Preakness 2016 Post Positions: Final Projections, Odds Payout and Post Info

Joe PantornoMay 21, 2016

In mere hours, America will find out whether or not the horse racing world will head to the Belmont Stakes with an opportunity to see another Triple Crown winner.

The Preakness Stakes, which is the second jewel of the Triple Crown, has just 11 horses in its field this year, but all of the attention, eyes and pressure will be on Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist.

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	Cherry Wine	Corey Lanerie	Dale Romans	25-1
2	Uncle Lino	Fernando Perez	Gary Sherlock	33-1
3	Nyquist	Mario Gutierrez	Doug O'Neill	4-7
4	Awesome Speed	Jevian Toledo	Alan Goldberg	33-1
5	Exaggerator	Kent Desormeaux	Keith Desormeaux	15-4
6	Lani	Yutaka Take	Mikio Matsunaga	40-1
7	Collected	Javier Castellano	Bob Baffert	16-1
8	Laoban	Florent Geroux	Eric Guillot	40-1
9	Abiding Star	J.D. Acosta	Ned Allar	40-1
10	Fellowship	Jose Lezcano	Mark Casse	40-1
11	Stradivari	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	8-1

Final Projections

Had the weather been a typical spring day in Baltimore, there would be zero doubts surrounding Nyquist's chances to win.

However, Mother Nature probably won't be so generous to the horses and viewers of the Preakness, as Track Diva's Joanne Jones showed the hour-by-hour forecast for race day:

This plays right into the favor of Exaggerator, the runner-up in the Kentucky Derby:

Exaggerator has shown throughout his career he can make strong, late pushes, much like his finish in the Kentucky Derby. More importantly, he can maintain that speed and tenacity down the stretch in the rain.

It can be seen in his overwhelming display in the Santa Anita Derby:

Now, Nyquist is the kind of horse that can start quick, maintain a position near the front and then hit another level to close out races, which is nearly impossible to find in a thoroughbred.

Because of that, I would still pick Nyquist if I was a betting man. But if Exaggerator can keep things close to Nyquist, unlike in the Kentucky Derby, then the Preakness will provide an absolutely thrilling finish.