Preakness 2015: Final Results, Standings, Payouts and Replay Highlights

American Pharoah overcame the elements on a sloppy Pimlico Race Course track Saturday to win the 2015 Preakness Stakes and keep his quest for the Triple Crown alive.

In his Kentucky Derby victory, Firing Line pushed American Pharoah hard down the final stretch. His performance was impressive, but it lacked the kind of awe-inspiring dominance some fans look for in a potential Triple Crown threat.

In the Preakness, he put together that exact kind of performance as he crossed the finishing line with plenty of room to spare. After the final turn, it was readily apparent that American Pharoah was only racing against himself.

Trainer Bob Baffert knows that he has a special horse on his hands, per Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden:

Tale of Verve and Divining Rod rounded out the top three.

Place	No.	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Lengths
1	1	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	----
2	5	Tale of Verve	Joel Rosario	Dallas Stewart	7
3	7	Divining Rod	Javier Castellano	Arnaud Delacour	8
4	2	Dortmund	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	15 1/2
5	3	Mr. Z	Corey Nakatani	D. Wayne Lukas	17 1/4
6	4	Danzig Moon	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	18 1/4
7	8	Firing Line	Gary Stevens	Simon Callaghan	45
8	6	Bodhisattva	Trevor McCarthy	Jose Corrales	48 1/4

If you bet on an American Pharoah/Tale of Verve/Divining Rod trifecta, then you're almost certainly collecting a nice haul. According to the Preakness' official site, Tale of Verve had 30-1 odds of winning in the morning line, so he provided a hefty payout with his second-place finish.

Horse	Win	Place	Show
American Pharoah	$3.80	$3.40	$2.80
Tale of Verve	----	$19.00	$8.80
Divining Rod	----	----	$5.20

The biggest story from the race is of course that American Pharoah remains on track to potentially win the Triple Crown, a feat no horse has accomplished since Affirmed in 1978:

Thirteen horses have tried and failed to capture the Triple Crown before the three-year-old colt. Despite that poor record, ESPN's Mike Greenberg remains confident that American Pharoah is different from the rest:

American Pharoah started out the Preakness at a bit of a disadvantage after he got stuck on the inside rail. Even with only eight horses in the field, starting out in the No. 1 position presented a stern test for the horse.

According to SportsCenter, he's the first favorite to win the Preakness Stakes from the rail since 1994.

As if that wasn't enough of a challenge for American Pharoah, the heavens also opened up right before the race began, making the track soggy. ESPN's Trey Wingo had a great way to phrase the track conditions:

Despite the rain, American Pharoah's quality shone through. He was clearly the best horse on the field and illustrated the gap between him and the rest of the competition.

Now, the question is whether he will still have his best stuff at the Belmont Stakes, a final hurdle that has proved too difficult to scale for a baker's dozen of Triple Crown hopefuls.

Running three races in a little over a month is a brutal turnaround, especially when facing a handful of horses at Belmont Park who will be coming in completely fresh.

Last year, California Chrome co-owner Steve Coburn railed against a system that arguably punishes horses that are attempting to win the three biggest races on the calendar.

"It says Triple Crown. You nominate your horse for the Triple Crown. That means three," he said, per USA Today's Gary Mihoces. "Even the Triple Crown trophy has three points on it. Those 20 horses that start in the Kentucky Derby should be the only 20 allowed to run in the Preakness and the Belmont for the Triple Crown."

As good as American Pharoah is, the target on his back is only growing. Plenty of trainers will revel in the opportunity to spoil his bid for history.

Maybe this year can end the decadeslong Triple Crown drought. It's bound to happen sooner or later, right? And on his best day, American Pharoah is impossible to beat. That much was evident Saturday.