Preakness 2015 Predictions: Final Vegas Odds, Betting Lines and Pre-Race Picks

Only hours remain until the gates open and Saturday's 2015 Preakness Stakes runs its two-minute course.

The field at Pimlico Race Course features an exclusive eight horses, but a vast majority of the hype surrounds the three darlings of the Kentucky Derby. Will there be a win-place-show repeat of two weeks ago, or can one of the mere afterthoughts stun the field and gallop to victory?

Let's take a look below at the final odds and last-minute predictions for the top three finishers.

2015 Preakness Stakes

Post Position	Horse	Odds	Trainer	Jockey
1	American Pharoah	10-13	Bob Baffert	Victor Espinoza
2	Dortmund	9-2	Bob Baffert	Martin Garcia
3	Mr. Z	25-1	D. Wayne Lukas	Corey Nakatani
4	Danzig Moon	20-1	Mark Casse	Julien Leparoux
5	Tale of Verve	50-1	Dallas Stewart	Joel Rosario
6	Bodhisattva	33-1	Jose Corrales	Trevor McCarthy
7	Divining Rod	22-1	Arnaud Delacour	Javier Castellano
8	Firing Line	17-4	Simon Callaghan	Gary Stevens

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark.

Preakness Predictions

Win: American Pharoah

A start in the dreaded No. 1 post won't doom American Pharoh's chances of continuing his run to the Triple Crown.

Sure, it's not ideal that the Bob Baffert-trained colt will have to start on the rail. And it's even more worrisome that Dortmund, perhaps the biggest threat to his reign, will line up alongside him in the No. 2 hole.

But emerging from this sort of spot to win is a familiar task for American Pharoah, who won from the rail in September. Zayat Stables racing manager Justin Zayat made it clear that his horse has never started poorly off the break, as he said in the New York Post:

"

Pharoah has won on the rail before. He won the Del Mar Futurity last September, his first Grade 1. At least, he’s overcome that one time.

The horse has natural speed out of the gate and we’re hoping he doesn’t break poorly for the first time in his career. He’s usually a very good gate horse, and he breaks very cleanly.

"

The only way that American Pharoah's post position will pose trouble is if Dortmund can box him in on the rail. Even then, jockey Victor Espinoza should be able to weave through the small eight-horse field and move into a more favorable position.

If and when American Pharoah emerges from the home stretch as one of the leaders, nobody will be able to catch up—just like at Churchill Downs two weeks ago.

Place: Dortmund

Rob Carr/Getty Images

Dortmund enters the Preakness having lost just one race, and it came in the Kentucky Derby, as American Pharoah and Firing Line both overtook him down the stretch. But that result gave every indication that Dortmund will be around in the Preakness as well.

There really were no excuses for Dortmund at Churchill Downs, where he set the pace and entered the home stretch as the leader only to fade late. But a shorter track at Pimlico should help him hold on and allow him to hold off Firing Line's inevitable late surge.

Reports from Pimlico have been promising regarding Dortmund, as track announcer Travis Stone noted:

To say that Dortmund's finish at the Derby was unexpected would be putting it lightly, as he looked to have the advantage entering the final stretch. Saturday will give Dortmund a better opportunity to control the race, with American Pharoah on his inside from the very start.

It won't be enough to hold off the horse that overtook him so easily two weeks ago, but Dortmund will still top the other six horses.

Show: Firing Line

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

While American Pharoah and Dortmund were rightfully less than pleased with their post draws, Wednesday's reveal had Firing Line's camp jumping up and down.

Baffert's two colts took the first two gates, but Firing Line will start on the opposite end of the spectrum after drawing the eighth and final post. It should give jockey Gary Stevens the opportunity start clean and avoid any trouble while getting into a favorable position for the stretch.

Firing Line showed his ability by nearly overtaking American Pharoah at Churchill Downs, but Saturday won't produce a repeat of history. Dortmund's uncharacteristic fade won't follow him into Pimlico, and that will keep Firing Line as a distant third while the two leaders duke it out.