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Preakness Stakes - Saturday, May 19, 2012 -
Riders Up...

The Preakness traditionally features the top Kentucky Derby finishers competing in the run for the Black Eyed Susans, with more than a dozen horses in total which will be under consideration for the second jewel in the Triple Crown.

Post positions for this year's running of the Preakness Stakes are scheduled to be announced on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 5PM ET.

2012 Preakness post positions and odds:

The May 18th running of the Preakness Stakes will be the 137th edition this year, and is traditionally the second race in the coveted "Triple Crown" of horse racing.

The "Run For The Black Eyed Susans" (the Black Eyed Susan is Maryland's state flower and also the name of the signature drink of Preakness celebrations) at Pimlico, offering the same crazy hats, racy day parties and wild offtrack celebrations as the other Triple Crown races.

How to Pick a Preakness Winner

The Preakness is a bit easier to handicap than the Kentucky Derby, but it's still a horse race. With some of the same colts that raced in the Derby in contention, the rest of the field may be unknown. Even so, in the Preakness every horse in the field is a champion. Most have competed successfully in other Stakes races, but never against the best three year olds in the racing world.

To chose the winner of this championship race, you need to know the pedigree of the horse and his past history in Stakes races. How the horse handles various track conditions can mean the difference between a win and an also-ran. Who trains and rides the colt is another fact that handicappers look at. The pros can also look back on patterns of past Preakness winners and use that knowledge to predict the outcome.

Do you think Kentucky Derby winners stand out in the Preakness? You bet! The horses that do well in the first leg of the triple crown typically perform well in the Preakness.

Doc's Sports provides this information, "Recent history has treated the Kentucky Derby winner very kindly in the Preakness. Six of the last 10 Derby winners have gone to the Belmont with a shot at the Triple Crown. All six of those horses - Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Charismatic, War Emblem, Funny Cide and Smarty Jones - have looked solid coming into the Preakness off impressive Derby wins, and all have met the lofty expectations at Pimlico."

The Preakness this year may have fewer Derby horses repeating, which adds a bit more suspense to the outcome. The large number of new horses may mean some unexpected challenges to the Derby veterans as the Preakness unfolds. The smaller Preakness field means more room for manuevering through the pack and the shorter course may play an important part in the outcome.

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