Preakness 2020 Post Positions: Draw Start Time, Horse Lineup and More

An unusual Triple Crown will come to its conclusion with the 2020 Preakness Stakes on Saturday, when Authentic will be looking to claim a second victory from the Crown's three legs.

The Kentucky Derby winner navigated a 15-horse field and fended off Belmont winner Tiz the Law to capture the roses at Churchill Downs. To capture the Black-Eyed Susans in Baltimore, he will need to outrun a slightly smaller lineup.

That field will bring some new challengers to the forefront, though, namely Art Collector. The colt was a scratch at the Derby after an injury suffered in training, but he comes to Pimlico as a legitimate threat to the favorite.

The Preakness usually lies in the middle of the Triple Crown series, but because of the shuffling of the race calendar this year, this will be the last major race before the Breeders' Cup Classic in November.

While post positions won't be nearly as important with a smaller field, it will still be interesting to find where the contenders will break from.

Here's all you need to know to catch the draw and find out what gate your favorite will start from.

Preakness Post Draw

Date: Monday, September 28

Time: Noon ET

Live Stream: Preakness.com

Latest Probable Lineup and Odds

1. Authentic 5-4

2. Art Collector 11-4

3. Max Player 16-1

4. Mr. Big News 20-1

5. Thousand Words 8-1

6. Pneumatic 16-1

7. Jesus' Team 25-1

8. Liveyourbeastlife 25-1

Entry list per Preakness.com; odds via Oddschecker.

Top Contenders

Authentic

Any list of contenders obviously has to start with Authentic. The Bob Baffert-trained colt's win at the Derby was as eye-opening for its unexpectedness as it was for the quality of the run.

The son of Into Mischief didn't just win the race, he was in command throughout. He had enough speed to ride with the sprinters and the endurance to outlast favorite Tiz the Law down the stretch.

He won't be looking at a rematch with Tiz the Law in this one. The Belmont winner and his connections are likely eyeing up the Breeders' Cup Classic so his status as the favorite is already locked in even with the race still five days away.

Authentic has won four of his five starts as a three-year-old. His lone second-place finish came at the Santa Anita Derby, where he was edged out by Honor A. P. He answered questions about who was the better horse of those two at Louisville, and the John Shirreffs-trained horse won't be a competitor in the Preakness.

Art Collector

One of the many "what ifs" surrounding the Derby this year was Art Collector. The Florida-bred horse is largely untested in his three-year-old campaign and was forced to withdraw from the Run for the Roses with a minor foot injury.

When he has started, he's been impressive. He's four-for-four in 2020, but his biggest win was the Bluegrass Stakes (G2). Outside of that, he's won two allowance races and the Ellis Park Derby.

He's showcased some speed in published practice work. BloodHorse reported that Authentic was the fastest across five furlongs in a recent workout at Churchill Downs, but Art Collector wasn't too far behind, which left his connections feeling good as they prepare to head to Baltimore.

"[Art Collectos's] in a great spot right now with his fitness," trainer Tommy Drury said, per BloodHorse. "We wanted a bit more of a serious work today and he went well within himself. He'll have a maintenance work next weekend before we ship to Baltimore."

At this stage of the game, Art Collector's injury before the Derby could work to his advantage. In a strange year where the calendar has been extended, he could be the freshest horse in the field and pull off the upset.

Thousand Words

Bob Baffert's Kentucky Derby may have ended well, but it got off to a terrible start. His other entrant in the race, Thousand Words, was a last-minute scratch when he took a fall in the paddock just before the horses were loaded into the gate.

It's a little too much transitive property to draw too many conclusions, but he does have a win over Honor A. P. at the Shared Belief Stakes. Honor A. P. is the only colt to claim a win over Authentic this year. Could that be a sign that he has what it takes to unseat the Derby champion?

Probably not, but it isn't out of the realm of possibility. Of course, that performance can't be mentioned without also acknowledging that he's been extremely inconsistent. He finished second in the Los Alamitos Derby and 11th in the Oaklawn Stakes, for instance.

Baffert is a proven winner at the Preakness—he's going for his eighth win—and he likes what he has seen from his colt despite having his doubts about him last week.

"We were hoping that he would do something like this," Baffert told the media. "He had to work better than he did last week. Last week, he was just sort of lazy and didn't get into it, but now he worked really well."

Backing Thousand Words is definitely a risky play. But his ceiling is high enough to make him an intriguing play. Perhaps Baffert is in store for a 1-2 finish between his two entrants in the final leg.