Photo Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Derby winner Mage given No. 3 post in Preakness draw
Kentucky Derby winner Mage drew the No. 3 post position for Saturday’s eight-horse Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
Mage was also installed as the morning-line favorite at 8-5 at Monday’s post position draw, as the horse goes for the Triple Crown. The Belmont Stakes will conclude the Triple Crown races on June 10.
American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018) are the only horses to win the Triple Crown in the past 45 years.
The second-shortest odds on the board belong to First Mission at 5-2. First Mission drew the No. 8 post out of eight.
A horse named Blazing Sevens, perhaps luckily, received the No. 7 post.
Forte, the Kentucky Derby favorite who was scratched on the morning of the race due to a bruised right front hoof, was deemed ineligible for the Preakness due to a positive drug test last September. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher was also suspended 10 days in New York state after meloxicam, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory, showed up in Forte’s drug test.
Preakness Stakes post position, horse, trainer, jockey, odds
1. National Treasure, Bob Baffert, John Velazquez, 4-1
2. Chase the Chaos, Ed Moger Jr., Sheldon Russell, 50-1
3. Mage, Gustavo Delgado, Javier Castellano, 8-5
4. Coffeewithchris, John Salzman Jr., Jaime Rodriguez, 20-1
5. Red Route One, Steve Asmussen, Joel Rosario, 10-1
6. Perform, Shug McGaughey, Feargal Lynch, 15-1
7. Blazing Sevens, Chad Brown, Irad Ortiz Jr., 6-1
8. First Mission, Brad Cox, Luis Saez, 5-2
–Field Level Media