Preakness Results 2015: Odds of American Pharoah Completing Triple Crown

Many have tried and failed to win the Triple Crown of horse racing since Affirmed last accomplished the feat in 1978, but after his convincing Preakness Stakes victory Saturday, American Pharoah may have what it takes to reverse that trend.

No other horse was even close to beating the Kentucky Derby winner at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, as a late charge by long shot Tale of Verve was nowhere near good enough to overtake him. Here is a look at the full results from American Pharoah's transcendent win:

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

The odds are always stacked against horses winning the Triple Crown leading up to the Kentucky Derby, but after American Pharoah's easy win in the Preakness, he has been installed as a 71-100 favorite to triumph in the Belmont Stakes and pull off the ultimate coup in horse racing, per OddsShark.

Perhaps the biggest thing working against American Pharoah as he goes for the Triple Crown is history. It is no secret that it has been nearly four decades since a horse last won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in succession.

According to Bleacher Report, 14 horses have had an opportunity to win the Triple Crown entering the Belmont since Affirmed was last able to do it:

Per ESPN's Darren Rovell, American Pharoah will be the seventh such horse to go for the grandest prize in horse racing since 2001:

To add even more perspective to just how long it has been since the Triple Crown has been won, Rovell also offered this surprising statistic:

History has also been unkind to jockey Victor Espinoza and trainer Bob Baffert. They are two of the best in their respective professions, but neither has a Triple Crown to his credit.

Espinoza has fallen short twice, including last with year with California Chrome, while Baffert has failed on three occasions, according to ESPN Stats & Info:

The 62-year-old trainer is undoubtedly aware of his track record, which may be why he isn't yet interested in looking ahead to the Belmont Stakes in three weeks.

Per Dan Wolken of USA Today, Baffert simply wanted to enjoy the Preakness victory after his three-year-old colt took the field by storm:

"

Just an incredible horse; what he does is amazing. I'm so emotional right now. ... I don't even want to think about (the Belmont) right now. It's tough up there. I just want to enjoy this and thank everyone who has been so nice to us. It's been a great ride for us so far. You don't know how much I appreciate this.

"

Baffert clearly knows that he has a fantastic horse on his hands, but he is also quite cognizant of how difficult it is to win three races in just over a month.

Even so, ESPN's Mike Greenberg is ready to hand the Triple Crown over to American Pharoah:

Some observers may agree, but there will be no shortage of additional contenders in the Belmont Stakes with a chance to spoil history.

The Belmont is a totally different animal than the other Triple Crown races since there is an emphasis on stamina. American Pharoah may not be able to charge to the front and lead from wire to wire for 12 furlongs.

Also, he may have to deal with some horses who were kept out of the Preakness field with the intention of going all-in at the Belmont. That could potentially include Kentucky Derby entrants such as Materiality and Carpe Diem.

American Pharoah has a massive target on his back, and it takes a special horse to overcome that.

Even though horse players may be tempted to bet against him at 71-100, the combination of American Pharoah's talent and the lack of a truly credible threat should allow him to render recent history moot.

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