Animal Kingdom as of Saturday morning is still the the favorite at 2-1 and will be the most popular of all the
Preakness picks today. Coverage for the
2011 Preakness Stakes begins on NBC at 4:30 ET, with post time set for 6:18 ET. The Preakness Stakes is the second leg of Horse Racing's Triple Crown.
Below is a list of top
preakness contenders that should be considered when making your betting picks for today:
Animal Kingdom: When checking out Triple Crown props, offshore bookmaker Bodog is
currently offering "Yes" at +550 that Animal Kingdom will win the Triple
Crown with the "No" wager sitting at -900. In this case we concur with
the oddsmakers and feel Animal Kingdom comes up short at the Preakness.
Remember that we backed Animal Kingdom at the Kentucky Derby (link),
but this Saturday feel the fast pace does not warrant taking this horse
at 2-1. Animal Kingdom will be up against a quicker pace in the
Preakness, which
includes the original Derby favorite Dialed In, along with third place
finisher Mucho Macho Man and fourth place finisher Shackleford. With so
many horses in this race who can compete with Animal Kingdom at this
pace and distance, there is not enough value backing the Derby winner at
the Preakness. Even though tossing him in your exotics makes sense,
when putting down cash for the winner look at Dialed In or Mucho Macho
Man. Animal Kingdom will run out of the 11th spot for the $1 million
Preakness Stakes on Saturday.
Dialed In: The key to Dialed In having a chance to win the Preakness Stakes
will be the tone of the race. In each of his wins he had a fast pace and
despite finishing 8th at the Kentucky Derby, Dialed In managed to blow
past 11 of 18 horses in the final half mile with amazing times (fourth
quarter of 23.10 and a fifth quarter of 23.76). In the end, whether you
back Dialed In to win this race comes down to handicapping the projected
pace. If you break down the Derby on the final half-mile fractions,
Dialed In had the best times of the entire field. Many horse racing
experts feel that in almost any Derby year, Dialed In would have ended
up in the money and according to his trainer Nick Zito, "It was a very
unusual race. He ran great in defeat. Let’s sum it up this way – it was
the best eighth-place finish in the history of the Kentucky Derby. Right
or wrong?” We agree with Zito and think Dialed In will cash this
Saturday and make a strong run at winning the
Preakness Stakes 2011.
Mucho Macho Man: Even though Mucho Macho Man does not even turn 3 until June 15th, this
horse is possibly the most experienced one in the field. His 9-2-3-3
record consists of starts at seven different distances (from six
furlongs up to 1 1/4 miles) at seven tracks in five states. Over the
course of his nine starts, Mucho Macho Man has only been worse than a
4th place finisher only once. This horse is as gritty as they come and
displayed his heart when finishing 3rd at the Louisiana Derby despite
losing a shot out of the gate.
Comment below: What horses are "must bet" for exotics and who are the ones for the W/P/S wagering?
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Preakness Stakes Picks- New Contenders
(more Preakness videos at www.Pregame.tv)
Host Marco D'Angelo and Dave Tuley from the Daily Racing Form discuss
the new shooters that will be participating in the 2011 Preakness
Stakes.