On Saturday May 18th the second leg of the Triple Crown will take place at Pimlico Park in Baltimore for the 138th Preakness Stakes. In the middle of the pack as far as the Odds are concerned is ItsMyLuckyDay, who checks in at 10-1 Odds

ItsMyLuckyDay (10-1): Record: 5-2-1 in 11 Races. Trainer: Edward Plesa Jr. Jockey:  John Velazquez. Sire: Lawyer Ron. Dam: Viva La Slew.

Itsmyluckyday had a disappointing finish of 15th in the Kentucky Derby after building up quite a resume in pre Kentucky Derby races. It was not a lucky day on the sloppy track of Churchill Downs but things may go considerably better in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Raceway in Baltimore.

He owns two of the best Beyer Speed Figures of any member of this year’s Preakness lineup, a 102 for his victory in the Gulfstream Park Derby and 104
for his win over reigning juvenile champion Shanghai Bobby in the Holy Bull. While Itsmyluckyday was clearly beaten by Orb in the Florida Derby, that race may serve as the perfect spring board to a top level effort on the first Saturday in May. Should this colt take a step forward from his final prep race and, possibly, get back to his form when he won the GP Derby or the Holy Bull, he should be right in the thick of things in the final furlongs. He’ll also switch to a jockey, John Velazquez, who has much more experience riding in Triple Crown races as well as at Pimlico Racecourse, than the very capable but less battle-tested Elvis Trujillo who was aboard for the Derby. 

In the recent post positions draw, Itsmyluckyday drew the No. 9 gate, which doesn't sound like an ideal outcome for a horse that recent struggled out wide.However, the statistics suggest that being out wide isn't that bad after all. In the history of the illustrious event, posts nine to 11 haven't produced many winners, with those three producing just eight winners in over 100 years. However, given the smaller field that has just nine horses this year,Itsmyluckyday will essentially be running from the widest point on the track—thus giving him a post position that's more like an 11 to 14 than what the statistics would suggest. In the last 18 years, 12 horses have won the Preakness from gate seven or wider. Half of those have won from post nine or wider, and if we close that down to just the last 10 years, four horses have won from post nine or wider. In fact, the last winner of the Preakness—I'll Have Another—won from No. 9, so it's more than possible for Itsmyluckyday to emerge victorious from the wide gate this weekend. The biggest question is as to how it will affect the horse, and for that, we have to look at his track record, speed ability and the jockey that will be on board.

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Preakness Stakes Betting Preview: Longshots
What horse racing bettors need to know about betting Longshots in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday (5/18/13) with picks from Dave Tuley and Pregame.com's Marco D'Angelo.