Preakness Field 2015: Horses and Jockeys Worth Backing in 140th Race

While the Preakness Stakes is generally seen as the easiest of the three legs of racing's Triple Crown, trying to sort out everything under the projected winner isn't always the easiest process. 

Outside of the top three favorites, there is a noticeable drop-off in class. Because of this, if the race breaks true to form, it's very possible that Kentucky Derby winner and Triple Crown hopeful American Pharoah, Derby runner-up Firing Line and physical specimen and third-place finisher Dortmund run first, second and third Saturday.

That said, there are a few horses to look at in this race if you're looking to collect on a few bets without breaking the bank to get your money's worth out of a winning ticket featuring American Pharoah.

In this piece, we'll take a look at two such horses—one favorite and one sleeper—who have a chance to factor into the 140th running of the Preakness.

Before we get into that breakdown, though, I'll need you to first take a look at the lineup of horses below in order to get a feeling for who's running and what I'm talking about with that drop-off in class.

Full Lineup

Post Position	Horse	Odds	Trainer	Jockey
1	American Pharoah	10-13	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	14-1	Mark Casse	Julien Leparoux
5	Tale of Verve	50-1	Dallas Stewart	Joel Rosario
6	Bodhisattva	50-1	Jose Corrales	Trevor McCarthy
7	Dvining Rod	20-1	Arnaud Delacour	Javier Castellano
8	Firing Line	17-4	Simon Callaghan	Gary Stevens

Horses and Jockeys Worth Backing

Divining Rod and Javier Castellano

I'm going to stay on the Divining Rod bandwagon, even if it kills me. The Tapit colt comes from impressive bloodlines and has shown the ability to run with the best of the best in this year's three-year-old class.

Last time out, Divining Rod put up a solid showing in the Lexington Stakes—shown in video below. Prior to that, he logged a third-place finish in the Tampa Bay Derby and a second-place finish in the Sam F. Davis before that.

Though he wasn't running against the quality of competition we're used to seeing on his race charts, Divining Rod went about his business the right way, logging a three-length victory while pulling away from the field.

Great bloodlines and a great trainer in Arnaud Delacour make Divining Rod a must-use on your tickets. Add in arguably the best rider in North America, Javier Castellano, and the deal just keeps getting sweeter.

Castellano has a Preakness win on his resume—Bernardini back in 2006—and has led the North American jockey circuit in earnings both last season and through his 540 starts this season, per Equibase.com.

If any jockey is capable of navigating Divining Rod to a win, it's Castellano.

Firing Line and Gary Stevens

Behind them, Firing Line presents bettors with another great value play.

The Line of David colt played runner-up to the American Pharoah show last time out in the Kentucky Derby, but Firing Line is a great option in this year's Preakness. The young colt played second fiddle to Dortmund in both the Robert B. Lewis Stakes and the Los Alamitos Futurity, before shipping out to New Mexico to dominate the Sunland Derby.

Firing Line flexed his speed and his muscle in that race (shown in the video above) and worked out a gaudy 14-length victory in a final time of 1:47.39.

Gary Stevens rode Firing Line to that victory on March 22, and he rode him again in his second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. This weekend, Stevens will return once again to ride Firing Line, and the 52-year-old will look to add to his impressive Preakness Stakes resume.

Over 17 career mounts—tied with Pat Day for the most in Preakness history—Stevens is the proud owner of three first-place finishes (Oxbow in 2013, Point Given in 2001 and Silver Charm in 1997) as well as two second-place finishes and six third-place finishes. 

Those 11 in-the-money finishes give Stevens an in-the-money percentage of 64.7 percent, which is thoroughly impressive given the class of his competition.

Year in and year out, Stevens has been one of the best bets in the Preakness. With Firing Line, expect much of the same here in 2015.

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