Preakness 2015 Payout: Prize-Money Payout, Order of Finish and Reaction

You have to give it to the Preakness Stakes—it gave American Pharoah all it had. The draw threw him on the inside post, where no horse had won since 1994. The skies dropped a torrential downpour that scattered the infield and threatened the race. The field featured Firing Line and Dortmund, podium-finishers at the Kentucky Derby who entered the field rather than take on the opportunity for a five-week break.

It wasn't enough—not even close.

For the second time this month, American Pharoah scurried away from the field down the final stretch and took home a Triple Crown race. 

Place	No.	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Lengths	Prize Money
1	1	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	----	$900,000 (60%)
2	5	Tale of Verve	Joel Rosario	Dallas Stewart	7	$300,000 (20%)
3	7	Divining Rod	Javier Castellano	Arnaud Delacour	8	$165,000 (11%)
4	2	Dortmund	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	15 1/2	$90,000 (6%)
5	3	Mr. Z	Corey Nakatani	D. Wayne Lukas	17 1/4	$45,000 (3%)
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

What's scary for the field is that he was even more dominant this time around. Pharoah burst out of the gate from the inside post and led the race wire-to-wire, eventually pulling seven lengths ahead of runner-up Tale of Verve.

"It went very well," jockey Victor Espinoza said, per Dan Wolken of USA Today. "He bounced out of there. He broke a tiny bit slow, and I pushed him to the front."

Divining Rod rounded out the podium, while Dortmund finished fourth after being unable to atone for a slow start. Firing Line never got things going and wound up seventh. 

None of the horses was even a remote test for Pharoah, who was back in the form he showed at the Arkansas Derby and Rebel Stakes. At Churchill Downs, Firing Line was within a length as Pharoah showed vulnerability. At Pimlico, Pharoah looked like he was running an entirely different race.

As it stands, he'll enter the Belmont next month on the precipice of history. Fourteen horses have captured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness since Affirmed earned the last Triple Crown in 1978. Seven have done so in the last 15 years.

None have completed the trifecta.

"I don't even want to think about it right now," trainer Bob Baffert said of the Triple Crown, per Wolken. "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 may not want to speak on the Triple Crown now, but the sport will be laser-focused on it in the coming weeks. He knows that better than anyone. Three times, the trainer has captured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Each of those times has finished with him coming up short.

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Silver Charm finished second to Touch Gold in 1997. Real Quiet did the same to Victory Gallop a year later. War Emblem was eighth in 2002. 

"I think it's getting harder and harder now," Baffert said, per Ed McNamara of Newsday. "I think the times have changed. You run against more horses. I've been there three times, and I came up short, but I really don't think about it now. To me, it's like if it's meant to be, it's meant to be."

Baffert's quest this time around will be perhaps his most daunting. The Belmont field should be among the toughest on the horse racing calendar, with contenders from the Derby and Preakness carrying over with some other sleepers. Todd Pletcher, who pulled all four of his horses from the Preakness, is expected to come back strong in southeast New York.

Materiality, Carpe Diem and Competitive Edge were all considered potential spoilers at Pimlico and will be well-rested after taking off the Preakness. Materiality, who finished sixth at the Derby after winning his first three career races, should be in particularly strong shape.

"It came down to we just felt two weeks was a little bit risky," Pletcher told reporters. "We felt five weeks to the Belmont would be an advantage for him (Materiality). He's been at Belmont since two days after the Derby and has been training well."

That said, Pharoah has already overcome every obstacle put in his way. At the Kentucky Derby, the difficult outside post looked like it could be too much. At the Preakness, he was forced to run the complete opposite race. Both times Pharoah galloped ahead of the field and didn't look back.

In three weeks, we'll get to see if he can do it again. The horse racing world waits with bated breath.