Preakness 2015 Contenders: Race-Day Picks for Top Horses and Jockeys

American Pharoah's run at the Triple Crown will have to continue through a familiar group of foes in the 2015 Preakness Stakes.

Many of the top Kentucky Derby horses opt to skip the action at Pimlico Race Course in order to rest up for the Belmont Stakes, and that's exactly what well-known trainer Todd Pletcher did in withdrawing all four of his horses. But with second- and third-place finishers Firing Line and Dortmund among the field of eight for Saturday's race, it will be far from easy taking that big next step toward ending the 37-year drought.

Let's take a last look at the Preakness field and odds, before slotting a predicted winner and one high-value sleeper.

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.

The Pick: American Pharoah

With a duo of contenders that he's already bested on the horizon, the biggest threat toward ending American Pharoah's Triple Crown hopes preside in his post position.

Wednesday's draw gave the Derby winner the No. 1 post, which only produced one Preakness winner—Tabasco Cat in 1994—since 1960. But it hasn't been enough to thwart him as an odds-on favorite at Pimlico, and for good reason.

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Winning from the opening gate is nothing new for American Pharoah, having emerged from the No. 1 post to win at the Rebel Stakes back in September. Of course, that race didn't boast a horse like Dortmund in the gate next to him—or a horse like Firing Line starting on the outside.

But considering American Pharoah has never broken bad from the gate in his career, Zayat Stables racing manager Justin Zayat sees jockey Victor Espinoza with the biggest challenge, per his account to the New York Post:

"

The race is really a jockey’s race right now. It’s going to be up to the jockey to break and see what happens with the other horses. If Mr. Z breaks well or Firing Line or Dortmund, who knows? Will Pharoah wire the field? Is he going to swing outside? We leave that up to the jockey.

"

They left it up to the jockey at Churchill Downs, and Espinoza navigated it brilliantly by keeping American Pharoah on the outside before taking over in the final stretch. Saturday will produce a much tougher challenge, but not one that American Pharoah isn't capable of overcoming.

The opportunity opened up magnificently for either Firing Line or Dortmund to beat American Pharoah down the stretch at Churchill Downs, and they never looked like serious threats. Don't expect much different at Pimlico.

The Sleeper: Danzig Moon

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

All of the talk surrounding American Pharoah, Dortmund and Firing Line will leave bettors feeling like there's no true home run pick to make in the sportsbook, but Danzig Moon begs to differ.

Entering the race with 20-1 odds, Danzig Moon will open up from the No. 4 gate with trainer Bob Baffert's duo and Mr. Z between him and the rail. As the fastest horse among a middle pack including Tale of Verve, Bodhisattva and Divining Rod, he promises to start strong and help to set a hot early pace.

While American Pharoah is the obvious selection, murkiness surrounding his post positions could offer Danzig Moon as a strong bet, per Kevin Gorg of Fox Sports North:

There's a small bit of concern in that he recently ran at the Kentucky Derby, but the same can be said of the three favorites. It's typically up to the horse to show whether or not he's ready for the short turnaround, and Danzig Moon has given every indication that he's up to the task, trainer Mark Casse told KY Derby Contenders:

Even with three top-line horses dominating the Derby, Danzig Moon was able to turn some heads by galloping to a fifth-place finish just 6 ½ lengths behind the winner. That came after a sloppy start in which he got jammed in with a number of other horses early.

If Danzig Moon could emerge from that to finish fifth, what's to say he can't improve upon that at Pimlico? Should he do so, a top-three finish is in order.