Hall of Famer trainer Bob Baffert has won the Preakness seven times and looks poised to add a record eighth with IMPROBABLE in Saturday’s race. Although the colt’s trouble-free Kentucky Derby finish might have been somewhat disappointing – he was fifth past the wire before being elevated to fourth upon the disqualification of Maximum Security – he does not need to close the gap on the rivals that beat him in Louisville. They simply aren’t here.

Despite being stuck inside for a second consecutive leg of the Triple Crown, WAR OF WILL should be viewed as one of the major threats, if not the most likely winner, of this year’s Preakness Stakes. War of Will made his first start since a disastrous trip in the Louisiana Derby in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, breaking from the dreaded inside post. Once urged from the gate, he became difficult to rate, sitting the pocket trip before becoming involved in the Derby controversy, ultimately leading to a seventh-place finish via disqualification.

With the first four horses under the wire in the Kentucky Derby bypassing the second leg of the Triple Crown, the best finishers from that race returning in the Preakness are Improbable, a grinding fifth (promoted to fourth) as the favorite in Kentucky after an overall good trip, and War of Will, eventually fading to eighth after being part of the trouble at the five-sixteenths pole that led to the disqualification of Maximum Security.

BALTIMORE – You can take trainer Blaine Wright out of the Pacific Northwest, but you can’t take the Pacific Northwest out of Blaine Wright.

Wright arrived at Pimlico Race Course on Wednesday morning to look over his Preakness entrant Anothertwistafate while wearing a Seattle Seahawks cap and an Emerald Downs jacket. He’s Washington through and through, and fiercely proud of those roots.

BOURBON WAR is positioned for a mild upset over Preakness favorite IMPROBABLE, who benefitted from an uneventful trip in finishing fifth (placed fourth) as the Kentucky Derby favorite. Improbable is good, but he inherits repeat favoritism partly by default. The original top four Derby finishers all skipped the Preakness.

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.

Trainer Kelly Rubley and jockey Daniel Centeno have worked long and hard to reach the 144th Preakness Stakes. Alwaysmining, the Maryland-bred gelding with whom they will team, has taken a far easier path, which makes it difficult to determine how he will stack up in what will be by far the toughest race of his career.

Alwaysmining is a son of Travers and Cigar Mile winner Stay Thirsty, who began his stallion career at Ashford Stud in 2013 but is now standing in California for a $6,000 fee. Alwaysmining’s dam is the blue-collar racemare What Will Be, who won four of 33 starts.

Only four of the 13 horses in Saturday’s Preakness at Pimlico competed in the Kentucky Derby, and none of them was the Derby’s first horse under the wire, or the one who was made the official winner.

The young classic sire Bodemeister will be represented in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes by Bodexpress, looking to become the first maiden to win the second jewel of the Triple Crown since 1888. But regardless of the result, Bodemeister’s ties to a century-plus of racing history already run deep. The young stallion was bred by Audley Farm of Berryville, Va., less than 100 miles from Pimlico, and the former home of 1919 Triple Crown winner Sir Barton.

BALTIMORE – For as much success as he’s had in the Kentucky Derby, trainer Bob Baffert has made an even bigger mark on the Preakness Stakes.

Baffert has won the Preakness seven times, with all five of his Derby winners – Real Quiet, Silver Charm, War Emblem, American Pharoah, and Justify – and two more who were good enough to win the Derby – Point Given and Lookin At Lucky – and redeemed themselves here at Pimlico after disappointing losses two weeks prior at Churchill Downs.