Saturday May 16th and it's time for the second leg of the Triple Crown, which is known as the Preakness Stakes. The Preakness Stakes official start time is 6:24 pm ET and will take place at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Maryland. There are several Contenders in the event, including Firing Line, who has been installed as 4/1 Odds to win the Preakness.
Firing Line's Record: 2-4-0 in 6 Races. Trainer: Simon Callaghan. Jockey: Gary Stevens. Sire: Line Of David. Dam: Sister Girl Blues. Best Beyer Speed: 104
Firing Line drew the #8 slot in the gate. He is from Clearsky Farms in Kentucky and is trained by Simon Callaghan, who has compiled 84 wins in his career, including 6 wins this year. Callaghan began at the age of 16 to pursue working with horses, and has learned from the industry's most premier trainers including Richard Hannon, Todd Pletcher, and his own father Neville Callaghan. Still no big wins for Callaghan, but he did finish 2nd at the Kentucky Derby.
Riding Firing line is Gary Stevens, who has 5012 career wins, including 20 in 2015. Gary was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997 and he won the most outstanding jockey award (Eclipse Award) in 1998. Gary has three wins in the Preakness Stakes, with the last one coming in 2013 while riding Oxbow. Overall he has 9 wins in Triple Crown races he also has two 2nd place and six 3rd place finishes in the Preakness as well. Gary has won nearly every major race around the world including 8 Breeders Cup races.
This is a very fast horse, with one of the higher Beyer Speeds in the Preakness, but will the distance eventually get to him? I don't think so and it is important to note that Firing Line did keep pace with Dortmund in two races as both came down to a photo finish. This is a horse with a shot and will be worth a look. I see him pushing both American Pharoah and Dortmund in this one just like he did at the Kentucky Derby. This just may be the horse to watch here.
INFO TAKEN FROM PREAKNESS.COM AND BLEACHER REPORT
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The Preakness is Beatable and Bettable--Buy/Sell?
Teddy Covers and Steve Fezzik, professional bettors, discuss whether or not casual horse handicappers can win betting the Triple Crown races like the upcoming Preakness. Fezzik sees some value in betting the horse to horse individual match-ups, but doesn't think it is worth betting on the race as a whole. Teddy Covers takes some advice from Pregame's horse racing capper JR O'Donnell who pointed out that every time trainer Bob Baffret takes a Derby-winning horse to Preakness he wins, which is exactly what he is doing with his contender, the favorite American Pharoah.