Stevens giddy over Firing Line's outside draw

BALTIMORE – As far as jockey Gary Stevens is concerned, the post-position draw for Saturday’s $1.5 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico couldn’t have gone any better if he was allowed to conduct the draw himself.

Stevens was not only happy to have his mount, Kentucky Derby runner-up Firing Line, draw the outside post in the eight-horse field, but he seemed downright giddy that his major competition, Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah and Derby third-place finisher Dortmund, drew posts 1 and 2.

Moreover, Mr. Z, a late addition to the field after he was purchased privately by Calumet Farm, drew post 3. Mr. Z, who finished 13th in the Kentucky Derby, remains in the barn of trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

“I’m pleased not so much where I drew but where Dortmund and American Pharoah drew – 1, 2 – and Mr. Z outside of them,” Stevens, a three-time winner of the Preakness, said. “I expect Mr. Z to show more speed than he had in the Kentucky Derby with new ownership. Wayne’s going out for the kill; that’s going to make those guys make some decisions earlier in the race that they didn’t have the benefit of making in the Kentucky Derby. Now, I’ve got that benefit.”

The last horse to win the Preakness from post 8 was Bernardini, who did so in a nine-horse field in 2006. The last horse to win the Preakness from the rail was Tabasco Cat in 1994. The last horse to win the Preakness from post 2 was Snow Chief in 1986.

In the Kentucky Derby, Firing Line dueled outside of Dortmund before putting that horse away in deep stretch. But American Pharoah, who broke from post 15 in the Derby under Victor Espinoza, rallied several paths outside of Firing Line, pulling away from that rival late to win by one length.

Stevens said Firing Line, owned by Arnold Zetcher and trained by Simon Callaghan, will have no problem sitting off the pace, something he did in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 7, when he made the lead in midstretch but was outgamed to the wire by Dortmund, who won that race by a head over Firing Line.

“He’ll sit about any trip,” Stevens said. “I wasn’t overly concerned about the draw. I told Mr. Zetcher just prior to it I’d love to have the outside, but if we don’t, I’ll be fine with where we’re at. But with the way everybody else drew, those three being down inside, it gives me a lot of options.”

Stevens also believes that Firing Line having six weeks from the Sunland Derby to the Kentucky Derby gives him a fresher horse for the quick two-week turnaround from the Kentucky Derby to the Preakness.

“I think it helps him,” he said. “That’s one thing Simon, Mr. Zetcher, and myself talked about before. For a guy that’s never been through the Triple Crown before, Simon was sorting this stuff out prior to, he knew what he was getting into and how tough it was going to be on him, and he felt the six weeks would be to our benefit. We had the freshest horse going into the Derby, and I got to think of the top three Derby finishers, we may have come out of the race with the freshest horse going into the Preakness.”