NYQUIST made a total believer out of me with his performance in the Kentucky Derby. He was on top of a fast pace that saw the seven other horses involved early tire and wind up either soundly beaten, distant finishers, or eased. But Nyquist not only survived the Derby’s demanding early pace, he thrived, scoring decisively. Nyquist is now 8 for 8 and has won at five different tracks in three different states. But his admirable consistency is not the only reason to be unconcerned about the two-week turnaround between the Derby and Preakness. The Derby was only his third start of the year, and he has been trained with an intentional light touch, with the purpose of keeping his physical reserves at a high level through the Triple Crown grind. And if that isn’t enough, if rain does arrive in Baltimore on Saturday, it won’t bother Nyquist. He handled a wet track when he won the Florida Derby two starts back, and in the Kentucky Derby, he handled a track that had some water on top in spots from a quick prerace storm. :: PREAKNESS: Buy pps, watch Saturday's card live EXAGGERATOR finished second in the Derby and deserves credit for a fine performance even if his big rally from way back was set up perfectly by an ideal pace scenario. And while Exaggerator certainly wasn’t hindered by the bit of moisture in the track for the Derby, his effort proved that he doesn’t need the out-and-out slop on which he produced his blowout win in the Santa Anita Derby two starts back. Still, he would be fine with rain Saturday. The trouble for Exaggerator is that he is now 0 for 4 against Nyquist despite trying different approaches against him, such as trying to nail him late in the Derby and sticking with him early when both made their 3-year-old debuts in the San Vicente Stakes. Nyquist might simply have his number, but Exaggerator still looks like the main threat. CHERRY WINE would have to improve a lot to compete with the top two, but he has improved steadily over his last five starts. His deep-closing style fits a Preakness with a lot of suspect early speed, and he should get involved late. Cherry Wine is another who wouldn’t mind a wet track. STRADIVARI is the wild card here. After an unsuccessful sprint debut, he won his last two starts routing by 11 1/4 and 14 1/2 lengths, earning a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for his allowance romp most recently at Keeneland. But while that triple-digit Beyer is competitive with these, it’s not better than what Nyquist or Exaggerator are capable of, nor does his stalking style give him any kind of pace advantage here.