If American Pharoah is going to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978, he'll have to buck some post position history and perhaps a tactical disadvantage in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico tomorrow.
After being assigned the one gate at Wednesday's random draw - a spot only one of the past 54 Preakness winners has started from - it seems almost certain American Pharoah, the 4-5 morning line favourite, will have to use a different running style for the 1-mile race than the Kentucky Derby, when he tracked Dortmund and Firing Line from the outside before sweeping past them in the stretch.
"I never like the one hole," trainer Bob Baffert, who has won the Preakness five times, told USA Today Sports. "That's the first time I've ever drawn the rail here. I've been so lucky. You don't like to see it, but if he's the best horse we'll find out."
Nobody was happier about how the post positions shook out for the eight-horse field than Gary Stevens, who rode Firing Line to a second-placed finish in Louisville and told owner Arnold Zetcher before the draw that he would prefer to start from the outside.
Stevens got his wish, drawing eight, but was even more pleased to see that American Pharoah and fellow Baffert-trained Dortmund, who drew two, will almost certainly have to use their early speed to avoid getting buried in traffic on the rail.
