BALTIMORE, MD – MAY 16: American Pharoah #1 ridden by Victor Espinoza crosses the finish line to win the 140th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 16, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
American Pharoah won the 140th running of the Preakness Stakes, winning the race by seven lengths, and will now march on the Belmont Stakes in triumphant fashion — despite the downpour in Baltimore before the race began.
For trainer Bob Baffert, he is used to this by now. this is the 4th time he’s had the Kentucky Derby winner entering a Preakness race, and he is now 4/4. The Triple Crown dream for his horse remains three weeks from now when the third jewel of the Triple Crown will be run at Belmont Park. The eight-horse field was the smallest Preakness field since 2000 when Red Bullet won the race ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey.
The race began when jockey victor Espinoza forced his super horse to go right for the lead and set a scorching early pace in the slop, which was expected. Just how fast was the race’s early pace? American Pharoah put himself in some pretty prestigious company:
On a sloppy track, American Pharoah ran opening 3/4 mile of the Preakness in 1:11.42 – faster than Affirmed in 1978 (1:11.8 on a fast track)
American Pharoah ran the first quarter-mile in 22: 4/5 seconds and half-mile in 46: 2/5 seconds. Firing Line, ridden by Gary Stevens, who usually likes to get on the pace early, did not break well and never really gave an impression that he would contend. Dortmund was also noticeably affected by the scorching pace, and although sat in third for a comfortable portion of the race, started to fade around the far turn.
Essentially, Espinoza challenged the other seven horses directly and said “Catch this horse if you can.” No horse was game today and American Pharoah looked as dominant as Big Brown and Barbaro had in their Kentucky Derby wins and Smarty Jones had in his 2004 Preakness win.
Entering the race, American Pharoah definitively went off as the 4/5 favorite while the secondary betting choices largely remained the same. Firing Line’s second place finish in the Derby and staying with the pace ultimately made him the second betting choice in the Preakness going off at 5/2. Dortmund comfortably stood at 4/1.
The current odds for the @PreaknessStakes #Preakness http://t.co/Ggp5Y3M2HE
The odds were provided by sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com
Order of Finish
Winner: American Pharoah
Place: Tale of Verve
Show: Divining Rod
| Purse: $1,500,000 | Horse: | Jockey: | Win: | Place: | Show: |
| Distance: One And Three Sixteenth Miles On The Dirt | American Pharoah | Victor Espinoza | $3.80 | $3.40 | $2.80 |
| Track Condition: Sloppy | Tale of Verve | Joel Rosario | $19.00 | $8.80 | |
| Winning Time: 1:58.46 | Divining Rod | Javier Castellano | $5.20 | ||
| Also ran: | |||||
| 2 – Dortmund , 3 – Mr. Z , 4 – Danzig Moon , 8 – Firing Line , 6 – Bodhisattva | |||||
The official results and payout table for the Preakness http://t.co/sOl4WE291u
For video of the 2015 Preakness Stakes, check Maryland Racing’s page on YouTube for a complete list of race replays.
