Should You Bet On Nyquist To Win The Preakness?

Favored Nyquist won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday in very impressive fashion. Now it’s on to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore for the May 21 141st running of the Preakness Stakes. And Nyquist is -140 on horse racing odds to win the second leg of the Triple Crown and even money to come up short.

A Closer Look at Why You Should Bet On Nyquist To Win The Preakness

Nyquist remained unbeaten in eight starts with his victory in the Derby, and it was so impressive — he recorded a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 103 — that few who ran against him are going to try again at the Preakness. Runner-up Exaggerator is going, but after that, only a few are even possible.

Keith Desormeaux, the trainer of Exaggerator, immediately after the Derby said he would come back in the Preakness. Desormeaux now has run second to Nyquist in six of the Kentucky Derby winner’s eight races — four times with Swipe, twice with Exaggerator. Steve Asmussen, trainer of Gun Runner, who was third, and Creator, who was 13th, said he would wait until later in the week before making definitive plans for the Preakness. Danzing Candy and Trojan Nation are both headed back to Santa Anita, so it’s unlikely they would be shipped cross-country again to run in the Preakness.

Kiaran McLaughlin, trainer of fourth-place finisher Mohaymen, said Mohaymen would be pointed to the Travers this summer at Saratoga and would not compete in either the Preakness or the final leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes on June 11 in New York. Also out is Adventist. The colt missed the Derby on points, but the New York-based runner has never finished off the board. Trainer Leah Gyarmati selected the May 14 Peter Pan at Belmont over the Preakness.

Derby ninth-place finisher Lani will race. Laoban and Cherry Wine, entered in the Derby but unable to draw into the race are also running. The new horses faces include Collected, a multiple graded stakes winner trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert; Awesome Speed, whose victory in the April 9 Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park earned him an automatic entry to the Preakness; impressive recent Keeneland allowance winner Stradivari; and California Chrome Stakes winner Uncle Lino. He dropped off the Derby trail to win the April 30 California Chrome Stakes at Los Alamitos after efforts of second, third and fourth in graded stakes tries on the West Coast.

Steve Landers Racing’s Dazzling Gem and Jacks or Better Farm’s Fellowship were added to the list of Preakness candidates. Dazzling Gem captured his first two career starts at Oaklawn this year before finishing third behind Gun Runner in the Louisiana Derby (G2) and fourth behind Creator in the Arkansas Derby (G1).

“The Preakness is possible and so is the Peter Pan (Saturday at Belmont Park), but right now I am leaning more toward Pimlico than Belmont,” trainer Brad Cox said.

Fellowship finished fourth in the Pat Day Mile (G3) at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard. The Preakness is 1 3/16 miles, which is a sixteenth of a mile shorter than the Derby, which is run at 1 1/4 miles.