Preakness 2016 Post Positions: Complete Listing for Every Horse

Ten horses stand between Nyquist and history. Some are familiar foes. Others, near-anonymous colts looking to shock the world. 

After Wednesday's post draw, they all know their chances.   

Nyquist will enter Saturday's Preakness Stakes as a 3-5 morning-line favorite after drawing the No. 3 spot. He'll be followed in the odds by 3-1 Exaggerator, a horse who nearly came from behind to steal the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago. Exaggerator sits in the No. 5 post and is the lone top-five finisher from the Derby to make the trip to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. 

Post	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Owner(s)	Odds
1	Cherry Wine	Dale Romans	Corey Lanerie	William Pacella, Frank L. Jones Jr., Frank Shoop	20-1
2	Uncle Lino	Gary Sherlock	Fernando Perez	Tom Mansor, Purple Shamrock Racing, Gary Sherlock	20-1
3	Nyquist	Doug O'Neill	Mario Gutierrez	J. Paul Reddam	3-5
4	Awesome Speed	Alan Goldberg	Jevian Toledo	Colts Neck Stables	30-1
5	Exaggerator	Keith Desormeaux	Kent Desormeaux	Big Chief Racing	3-1
6	Lani	Mikio Matsunaga	Yutaka Take	Koji Maeda	30-1
7	Collected	Bob Baffert	Javier Castellano	Speedway Stable	10-1
8	Laoban	Eric Guillot	Florent Geroux	McCormick Racing, Southern Equine Stable	30-1
9	Abiding Star	Ned Allar	J.D. Acosta	Stonehedge LLC	30-1
10	Fellowship	Mark Casse	Jose Lezcano	Jacks or Better Farm	30-1
11	Stradivari	Todd Pletcher	John Velazquez	John Gunther, Michael Tabor, Derek Smith, Susan Magnier	8-1

The Keith Desormeaux-trained horse has tried and failed four times to take down Nyquist. In addition to finishing second at Churchill Downs, Exaggerator also finished behind the Derby winner at the San Vicente Stakes, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and a Maiden Special Weight earlier in their careers. 

"Obviously, numbers-wise, horse-for-horse-wise, it's tough to think we can beat him, right?" Desormeaux said, per Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Sun. "But the strongest attribute that Exaggerator has is his ability to recover, and, as you know, this Preakness is run back in two weeks. That's not normal, in this day and age, to run a horse back that quickly."

The biggest thing going in Exaggerator's favor, according to Desormeaux, is fitness.

"Exaggerator has much more racing experience, therefore fitness and the attribute of recovering quickly," Desormeaux said. "So I think I have the fitter horse and, to tell you the truth, the fresher horse going into Saturday."

Still, the odds of taking down Nyquist are daunting. The colt is undefeated in eight starts and is racing on a course almost the exact same length as the Derby. In fact, Pimlico is 1/16th of a mile shorter; late chargers like Exaggerator are going to have even less time. If he winds, Nyquist will have a chance to become the second horse in history to win the Triple Crown undefeated.

The other: Seattle Slew.

“He’s really fast,” trainer Bob Baffert, who has Collected in this week's field, said of Nyquist, per Jonathan Lintner of the Courier-Journal. “He stays out of trouble. He has a winning attitude. Horses like that, they’re tough to—it’s like, ‘Pass me to win.’ I’ve always thought he reminded me of Smarty Jones.”

Doug O'Neill, who has spearheaded Nyquist's charge, has experience on the Triple Crown trail. He trained I'll Have Another to victories in the Derby and Preakness in 2012 before the horse was forced to pull out of the Belmont Stakes because of a leg injury. This run has been a bit redemptive for O'Neill, a controversial trainer after serving multiple suspensions for wellness violations.

“When you get longer in the tooth as a trainer, you get more comfortable working with the horses and listening to what they say," O’Neill said, per the Preakness website. "Probably a little less is better. As you’re early on into it, you feel like you’ve got to let them rip once a week and gallop some in between. That’s just maturity, I think, as trainers develop."

O'Neill will be facing a field of newbies, some carrying notable names in their camps. We already highlighted Baffert and his horse Collected, while dark-horse contender Stradivari has Todd Pletcher running things.

Still, this should be a case where the field's whittled down enough to where Nyquist is at a big advantage. The last two Derby winners have gone on to take the Preakness. Often trainers will choose to hold back their horses from the second Triple Crown leg in hopes of having them fully rested for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont slog.

Smart money's on the favorite this week. Come June's trip to Belmont, though, that narrative may change.