Preakness Odds 2016: Post Positions Info and Vegas Lines for All Horses

Ten horses are going to try to get the best of Kentucky Derby champion Nyquist in the Preakness, and only two of his challengers competed in the Run for the Roses two weeks ago.

History says that none of the eight new shooters have a real chance to beat the Kentucky Derby winner at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore Saturday. 

Just three horses have won the Preakness who did not compete in the Kentucky Derby since 1984. Nyquist's trainer Doug O'Neill believes that his horse has an advantage over those that did not run two weeks ago.

"It's hard to simulate a race in the mornings," O'Neill told Don Markus of the Baltimore Sun. "The old cliche is that a race is equal to three [workouts]. A race like the Derby battle tests you so quickly. A horse matures after a big Derby effort."

Nyquist has been installed as the 3-5 favorite, according to Preakness.com, and he will break from the No. 3 post.

"Though some of these horses might have more time and space between their last races, I think the edge of winning the Kentucky Derby might trump that," O'Neill said.

Post	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Odds
1	Cherry Wine	Dale Romans	Corey Lanerie	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	Florent Geroux	30-1
9	Abiding Star	Ned Allar	J.D. Acosta	30-1
10	Fellowship	Mark Casse	Jose Lezcano	30-1
11	Stradivari	Todd Pletcher	John Velazquez	8-1

If history holds in the Preakness once again, that means Exaggerator and Lani are the only two competitors that O'Neill has to worry about. Exaggerator is a bold stretch runner who finished a strong second to Nyquist in the Derby, while Lani is a Japanese longshot who is not expected to be a factor in the outcome of the Preakness.

Exaggerator is the second choice in the race at 3-1 and will start out of the No. 5 post, while Lani has odds of 30-1 and will start from the No. 6 post.

Exaggerator has proved his ability to run on an off track, and that is a significant factor in the Preakness since rain has been forecast throughout the day in Baltimore by the Weather Channel. Exaggerator won the Santa Anita Derby in impressive fashion in the rain, and a sloppy or muddy track should not bother him.

Nyquist is a perfect eight for eight in his racing career, but he has never been tested in rainy conditions. That does not mean he can't run successfully in poor weather, but neither O'Neill nor jockey Mario Gutierrez know how their charge will react to running in the slop.

Bob Baffert's Collected could be a factor among the newcomers. Collected, a 10-1 shot, is running out of the No. 7 post, and he is likely to be among the horses that break quickly and go to the lead from the start. 

The ideal race for any front-runner is to get the lead fairly quickly, open up some distance on the field and then slow down over the middle part of the race to conserve energy.

That's unlikely to happen here, because there is quite a bit of early speed in this race, and a front-end duel could emerge.

Uncle Lino, Awesome Speed and Laoban are among the other speed horses in the field that could go for the lead early.

If two or more horses engage in a speed duel, that would set the race up for a late-running horse like Exaggerator who likes to turn it on and pass tired horses down the stretch.

Nyquist has been successful no matter what style of racing he has used. Nyquist has won by coming from behind and by going to the front. However, he stalked the pace in the Kentucky Derby, and that may be his most favored style.

If he can stay fairly close to the leader, it's unlikely that race traffic will be a factor when he turns it on as the field approaches the top of the stretch. Nyquist would like to see a reasonable pace, one that is neither too fast nor too slow, if he stalks the leader.

If that happens, he will have one or two horses to pass when he engages his top gear. That style has been successful for Nyquist in the past, and it would set him up for the Triple Crown if it works in Baltimore Saturday.