Preakness Stakes 2015 Betting: Odds Favorite American Pharoah Draws No. 1 Post

Despite having to start from the rail after drawing the No. 1 post position Wednesday, Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah remains a strong 10-13 betting favorite to win the 2015 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course Saturday.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has never won a Triple Crown race from the No. 1 spot, and his other prized colt Dortmund will begin from the equally unfavorable No. 2 position.

Dortmund and Firing Line are both 17-4 second choices on the odds to win the Preakness, and neither will have much of an advantage over American Pharoah based on their post positions.

The last horse to win the Preakness from the No. 2 spot was Snow Chief in 1986, while Firing Line drew the No. 8 post out of eight in the field. While Bernardini won the Preakness from No. 8 in 2006, he beat eight other horses that day with favorite Barbaro finishing last. The last horse to win from the rail was Tabasco Cat in 1994.

Bettors also have the opportunity to wager on Yes or No props on any of the eight horses to finish in the top three. American Pharoah is -300 (bet $300 to win $100) or 1-3 to finish in the top three, while Dortmund is -190 and Firing Line is -215.

Betting No on American Pharoah to finish in the top three is worth +240 (bet $100 to win $240) or 12-5, compared to +155 for Dortmund and +175 for Firing Line.

Last year, it was favorite California Chrome winning from the No. 3 position, and Mr. Z (33-1) will start from that spot on Saturday. However, California Chrome had jockey Victor Espinoza riding him to victory at the Preakness after winning the Kentucky Derby, an edge American Pharoah will have this time around as well for Baffert.

The only other horse in the Preakness field that ran in the Kentucky Derby is Danzig Moon (20-1), who will start in the No. 4 position after placing fifth at Churchill Downs two weeks ago. Third-place finisher Frosted is bypassing the Preakness and may run in the Belmont Stakes on June 6.

Divining Rod (20-1) will start from the No. 7 position, which may or may not be lucky considering recent history. In fact, Lookin At Lucky won the Preakness from that spot in 2010, and five other horses have finished first starting there over the past 26 years, the most of any position during that period.

Two long shots round out the betting field, with Tale of Verve and Bodhisattva both sitting at 50-1. Tale of Verve will start from the No. 5 position and Bodhisattva at No. 6. Oxbow was the last horse to win the Preakness from the No. 6 spot in 2013, while Shackleford won from the No. 5 position two years earlier.