Preakness Entries 2016: Horses in the Field Best Suited for Pimlico

Nyquist remained unbeaten with an impressive effort in the Kentucky Derby to move within two victories of horse racing's second straight Triple Crown. He'll look to keep that winning streak alive Saturday in the 2016 Preakness Stakes.

Since Nyquist's finishing time was the Derby's best since Funny Cide in 2003, it was easy to overlook a terrific comeback attempt from Exaggerator. He found himself caught deep in the field early on but rallied to finish second, just 1 ¼ lengths off the pace.

Those budding rivals figure to meet again at Pimlico Race Course for the Preakness. The entire field isn't confirmed yet, but let's take a look at the projected group based on contenders listed on the race's official site. That's followed by a closer look at horses primed to shine this weekend.

Projected Field

Rank	Horse	Odds
1	Nyquist	5-8
2	Exaggerator	9-2
3	Stradivari	9-1
T-4	Collected	25-1
T-4	Cherry Wine	25-1
T-6	Uncle Lino	33-1
T-6	Fellowship	33-1
T-6	Awesome Speed	33-1
T-9	Lani	40-1
T-9	Laoban	40-1
10	Abiding Star	N/A

Favorite: Nyquist

Things went pretty much according to plan for Nyquist and jockey Mario Gutierrez in the Kentucky Derby. They were able to avoid any chaos out of the gate before setting a rock-solid pace near the lead and then turning on the afterburners to get the win. It was a perfect trip from the best horse in the field.

Now it will be interesting to see whether the undefeated colt can replicate that performance despite the short layoff. Even though he's never raced two weeks apart before, he did record wins just 19 days apart last September, leaving less concern about the quick turnaround than most Derby winners.

Trainer Doug O'Neill has been happy with what he's seen since the triumph in the first leg of the Triple Crown. He told Tom Pedulla of America's Best Racing the horse has shown "great energy" before laying out the straight-forward plan for the rest of the week:

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I really do not have to do much with him at all to have him ready for Saturday. We plan to work with him in the starting gate on Wednesday. Then we will await the draw later that day, hoping we can be outside the speed horses in the race. That would give Mario plenty of options and, hopefully, allow Nyquist to settle into a comfortable stride until more is needed.

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The smaller field gives Nyquist a little more margin for error heading into the Preakness. That, paired with his tremendous effort in the Kentucky Derby, makes him the obvious favorite heading into Saturday as the Triple Crown hype begins to build once again.

Biggest Threat: Exaggerator

As mentioned, Exaggerator fought back from a lackluster start in the Kentucky Derby to finish within striking distance of Nyquist. While it's unknown whether he would have won with a more favorable break, it certainly would have created far more drama down the homestretch.

That's not a new storyline, of course. Exaggerator has enjoyed plenty of success over the past two years, winning the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby as well as two other graded stakes races. Yet he's been unable to take down Nyquist, as DRF Formulator highlighted:

The other issue he's dealt with besides Nyquist's dominance has been inconsistency. The last time he finished a competitive second to the Derby winner in the San Vicente Stakes in February, he followed it up with a mundane third-place result in the Nyquist-less San Felipe Stakes.

Ultimately, Exaggerator has the talent to play the role of Triple Crown spoiler, but everything needs to go perfectly. Whether he can make that happen at Pimlico depends on getting off to a better start than he did two weeks ago.

Long Shot: Collected

Collected enters the Preakness as part of a sizable brigade of new shooters. He's coming off back-to-back victories and has won three of his four starts so far in 2016. That includes a win in the Lexington Stakes in his most recent outing last month.

He should be fresher than his counterparts that raced in the Derby. Just as important is the fact he's continued to trend in the right direction during his training sessions. Marty McGee of the Daily Racing Form passed along his numbers from late last week:

One of the biggest dangers for a Triple Crown hopeful such as Nyquist is a challenger with upside that hasn't yet peaked. Collected falls into the category, which makes him a legitimate threat despite falling under the long-shot label, though that could change before Saturday.

There are still question marks. He's never gone up against Grade 1 competition before, and when he did face a few top-tier horses in the Southwest Stakes, which Derby horse Suddenbreakingnews won, he finished fourth. But he's improved rapidly since then and can't be counted out.