Preakness 2015 Video: Replay Highlights, Race Results and Breakdown

On Pimlico's muddy, rain-soaked track, American Pharoah managed to keep his Triple Crown aspirations alive Saturday, winning the 2015 Preakness Stakes by a dominating seven-length margin.

The colt's performance was of the highest quality from start to finish, and veteran jockey Victor Espinoza displayed his savvy and intelligent maneuvering to ensure victory. This duo looks unstoppable after the first two legs of the Triple Crown, and trainer Bob Baffert appeared to agree during a post-race interview with Preakness.com:

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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.

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Here's a look at how the entire Preakness field finished:

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

So, how did we reach that conclusion? Let's take a glance at the race in its entirety:

One thing you'll notice right away is how hard Espinoza pushes Pharoah right out of the gate. The jockey's decision to run hard immediately was one of the biggest factors in Pharoah's win. Getting out of trouble against the rail and avoiding traffic was of the utmost importance. After all, there's a reason only one horse (Tabasco Cat in 1994) had won from the No. 1 post since 1961.

Pharoah broke a bit awkwardly, but Espinoza quickly got him back on track and asked him to run. The colt displayed great acceleration despite the muddy conditions and successfully moved out to the front. This put him in position to ride the rail for the remainder of the race, keeping the total distance run at a minimum and salvaging stamina in the process.

Espinoza wisely slowed Pharoah's pace following the first turn in another stamina-saving maneuver. This allowed other contenders to make up a bit of ground, but Pharoah never relinquished his position in front of the pack.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Finally, when entering the final stretch, Espinoza asked Pharoah to run once more. The colt complied, and due to his phenomenal closing ability, instantly began to increase his distance from the closest contenders, eventually winning by a decisive seven lengths.

Why did Espinoza choose to shoot for that wire-to-wire victory? He answered that question during an interview with Joe Drape of the New York Times, "I didn't want to get mud kicked into my horse's face."

As it turned out, that was the right move.

Tale of Verve put together a solid race, finishing in second place after trailing by a substantial margin for the majority of the race. He showed a fine ability to finish, and we can speculate he would have been much more of a factor had he been able to manage a better start.

Divining Rod rounded out the top three. Another Triple Crown newcomer, he showed a similar pace and closing speed to his impressive victory in the Coolmoore Lexington Stakes. His performance was quite impressive for a horse that had never previously entered a race longer than 1 1/16 miles.

Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

It was a disappointing day for both Dortmund and Firing Line.

Dortmund remained near the lead pack for most of the race, but he ran out of gas down the final stretch once again, falling behind Pharoah by 15 1/2 lengths. Firing Line had a terrible start and lost all of his momentum. He was never a factor.

After the race, Firing Line's jockey, Gary Stevens, delivered this short, salty statement during an interview with Preakness.com, "We stumbled out of the gate and that was our race today."

Now, our attention will shift to the Belmont Stakes, as Pharoah will attempt a feat that many other horses have tried—and failed—to accomplish over the years. Winning the first two jewels of the Triple Crown is certainly a huge achievement, but completing the task in New York is a whole other monster.

Will American Pharoah suffer the same fate as California Chrome a year ago, or will he rise to the occasion and become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978?  June 6 can't get here soon enough.