May 16--The 140th running of the Preakness Stakes is scheduled to begin at 3:18 p.m. PDT on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
The second gem in horse racing's Triple Crown will be broadcast on NBC, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Post time is set for 3:05 p.m. The winner earns $900,000 of the $1.5-million purse.
Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah is the favorite to win the Preakness at 4-5 odds. Trainer Bob Baffert also has the second favorite in the race, Dortmund, at 7-2. American Pharoah and Dortmund, though, have the unfavorable positions of the inside posts in the eight-horse field.
American Pharoah won the Kentucky Derby by a length over Firing Line, the closest margin of victory for the unbeaten colt. Dortmund finished third.
"That horse didn't really get his 'A' game together in the Kentucky Derby, and he still won," rival trainer Wayne Lukas, who has 20-1 longshot Mr. Z entered, told reporters on Friday morning. "That's a scary thought." Mr. Z will start in the third post position.
The rest of the field by post order (with odds): 4. Danzig Moon (15-1); 5. Tale of Verve (30-1); 6. Bodhisattva (20-1); 7. Divining Rod (12-1); 8. Firing Line (4-1).
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