With the 2018 Preakness Stakes only days away, the race’s governing body has released the horses’ post positions. With Justify coming off a Kentucky Derby victory, Bob Baffert and his horse are the odds-on favorite.
Justify will race in the seven position. Below is the full lineup with positions.
1: Quip
2: Lone Sailor
3: Sporting Chance
4: Diamond King
5: Good Magic
6: Tenfold
7: Justify
8: Bravazo
Justify faces a smaller field than that which the horse faced at the Derby. Good Magic, which finished second in Kentucky, has the next-best odds of winning. Pundits expect Quip will also pose a challenge.
“I like being the favorite,” Baffert said Wednesday, according to ESPN. “I don’t want to be 50-1, I like knowing that I have a chance to win. When you come in and you’re like, ‘Well, I don’t know, we’re going to need the Stanford marching band to interfere a little bit,’ then you don’t feel that well. I just feel that when you know that there’s a chance you can pull this off and when you can win on the big arena, that’s what it’s all about.”
Baffert said he feels less pressure this time around.
“I think it’s less pressure for us because the Kentucky Derby, for me, it was so special,” Baffert said. “Coming in here I feel the same as I did when I won it with the other ones.”
Justify’s trainer expects a victory.
“He’s the best horse,” D. Wayne Lukas said. “He looks terrific, he’s doing well. I watched him all week. He’s going to be very, very hard to handle.”
Justify is aiming to become only the 13th horse in victory to win all three races in the Triple Crown.
Odds
BetDSI Sportsbook has provided full odds for the highly anticipated race.
Quip: 12-1
Lone Sailor: 15-1
Sporting Chance: 30-1
Diamond King: 30-1
Good Magic: 3-1
Tenfold: 20-1
Justify: 1-2
Bravazo: 20-1
