We are a week away from the Preakness Stakes, where Derby winner Always Dreaming will attempt to add the second jewel of the Triple Crown to his collection. He figures to be very tough in this race, but there will still be chances to make money.
From a betting perspective, we will look at the race two ways: We either beat him here and cash a nice ticket, or take what we can get and plan on the monster score by beating him in the Belmont in four weeks. Most horses tend to carry their form over to the Preakness from the Derby, so we should be able to zero in on some solid plays.
Here is a look at some of the horses who might give him problems in Baltimore:
Classic Empire: He was fourth in the Derby after a nightmare trip. There’s no guarantee he would have won if things had gone his way, but he should have a much better chance this time around and will likely be a significant second choice. But the kind of traffic and collisions he dealt with can take a mental toll on a horse, so it will be interesting to see how he responds.
Conquest Mo Money: He will be an intriguing long shot in this one, and the probably pace setter. He should be well rested having skipped the Derby, and his second in the Arkansas Derby was extremely impressive.
Gunnevera: Another who lost all shot in the Derby thanks to traffic. He should offer some betting value because he finished farther up the track than Classic Empire.
Lookin at Lee: Gave us value in the Derby at 33-1, but won’t be anywhere near that this time around.
One horse that might be an intriguing back-end of the trifecta play and will be a huge price is Term of Art, a stone closer who has nibbled at big purses in the past.
Royal Mo will inject some additional pace, and Senior Investment and Multiplier will possibly find a spot on our tickets somewhere. It is too early to get into much more detail but I like the way the race is shaping up.
Obviously we will have more info after the draw. Expect a free breakdown of every horse after the draw as we did in the Derby, plus lots of other free info leading up to race day, including a podcast on pregame.com.