. 

Firing Line gave Dortmund all he could handle at the Robert B. Lewis Stakes and Los Alamitos Futurity. He figures to be right there again in the Preakness. The difference could very well be the starting post position.

Without a horse on the outside to worry about, Firing Line and legendary jockey Gary Stevens are the ones American Pharoah has to worry most about.