141st Preakness Stakes market, barrier draw and latest news

Preakness
THEĀ Preakness Stakes is the second leg of the U.S Thoroughbred Triple Crown and it’s all happening this Sunday morning in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

The USD$1.5 million feature runs at Pimlico at 8:30am on Sunday morning and it always attracts plenty of interest as the Kentucky Derby winner is still live to win the Triple Crown.

The 141st Preakness Stakes for three-year-olds is all about one horse in the lead-up and that’s the 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. The son of Uncle Mo became only the eighth undefeated runner of the Kentucky Derby and punters are hoping it can walk in the footsteps of American Pharoah which won the 2015 Triple Crown.

The Doug O’Neill-trained superstar has won almost USD$5 million from its eight runs and the drop back in distance will only help its chances this Sunday.

The key to betting the Preakness is finding a horse from the Kentucky Derby which went forward and tried to hold off the challengers. That’s exactly what Nyquist did when it lasted over race-rival Exaggerator which will be much-better suited to the distance of the final leg of the Triple Crown – the Belmont Stakes.

Bet365.com.au have framed a market for the Preakness Stakes and most of the action has come for Nyquist which will only shorten as the week progresses.

2016 Preakness Stakes market and barrier draw

Cherry Wine (1) – $21
Uncle Lino (2) – $34
Nyquist (3) – $1.66 at Bet365.com.au
Awesome Speed (4) – $26
Exaggerator (5) – $4.50
Lani (6) – $34
Collected (7) – $17
Laoban (8) – $41
Abiding Star (9) – $26
Fellowship (10) – $34
Stradivari (11) – $9

Drawing on the inside isn’t considered to be as advantageous in the states as it is in Australia, but Nyquist’s trainer Dough O’Neill isn’t worried about drawing on the inside of speed.

“I probably shouldn’t answer this, because [Mario Gutierrez] is riding, but I don’t think it [matters],” O’Neill said. “Like every race, we need a good, clean trip and we’ve got to be lucky.

“We’re very optimistic. We’re going to break good, get good position, and be OK.”

Nyquist will likely head forward, but O’Neill will leave tactics up to race rider Mario Gutierrez.

“Mario is such a great rider,” O’Neill said. “He’ll know the pace. If they’re flying, we’ll sit off. If they’re not flying, we’ll set it.”

One horse hoping to run down Nyquist is Exaggerator which came close in the Kentucky Derby, but will be needing a hot pace in front to be able to run down Nyquist over the shorter distance.

Exaggerator draw barrier 5 and its trainer Keith Desormeaux said the barrier draw is irrelevant for his runner.

“One word – inconsequential,” Desormeaux said. “For Exaggerator, who comes off the pace, why do we need to worry about what position we are? His style is not dependent on speed and we have this huge run-up to this first turn.

“There’s no doubt Kent [Desormeaux, jockey] will have the position he wants. He’ll either be five lengths or 15 off, but he’ll be off the pace.”

Being 15 lengths off the pace might not be the smartest idea which is why bookmakers have Nyquist at $1.66. Most punters believe Nyquist will get the lead by itself and the chasers will all be left off the bit coming around the final Pimlico turn.

Nyquist on schedule for 141st Preakness Stakes

All the attention has been on Nyquist this week and rightfully so. By all accounts the son of Uncle Mo has been preparing well and according to its trainer Doug O’Neill, the three-year-old worked well this morning at Pimlico Race Course.

“The morning went great. As planned, we jogged him two miles. I sound like a broken record – great energy, he looked great,” O’Neill said. “We’re just looking for him to continue what he’s been doing since he’s been in Baltimore and just keep his appetite up and stay injury-free and stay loose. I’m very happy.”

Nyquist arrived at Pimlico only two days after winning the Kentucky Derby in which it defeated Exaggerator by 1.25 lengths. O’Neill is showing respect for Exaggerator despite Nyquist having beaten it in four previous meetings.

“I have great respect for both Keith and Kent Desormeaux. They’re both great horsemen. Obviously, with Keith now in Southern California we’re around each other a lot. Both Desormeaux’s are very competitive,” O’Neill said.

“Both Nyquist and Exaggerator are top horses. We have a lot of respect for Exaggerator.”

Not fancied in the betting is Cherry Wine at $21, but trainer Dale Romans believes his runner can take its opportunities and cause an upset.

“Cherry Wine is one of those horses where he’s probably not the best horse, but he’s opportunistic. If he gets the opportunity, he’s going to capitalise on it if Nyquist comes up a little tired where he can’t handle the two-week turnaround, we’ll be right there ready,” Romans said.

“Everybody knows that if everybody runs to form, Nyquist isn’t going to get beat. But horses don’t always run true to form. We saw that last year in the middle of the summer,” Romans said. “So you’ve got to keep trying them. They’re not cars. They’re animals, organic. Anything can happen.”

Check in with this Friday for our full 2016 Preakness Stakes betting guide, complete with runner-by-runner analysis, odds and tips.

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