Preakness Stakes: Improbable favored from post 4; War of Will gets rail again

BALTIMORE – Improbable drew post 4 and was installed as the favorite when a field of 13 was entered and posts drawn on Wednesday for the 144th Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.

But the big news was that War of Will, who landed the rail for his troubled trip in the Kentucky Derby, again drew the inside.

Just prior to the draw, Mark Casse, who trains War of Will, said, “Anything but 1.” When that post was called, he just put his head down and shook it from side to side.

“What are the odds of that happening in a 20-horse field and a 13-horse field?” he asked.

The answer is 260-1.

Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper, has Improbable as the 2-1 favorite, with War of Will next at 7-2, then Bourbon War at 8-1. All other runners are at least 10-1 on his line.

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Keith Fuestle, who makes the line at Pimlico, has Improbable at 5-2, followed by War of Will at 4-1, with Anothertwistafate the third choice at 6-1.

Improbable crossed the wire fifth in the Kentucky Derby and then was promoted to fourth when the original winner, Maximum Security, was disqualified for interference that included bumping War of Will.

Neither Maximum Security, nor Country House – promoted to first in the Derby – is in the Preakness.

The field, from the rail out, is War of Will, Bourbon War, Warrior’s Charge, Improbable, Owendale, Market King, Alwaysmining, Signalman, Bodexpress, Everfast, Laughing Fox, Anothertwistafate, and Win Win Win.

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Both Bourbon War and Win Win Win are adding blinkers for this race.

If all 13 start, this will be the largest field for the second leg of the Triple Crown since 14 competed in the 2011 Preakness.

A field of 12 was expected for several days, but on Wednesday, the connections of Everfast decided to take a shot. Everfast, trained by Dale Romans, is winless in nine starts since a first-out victory against maidens in August at Ellis Park. He most recently was fifth in the Pat Day Mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

Improbable, Laughing Fox, Owendale and Warrior’s Charge all arrived Wednesday following a flight from Kentucky. Owendale and Warrior’s Charge are both trained by Brad Cox, the only trainer with two runners in this race.

The owners of Warrior’s Charge had to pay a $150,000 supplementary fee in order to run because Warrior’s Charge was not nominated to the Triple Crown for $600 in January nor $6,000 in March.

Bourbon War arrived Wednesday following a van ride from New York. Alwaysmining and Win Win Win are both based at the Fair Hill Training Center and are scheduled to van to Pimlico on Thursday, the deadline for all Preakness runners to be on the grounds.

The Preakness goes as race 13 on a 14-race card that begins at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. The race will be televised live on NBC and broadcast live on radio by HRRN.

2019 Preakness Field
Post	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Last Race	M/L Odds
1	War of Will	Mark Casse	Tyler Gaffalione	Ky. Derby, 7th	4-1
2	Bourbon War	Mark Hennig	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	Fla. Derby, 4th	12-1
3	Warrior's Charge	Brad Cox	Javier Castellano	OP allowance, 1st	12-1
4	Improbable	Bob Baffert	Mike Smith	Ky. Derby, 4th	5-2
5	Owendale	Brad Cox	Florent Geroux	Lexington, 1st	10-1
6	Market King	D. Wayne Lukas	Jon Court	Blue Grass, 11th	30-1
7	Alwaysmining	Kelly Rubley	Daniel Centeno	Tesio, 1st	8-1
8	Signalman	Kenny McPeek	Brian Hernandez, Jr.	Blue Grass, 3rd	30-1
9	Bodexpress	Gustavo Delgado	John Velazquez	Ky. Derby, 13th	20-1
10	Everfast	Dale Romans	Joel Rosario	Pat Day Mile, 5th	50-1
11	Laughing Fox	Steve Asmussen	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	OP Invitational, 1st	20-1
12	Anothertwistafate	Blaine Wright	Jose Ortiz	Lexington, 2nd	6-1
13	Win Win Win	Mike Trombetta	Julian Pimentel	Ky. Derby, 9th	15-1