Preakness Results 2015: Finishing Times, Payouts List and Video Highlights

American Pharoah brilliantly navigated a rain-soaked track at Pimlico to win Saturday's Preakness Stakes by an impressive seven lengths and keep his Triple Crown hopes alive.

The colt overcame some difficult obstacles and captivated the nation en route to a wire-to-wire victory. Starting in the No. 1 post was already a daunting task, as Pharoah risked getting pinned against the rail or stuck behind traffic. A quick start was necessary to cruise past the pack and find room to maneuver—a challenging proposition considering the tremendously sloppy track conditions.

Pharoah was up for the task, as jockey Victor Espinoza wisely asked the colt to run hard right out of the gate. The duo made their way to the front of the pack and didn't look back.

Espinoza allowed Pharoah to slow following the first turn, salvaging stamina for the horse's late-race push. The jockey maintained that pace for the majority of the race until he asked Pharoah to run once more down the final stretch. The horse complied and easily pulled away from the pack to notch a decisive victory.

Here's a look back at the race in its entirety:

That dominating run ended with these results:

Place	No.	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Lengths
1	1	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	1:58.46
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 surprising Tale of Verve earned a runner-up finish in the Preakness after starting way behind the lead pack. He slowly made up ground throughout the race and displayed some impressive finishing ability to catapult past third-place finisher Divining Rod just before the finish line.

If you were one of the wise—or lucky—few who put faith in either of those long shots, here are the payouts you can expect in return:

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

Dortmund produced a rather lackluster showing, never really challenging for the lead and ultimately finishing fourth. He hung around the lead pack for the majority of the race, but just like at Churchill Downs, he lost his head of steam down the final stretch to finish a full 15 1/2 lengths back.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Perhaps the most disappointing showing came from Firing Line. Much was expected from the Kentucky Derby runner-up that gave Pharoah a run for his money in the Triple Crown's first leg. Although, Firing Line was hindered right from the onset of the Preakness, stumbling out of the gate and losing all momentum—and the possibility of contending.

Jockey Gary Stevens summed it up in a nutshell during a post-race interview with Preakness.com, "We stumbled out of the gate and that was our race today."

Not every post-race interview came equipped with a somber feel, as Pharoah's trainer Bob Baffert shared his thoughts on the winner's performance:

"

We were going in hoping he would do something like that. You never know how they're going to react. We just told Victor, 'Just let him roll today.' It turned out all right with the rain there. I was getting a little bit leery there, but I know he loves the mud. Once Victor got him rolling, the way he moves he's just the most beautiful moving horse.

He's just an amazing horse. Everybody talks about the greatness and he's starting to show it. To me, they have to prove it. Today, the way he did it. He's just so fast, the way he ran. It was like poetry in motion.

"

Poetry in motion, indeed.

Pharoah was able to glide around the track despite some rather terrible conditions at Pimlico. The fact the muddy surface didn't hinder the horse's ability to maintain a smooth gallop or salvage stamina for a strong finish was simply incredible.

Now, with the first two jewels of the Triple Crown under his belt, Pharoah heads to the Belmont Stakes—a race that has dashed many Triple Crown hopes. Will Pharoah rise above the fatigue of three grueling races over a short duration, or will a horse with fresher legs play spoiler?

Those will be the questions asked leading up to the 1 1/2 mile race in Elmont, New York. Until then, some much-deserved rest is in order for the impressive American Pharoah.