The Preakness Stakes are set to go down on Saturday and the Kentucky Derby winner Orb is the favorite heading into the second race of the triple crown at 4-5 odds after opening at even and even with a chance of rain at Pimlico that shouldn't stop Orb after it did the same at Churchill Downs two weeks ago.
Goldencents is second and 7-1 odds and is the horse that is co-owned by Rick Pitino, while Titletown Five has 23-1 odds on the day. Departing is at 11-1 for Saturday's race, while Mylute is at 7-1 and will be ridden by Rosie Napravnik, while Oxbow is at 14-1 odds and will have jockey Gary Stevens on it, who played a jockey on "Luck", bringing some real life to that show. Will Take Charge is at 12-1 odds and Govenor Charlie is at 11-1, while Itsmyluckyday is at 9-1.
Orb will be starting the race from the rail after taking the Kentucky Derby and Joel Rosario will be looking for his second win in a row and sixth straight and despite the calls of rain the jockey and the horse will be ready, while trainer Shug McGaughey is ready for the challenge on Saturday afternoon. Orb is the favorite once again after being in the top spot at the Kentucky Derby and the horse is looking to be the first Triple Crown since Affirmed pulled it off in 1978.
The brown colt is in a small Preakness field and will be looking for its sixth win in a row on the 1 3/16th mile track and despite starting on the rail, it will be better than getting the number one post from Churchill Downs and after winning from there, this race will be much better from the start for Orb. A horse hasn;t won from the inside post was back in 1994 with Tabasco Cat and was the only one from the last 52 times the race has been run and the biggest issue is getting pushed back behind the field if the horse can't get around at first.
The female jockey Napravnik will be coming out of the fifth post and will be looking to make history, as will Gary Stevens after missing out at Churchill Downs. Orb did the job in that race after winning by over two lengths and the jockeys will be trying for the same result on Saturday despite the tough weather. The crowd is expected to be over 100,000 at the race and the weather might be a problem but it shouldn't stop from the excitement and since the last race was a bit sloppy, it will keep the track familiar for the horses. Orb can take the second leg of the Triple Crown to go for the full one next at the Belmont and the big day is Saturday. The race tickets were sold out despite the weather and the excitement for Orb to continue the Triple Crown attempt has the excitement level very high in Maryland.
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"The draw was great. We're in the middle and we've got Orb and Departing inside of us, which is great because we can watch and see what happens," said Todd Quast, general manager of GoldMark Farm, co-owner of Mylute. "Our horse ran the same race Orb did in the Derby but was three to fourth lengths behind him. So this time, maybe if we can stay a little closer to him at the beginning, we can maybe turn the tables on him. No disrespect to him, he's a fantastic horse, but I think our horse is pretty good too."
