Derby champ and favored horse
Justify eyes a Preakness win
Justify Wins the 143rd Preakness
On a sloppy and wet track, and a thick fog in the air, Justify was able to hold off Good Magic and the field of eight horses to win the Preakness. The victory also sets up a possible Triple Crown sweep with a victory at the upcoming Belmont Stakes. Justify and Good Magic were neck-and-neck for ¾ of the track length, and then Good Magic trailed off as Justify pulled away for the win. Bravazo finished in 2nd place, with Tenfold rounding out the top three for a 3rd place run. Race fans will be eager to see a possible Triple Crown sweep with Justify, being the first horse to do it since American Pharoah in 2015. Congrats to Bob Baffert, Mike Smith, and Team Justify!Prerace Preakness Stakes Info:
Who wins the Preakness Stakes? And what huge long shot hits the board hard? See which horses contend with the best odds at the Preakness. The 2018 Kentucky Derby came and went, but a Triple Crown title is still up for grabs as Justify prepares to headline the 143rd Preakness Stakes on Saturday, with a post time of 6:48 pm. The hyped horse, Justify, will start from the same post it charged out of to win the Run for the Roses earlier this month at Churchill Downs.Eight horses will take Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore for the second leg of the American Triple Crown, and after a record attendance in 2017, this year's competition figures to warrant just as much attention as Justify looks to become the first Thoroughbred to take all three of the famed Grade 1 Stakes races since American Pharaoh did it in 2015. In doing so, he's also vying to become the fifth straight Derby winner under trainer Baffert to also win the Preakness, and he'll have to do it from post No. 7, a familiar spot.
Preakness prerace info and odds
1. Quip (12-1)Owner: WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, and SF Racing
Trainer: Rodolphe Brisset
Jockey: Florent Geroux
Record: 3-1-0 in four starts
Notable: The talented colt was held out of the Derby, where he will be fresh and a big threat to win the Preakness. He won Lambholm South Tampa Derby, and finished second at the Arkansas Derby.
2. Lone Sailor (15-1)
Owner: G M B Racing
Trainer: Tom Amoss
Jockey: James Graham
Record: 1-4-1 in nine starts
Notable: Lone Sailor finished 8th at the Derby. Owner Gayle Benson is the widow of Tom Benson, the former owner of the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans. He died March 15.
3. Sporting Chance (30-1)
Owner: Robert Baker and William Mack
Trainer: D. Wayne Lucas
Jockey: Luis Contreras
Record: 2-1-1 in seven starts
Notable: Sporting Chance finished 4th in a disappointing run in his last race, while jockey Luis Contreras finished 3rd at the 2014 Preakness.
4. Diamond King (30-1)
Owner: Cash is King, Leonard Green, and LC Racing
Trainer: John Servis
Jockey: Javier Castellano
Record: 4-0-1 in six starts
Notable: Coming off a win at the Federico Tesio Stakes, Diamond King is a bit of a long shot to win, but with a small eight horse field, trainer John Servis and jockey Javier Castellano look to shock the world with a suprising Preakness.
5. Good Magic (3-1)
Owners: E Five Racing Thoroughbreds and Stonestreet Stables
Trainer: Chad Brown
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Record: 2-3-1 in six starts
Notable: Finished in second at the Kentucky Derby, Good Magic has good odds to win the Preakness and ruin Justify’s chances at a Triple Crown.
6. Tenfold (20-1)
Owners: Winchell Thoroughbreds
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Jockey: Ricardo Santana Jr.
Record: 2-0-0 in three starts
Notable: With two exciting victories at Oaklawn Park, Tenfold finished fifth at the Arkansas Derby. This will be jockey Ricardo Santana Jr.’s debut at the Preakness.
7. Justify (1-2)
Owners: China Horse Club International, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing and WinStar Farm
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Mike Smith
Record: 4-0-0 in three starts
Notable: Justify is the first Kentucky Derby winner since Apollo in 1882 who didn’t race as a 2-year-old. Bob Baffert and Mike Smith look to win the Preakness and continue on with Justify's Triple Crown chances.
8. Bravazo (20-1)
Owner: Calumet Farm
Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas
Jockey: Luis Contreras
Record: 3-2-1 in nine starts
Notes: Bravazo earned his spot in the Kentucky Derby by winning the Grade 2 Risen Star on Feb. 17 at Oaklawn Park at 21-1 odds. He had a strong 6th place finish at the Derby in a crowded 20 horse field.
After winning the Kentucky Derby rather handily from the No. 7 post, Justify will stay in that spot for the Preakness, and he's a big favorite with 1-2 morning-line odds. After facing off with 19 other Thoroughbreds in Louisville, this post probably gets a little better for the Preakness favorite considering he's got only seven other horses to deal with on Saturday.
It's a little harder to pinpoint "bad" positions when there's only eight horses running as opposed to 20, but Quip, on the outside at Post 1, isn't necessarily in a good position unless his team thinks he can run full bore from the get-go and overpower Justify down the stretch. The D. Wayne Lukas-trained Bravazo at Post 8, meanwhile, will be right next to the race's overwhelming favorite, which isn't always the best position to be in -- Lukas himself admitted after the post draw that he thought his horses were in "deep doo-doo" after he saw Justify in person on Wednesday.
Justify might have gotten the best draw merely for the fact that he was already going to be a heavy favorite in Baltimore. At No. 7, where he started in Kentucky, he should still have room to break out and gain steam on the straightaway to handle the first turn.
