Preakness 2015: Video Highlights, Payouts and Pimlico Race Results

If American Pharoah and jockey Victor Espinoza were feeling any pressure leading up to the 2015 Preakness Stakes, neither showed it once the race began. The odds-on favorite cruised to a seven-length victory over Tale of Verve at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday and is one win away from capturing the Triple Crown. 

Making American Pharoah's win even more impressive, as you can see in the highlights embedded above, is that Baltimore, Maryland was pummeled by massive rainfall as the horses were making their way into the starting gate.

Not even Mother Nature is capable of slowing down American Pharoah at this point, so the Belmont Stakes should be a breeze.

Here's the full order of finish from the Preakness Stakes:

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

Even though American Pharoah's win didn't provide much of a return, the money for Tale of Verve and Divining Rod more than made up for it based on the payouts listed after the race:

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

It's amazing to look at how American Pharoah got here, not because it was unexpected but because of how easy he's made it seem. 

In the sloppy weather conditions, American Pharoah's pace was better than Affirmed when he won on a clean track at Pimlico en route to a Triple Crown in 1978, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Winning a race by seven lengths is impressive on its own. When the degree of difficulty is increased exponentially due to heavy rainfall, American Pharoah had a run for the ages on Saturday. He was supposed to be at a disadvantage coming out of the first gate. 

Starting on the inside rail is an easy way for a horse to get boxed in. Espinoza needed to get American Pharoah out of the gate clean and fast to ensure his horse could control the pace. The star jockey said after the race, via Jerry Izenberg of The Newark Star-Ledger, that his plan was simple due to the rain:

"The weather was even worse today," Espinoza said. "There was so much water in my boots. I was cold. And I absolutely knew we were going for the lead."

Being able to know exactly that you want to go for the lead, then pulling it off is the sign of a great jockey and how he understands what American Pharoah can do without using too much force that will cause the horse to lose power down the stretch. 

Horse racing has been seeking a star to close the deal for 37 years. American Pharoah's owner Ahmed Zayat said after his horse's victory that the lack of a Triple Crown champion has certainly been a hindrance to horse racing's popularity, via Christine Brennan of USA Today:

"Sport without a star is not a sport," Zayat said. "The sign of a good horse is whatever is thrown in his face, he'll find a way to win. Now, God willing, he comes out of this race well, and we could be talking about history."

Brennan also noted that history seems to be lining up correctly for American Pharoah after horse racing has provided many teases over the years:

"

While it was raining cats and dogs, out came the eight horses. American Pharoah drew the unlucky inside No. 1 post on Wednesday, a position from which only one of the last 54 Preakness winners had started. The fear was that to avoid getting boxed in, he would have to break out front early, which was a far cry from how he won the Derby, tracking Dortmund and Firing Line from the outside before sweeping past them in the stretch.

"

Espinoza made his move early and got the necessary push late to come within one victory of supplanting Affirmed as the last Triple Crown winner. 

Now, the focus is on American Pharoah to win at Belmont. There's a reason 14 horses have tried and failed to win the Triple Crown in the final race: distance and stamina. 

Running three races in five weeks is a brutal stretch for horses, one that most don't even make. The Preakness field this year was only eight horses for a variety of reasons, one of which could easily be trainers wanted to start preparation for the 12-furlong Belmont Stakes. 

Rob Carr/Getty Images

Those 12 furlongs are two more than the Kentucky Derby and 2.5 more than the Preakness Stakes. American Pharoah showed no signs of fatigue on Saturday, but his trainer Bob Baffert said that Belmont is a different beast entirely, via Joe Drape of The New York Times:

"It's tough up there," Baffert said. "I've been there and I don't want to think about it for a couple of weeks. There's going to be a whole new crew waiting for us. Let me enjoy this."

Sorry, Bob, there's no time for enjoyment in sports until the season is over. American Pharoah's "season" doesn't end until June 6. He has been the favorite in both Triple Crown races and will most certainly be a heavy preference at Belmont. 

There will be plenty of time for Baffert to reflect on what his horse has a chance to accomplish at the Belmont Stakes. American Pharoah has won his last six races, with the Preakness Stakes being his most impressive run thus far. 

To all of the horses that took the Preakness off to prepare for the Belmont Stakes, good luck. American Pharoah just showed you what's waiting when you come off the truck in New York.