Anti-climatic.
That is the best way to describe post position drawing Wednesday afternoon for Saturday's Preakness Stakes.
Post position doesn't mean much in a small field, and the second leg of the Triple Crown is small but powerful. It seems to be a three-horse showdown, and all of them are good enough to win the 1 3/16-mile race.
Obviously American Pharaoh is expected to be the favorite after winning the Kentucky Derby. Firing Line should be second in the betting with Dortmund third.
After that it probably doesn't matter unless you are playing the superfecta.
American Pharaoh has won six consecutive races, including the Rebel and Arkansas Derby, and while some questioned his one-length victory over Firing Line and that jockey Victor Espinoza had to whip him 30 times in the stretch, he still won the race and didn't seem to be tiring at the end.
However, Firing Line is being compared to Alydar because he has finished second three times to stablemates American Pharaoh and Dortmund (twice).
Alydar finished second to Affirmed in the Kentucky Derby (by a length), the Preakness (by a head) and the Belmont (by a nose) in 1979.
What has some thinking Firing Line may improve is that in the Derby he never changed leads. In the turn for home all horses need to be on a left-hoof lead, but in the stretch they usually switch to the right hoof, which is generally dominant.
He was not asked to change leads by jockey Gary Stevens, a Hall of Famer and a winner of more than 5,000 races including 3 Kentucky Derbies, 3 Preaknesses and 3 Belmont Stakes.
Firing Line ran second most of the way in the Kentucky Derby until he took a short-lived lead that he lost to American Pharaoh.
Dortmund, who like American Pharaoh is trained by Bob Baffert, was undefeated going into the Derby and led most of the way until he hit a wall and held on to finish third in front of Frosted, one of many not trying the second leg of the triple crown.
Baffert had not let his two stars run against each other until the Kentucky Derby, but even after Dortmund lost more than three lengths to American Pharaoh in the stretch, Baffert did not hesitate to enter him in the Preakness.
That would certainly help Baffert's odds of becoming the first trainer to win the Triple Crown since 1979.
Earlier this week it looked like there might be as many as 12 entries for the Preakness, but trainer Todd Pletcher pulled all four of his horses and appears to be saving Materiality and Carpe Diem for the Belmont Stakes on June 6.
If American Pharaoh wins Saturday, and there is no reason to think he won't, the best chance of making any money would be to hit the superfecta, which requires picking the first four finishers in order.
A couple of horses to consider putting with the big three are Divining Rod and Mr. Z.
Divining Rod has two victories in five starts and is something of a sentimental favorite because he is owned Roy and Gretchen Jackson. The Jacksons also owned Barbaro, the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner who broke down at the start of the Preakness and eventually was euthanized eight months later.
Mr. Z once finished less than a length behind Dortmund and Firing Line and ran third in the Arkansas Derby, but the colt has only a maiden race victory and this will be his 14th race.
Saturday's race should be interesting if not deep in horses, and there is no reason to believe American Pharaoh won't head to the Belmont with two legs of the Triple Crown under his belt.
There's an even better chance of that for Bob Baffert.
Sports on 05/14/2015