Preakness Post Positions

Dateline: 05/17/00

About.com Poll Who will win the Preakness? Hugh Hefner Snuck In Impeachment Red Bullet High Yield Captain Steve Fusaichi Pegasus Hal's Hope Current Results

Post positions were drawn this afternoon for the 125th Preakness Stakes and a small field of eight was entered. Fusaichi Pegasus' performance in the Derby scared off many contenders, several of which opted to wait for the Belmont Stakes to take him on, hoping the rigors of the Triple Crown might weaken him a bit by then. Of the Kentucky Derby field, only Captain Steve, Hal's Hope, High Yield, and Impeachment are back to challenge him again. Fresh horses joining the fray are Hugh Hefner, Red Bullet, and Snuck In.

Past performances are available for free online from the Daily Racing Form here in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. Post time for the Preakness is 5:30pm EDT and between ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC there will be TV coverage all day long (schedule).

The Preakness Stakes

Here is the field in post position order. Distance is 1 3/16 miles and all entrants carry 126 lbs. The purse is $1,000,000 Guaranteed Minimum Gross. Click on the horse's name to see full info on him.

PP	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	M/L Odds
1	Hugh Hefner	Nakatani	Jones	20-1
2	Snuck In	Asmussen	Asmussen	12-1
3	Impeachment	Perret	Pletcher	8-1
4	Red Bullet	Bailey	Orseno	9-2
5	High Yield	Day	Lukas	10-1
6	Captain Steve	Albarado	Baffert	8-1
7	Fusaichi Pegasus	Desormeaux	Drysdale	3-5
8	Hal's Hope	Velez	Rose	20-1

Fusaichi Pegasus winner of the Kentucky Derby

It is very hard to pick against Fusaichi Pegasus here who is odds on favorite in the morning line. He won the Derby easily, never having to be whipped, breaking all kinds of jinxes and is a very impressive horse both in his performance and physical appearance. If anyone has a chance here, it would have to be either Red Bullet, High Yield, or Captain Steve. Red Bullet tried his best on his home track and still couldn't stay with him. Perhaps the longer rest will make a difference but I find it hard to see him as the spoiler. High Yield ran a really awful race in the Derby, his second poor performance on the Churchill surface. Unable to make the lead as he is accustomed, he just never ran a step so he certainly should have plenty left in the tank for a good performance in the Preakness. Pimlico has the reputation for favoring speed horses which will also work to his advantage here. However, he is not the only horse in the race who likes to be on the lead so he may not have it all his way. Captain Steve was impeded badly by Wheelaway in the Derby so he has an excuse for not finishing better and perhaps he can finally win a race this year here. Historically Derby also-rans do well in the Preakness, but also odds on favorites do very well too.

Even with all this second guessing, I still will have to say Fusaichi Pegasus will win. Probably one of the other three will be second but don't leave out anyone for third if you play the trifecta. Any of these horses could run third with the right racing luck.

More articles and info:

• Pimlico
• Past performances from DRF
• Preakness from Equibase - free program, past performances, ChartPlus, and articles
• Glenners' Picks
• Live Audio from WBAL radio. Sorry, no live audio or video from the track.
• Current weather
• Scratches and changes
• Results Chart from Equibase (available late Saturday)
• News Index Search to find Preakness articles
• Past Preakness Winners
• Triple Crown Links - the master index for all kinds of Triple Crown and Preakness info, news. stats, etc.

All photos by the author except blackeyed susans courtesy of Deborah Simpson the About.com guide to gardening.

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Photos by author except where noted.

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