Preakness 2016: Post Positions, Latest Vegas Odds and Picks After Post Draw

Is there any reason to pick against Nyquist at the Preakness after the undefeated horse's impressive win at the Kentucky Derby?

The oddsmakers at Pimlico in Baltimore don't think so, making him the prohibitive favorite after the post positions were drawn Wednesday evening. Here is the full field for Saturday's Preakness:

Post	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Odds
1	Cherry Wine	Dale Romans	Robby Albarado	20-1
2	Uncle Lino	Gary Sherlock	Fernando Perez	20-1
3	Nyquist	Doug O'Neill	Mario Gutierrez	3-5
4	Awesome Speed	Alan Goldberg	Jevian Toledo	30-1
5	Exaggerator	Keith Desormeaux	Kent Desormeaux	3-1
6	Lani	Mikio Matsunaga	Yutaka Take	30-1
7	Collected	Bob Baffert	Javier Castellano	10-1
8	Laoban	Eric Guillot	Ricardo Santana Jr.	30-1
9	Abiding Star	Ned Allard	J.D. Acosta	30-1
10	Fellowship	Mark Casse	Jose Lezcano	30-1
11	Stradivari	Todd Pletcher	John Velazquez	8-1

Nyquist, unsurprisingly, is the horse to beat. He's yet to lose in eight races and was excellent in the Derby, running a perfect, tactical race. He's shown the early speed to stay by the leaders, the ability to make his charge in the middle of the race and the stamina to hold off deep closers (such as Exaggerator) down the homestretch.

A shorter race such as the Preakness favors Nyquist, as the deep closers will have less time to make their move, while Nyquist can stay at his top speed longer. And the Preakness field isn't terribly stacked, with Exaggerator and Stradivari—who didn't run at the Derby—as his top competition.

And unlike the Kentucky Derby, where a number of post positions present challenges, the smaller field at the Preakness makes the starting positions a bit less significant. The only real concern for many trainers and jockeys is drawing next to Lani, a bit of a wild horse and an unknown who could unsettle the horses next to him.

While Nyquist avoided that draw, Exaggerator wasn't so lucky. But then, he hasn't been lucky in his career, losing to Nyquist four times. Drawing next to Lani looks like the next chapter in a tragic tale for the horse.

"I'd probably be surprised if he [Nyquist] didn't win," Collected's trainer Bob Baffert told the Associated Press' David Ginsburg (via Yahoo Sports) after the draw. "He's going to be tough to beat."

Handicapper Keeneland Dan agreed:

Indeed, it seems this race will likely come down to Nyquist and Exaggerator, with the former making it five wins over the latter. Nyquist is too strong to bet against at Pimlico. The real question, then, is which horse will finish in third?

It will likely be a shootout between Stradivari and Collected. Neither horse ran at the Derby, so both will be fresh. Both have won their last two races. And both have the speed to test Nyquist.

Either could finish third in this race, but look for Collected to slide into the top three, if only because Stradivari drew the widest post. While the horse could quickly render that irrelevant, a slow start could force him to stay wide longer than jockey John Velazquez would prefer.

Regardless, one thing seems safe to predict come the Preakness: Nyquist will win, putting horse racing one step closer to having Triple Crown champions in consecutive years.

Prediction: 1. Nyquist 2. Exaggerator 3. Collected

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