Preakness 2016 Post Positions: Draw Start Time, Horses Lineup and More

The easiest thing to do in horse racing is wonder whether the Kentucky Derby winner will parlay that success into a Triple Crown, especially when the horse is as dominant as Nyquist. If that is going to be the case in 2016, he will have to win the 141st Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.

Nyquist is a perfect 8-0 in his career and charged to the victory at Churchill Downs. He started from a favorable No. 13 gate, which allowed jockey Mario Gutierrez to read the field and make that spurt to victory.

Nyquist will find out what post he receives at the Preakness on Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET, according to the event's official website. While the Kentucky Derby had a crowded 20-horse field, the Preakness is limited to 14 starters, per the official website.

That means there aren't as many horses to overcome if a contender gets pushed to the outside or trapped against the inside rail, but the same obstacles are still there with those unfortunate gates.

With the post position draw approaching, here is a look at the contenders who were listed on the event's official website, as of Monday morning at 1 a.m. ET, before digging into some competitors who could at least challenge Nyquist on Saturday.

Contenders

Horse	Owner	Trainer	Jockey
Nyquist	J. Paul Reddam	Doug O'Neill	Mario Gutierrez
Exaggerator	Big Chief Racing, Head of Plains Partners, Rocker O Ranch	Keith Desormeaux	Kent Desormeaux
Cherry Wine	William Pacella, Frank L. Jones Jr.	Dale Romans	Robby Albarado
Laoban	McCormick Racing, Southern Equine Stable	Eric Guillot	Ricardo Santana Jr.
Collected	Speedway Stable	Bob Baffert	Javier Castellano
Fellowship	Jacks or Better Farm	Mark Casse	Jose Lezcano
Gun Runner	Winchell Thoroughbreds, Three Chimneys Farm	Steve Asmussen	Florent Geroux
Uncle Lino	Tom Mansor, Purple Shamrock Racing, Gary Sherlock	Gary Sherlock	Fernando Perez
Awesome Speed	Colts Neck Stables	Alan Goldberg	Jevian Toledo
Lani	Koji Maeda	Mikio Matsunaga	Yutaka Take
Stradivari	John Gunther, Michael Tabor, Derek Smith, Susan Magnier	Todd Pletcher	John Velazquez
Dazzling Gem	Steve Landers Racing	Brad Cox	TBA

Exaggerator

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

The second-place horse at the Kentucky Derby is going to land on a challengers list even if that horse cannot seem to figure out a way to beat Nyquist.

Exaggerator is 0-4 against Nyquist in head-to-head showdowns, although the latter could be a Triple Crown-winning type of horse.

Exaggerator's trainer, Keith Desormeaux, recognized there isn't much wrong with finishing just behind the dominant Nyquist, per Childs Walker of the Washington Post:

"

The key word is 'obvious.' I learned that in the San Vicente in California. Mohaymen learned that in Florida. And he keeps teaching us every day, so mucho respect for Nyquist. . . . He's a great horse, and it's no shame to run second to him.

"

There is plenty of reason to believe in Exaggerator. He won at the Santa Anita Derby and made a late charge at the Kentucky Derby after struggling a bit in the early going. He is also the son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, so the pedigree and potential is real with Exaggerator.

He just needs to get over that Nyquist hump at some point.

Gun Runner

Gun Runner finished in third place at the Kentucky Derby in a testament to his overall consistency on the track.

He has never placed worse than fourth place in six career starts and has four victories on his resume. One of Gun Runner's wins came at the Louisiana Derby in March, and he came through with a solid showing at Churchill Downs in a crowded field.

Gun Runner makes this list as a challenger because of his overall consistency. Jonathan Lintner of the Courier-Journal highlighted Gun Runner's tactical speed and ability to win in a number of different fashions, which has helped him rack up four victories in six starts.

A horse with that track record deserves some attention, and Nyquist's team cannot afford to overlook him.

Stradivari

Casual horse racing fans won't recognize Stradivari because he was not in the Kentucky Derby. However, two incredible wins land him on the radar as a Preakness challenger for Nyquist.

He won by 11 ¼ lengths at Gulfstream Park and 14 ½ lengths at Keeneland in his last two starts leading up to the Preakness. Those performances may not have come against Kentucky Derby-level competition, but it is difficult to ignore such overpowering wins when searching for stiff competition for Nyquist.

What's more, Stradivari was not at the Kentucky Derby and could be fresher than Nyquist and the other horses who were at Churchill Downs.

A fresh horse is a dangerous horse, especially when that horse won by more than a combined 25 lengths in his last two races.