Preakness 2013: Oxbow ends Orb’s Triple Crown run

Oxbow, ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, took the lead of the Preakness right from the starting gate and led every step of the way for the win. The quest for the first Triple Crown winner since 1978 ended Saturday, as Orb failed to win the Preakness as the odds-on favorite at post time. The drought will continue for at least one more year.

Twelve times since 1978, a horse has won the first two legs of the Triple Crown and failed to complete the sweep in the Belmont Stakes, including last year’s Derby/Preakness winner I’ll Have Another. There will be no Triple Crown attempt in 2013.

Oxbow, ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, led wire-to-wire to win the 2013 Preakness Stakes, but if you happened to miss the race -- or just want to watch it again -- SB Nation has you covered.

Orb entered the race as the betting -- and sentimental -- favorite. With official odds even Saturday, and unofficial odds better than even, Orb was a heavy favorite over Itsmyluckyday, Departing and Take Charge. Oxbow was actually a longshot at15/1 to win.

Oxbow won the 138th running of the Preakness Stakes Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

Oxbow led right from the 1-3/16 mile-race right from the start to become the first wire-to-wire winner since 1982, according to NBC’s broadcast. Kentucky-Derby winner Orb entered the first term in the middle of the pack behind leader Oxbow, moved to the outside and started making a run after that before getting caught back in the pack and finishing fourth.

From exactas to trifectas to superfectas, there’s no shortage of gambling options in horse racing. In addition to the traditional bets, there are also a number of prop bets for the 2013 Preakness Stakes.

Orb is even money to win the race, but he’s also the subject of a few prop bets from Odds Shark. Orb is -500 to finish in the top three, with the bet paying +300 if he finishes in fourth or worst. Orb is a heavy favorite against the field, but you can also bet his individual head-to-head matchups with a few of the other top contenders. Orb is -215 to finish ahead of Departing and -210 to edge out Mylute. Orb is an even heavier favorite to finish ahead of Goldencents, with the current odds at -400 in favor of the Kentucky Derby winner.

Orb remains the heavy favorite to win the 2013 Preakness Stakes with the odds shifting as post time nears. After being a 10/11 favorite earlier in the day, Orb is back to even odds, according to Bovada.

The Kentucky Derby winner remains the heavy favorite despite running from the less-than-desirable Gate 1. While Orb’s odds have remained steady, the horses behind him have seen their odds shift. Mylute has the next best odds, now at 5/1, with Departing just behind at 6/1. Goldencents remains at 8/1 odds.

The 2013 Preakness Stakes will get underway at 6:20 p.m. ET, and the odds continue to shift as the afternoon progresses. Orb, despite getting the dreaded Gate 1 draw, remains the heavy favorite to take the race and continue his quest to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

According to Odds Shark, Orb’s current odds are at 10/11. Orb can become the 13th horse since 1978 to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown. As for his challengers, Mylute is the runner-up with 6/1 odds, Departing is sitting at 13/2, and Goldencents isn’t far behind with 8/1. If you’re a daredevil type of gambler, Titletown Five has the longest odds with 28/1.

The 2013 Preakness Stakes will take place on Saturday. Orb, coming off a dominant stretch run in the Kentucky Derby, will attempt to become the 13th horse since 1978 to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown. No horse has actually won all three races since Affirmed in 1978.

Despite drawing the dreaded Gate 1, Orb is still the heavy favorite to win -- Bovada’s latest betting line gives him 10/13 odds. Departing trails at 7/1 odds, while Mylute and Goldencents have 17/2 and 9/1 odds, respectively.

With the Preakness Stakes just a few hours away, experts from across the horse racing world are beginning to make their picks for the race. Orb, the Kentucky Derby winner, is a strong favorite according to the oddsmakers, and the experts are seeing it the same way.

SB Nation’s horse racing blog, And Down The Stretch They Come, posted their staff picks, and four of the five went with Orb. Itsmyluckyday was the only other horse to get a nod. On the New York Times horse racing blog, seven of the eight pickers went with Orb to win, with Goldencents being the only different choice. The media poll at the Baltimore Sun also had Orb winning on some ballots, but Itsmyluckyday, Mylute and Goldencents also received some picks.

Weather for today’s Preakness Stakes is a lot drier than it was for the Kentucky Derby earlier this month. Skies will be mostly cloudy, but most of the rain will stay south of Baltimore.

A front has stalled across Virginia and North Carolina, focusing most of the shower and storm activity south of Pimlico Race Course. There is only a slight chance that showers or a storm could pass by later this afternoon.

The horse racing world turns its attention to Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course for the 138th Preakness Stakes. The second leg of the Triple Crown is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, with a post time at 6:20 p.m. ET. Kentucky Derby winner Orb is the even money favorite in the nine-horse field. A win Saturday would give Orb a chance to win the first Triple Crown since 1978 three weeks later at the Belmont Stakes.

NBC Sports is once again providing television coverage of the Preakness Stakes. Network coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. Saturday live from Pimlico. Unlike the Kentucky Derby, there is no pre-race show on the NBC Sports Network.

Saturday’s feature race at Pimlico Race Course, the Preakness Stakes, is scheduled to go to the post at 6:20 p.m. ET. Prior to that time, handicappers and fans have plenty of time to try and pad the old wagering bankroll with an undercard that features the Grade 3 Dupont Distaff, Grade 3 Gallorette Handicap, Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Handicap, and the Grade 2 Dixie Stakes. Let’s take a look at the six stakes race leading up to today’s Preakness (all times ET):

This is one of those sprint races where it seems every horse in the field wants to run on or just off of the lead during the first half-mile. 2-Zee Bros is your 2/1 ML favorite but he’s a winner of a single maiden race in three lifetime starts and most likely won’t get things all his own way with 3-Bobcat Jim just to his outside. 7-City of Weston (6/1) should be able to sit right off of the early speed and make a strong run in the lane for a chance to get his picture taken.

Orb has been the favorite to win the Preakness Stakes ever since he won the Kentucky Derby, and things are no different the morning of the race. Orb is coming off at even money, far ahead of any of the other contenders in the nine horse field.

Mylute remains the horse with the next-best odds at 5/1, with Departing and Goldencents close behind at 6/1 and 8/1, respectively. The longest shot in the field remains Titletown Five, who is at 30/1 odds to take home the win on Saturday.

Since Affirmed last won horse racing’s Triple Crown in 1978, 12 horses have managed to win the first two legs of the series before failing in the final race. Orb will have a chance to become the 13th when the 138th Preakness Stakes is held Saturday afternoon at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

Orb enters the race as the heavy favorite for betters, still holding even odds as of Saturday morning. Mylute at 5/1 odds, Departing at 6/1 and Goldencents at 8/1 are the top challengers, with five horses coming in at 10/1 or worse, led by Itsmyluckyday.

The forecast for this weekend’s Preakness Stakes has greatly improved and is mostly dry for the second leg of the Triple Crown. Front will stall south of the Mason-Dixon line and clear out clouds to give mostly sunny skies for this afternoon. There is just a small chance of an isolated shower or storm Saturday afternoon but looks much drier than the Kentucky Derby.

FRIDAY - BLACK-EYE SUSAN WEATHER FORECAST:

Sunny to mostly sunny skies, with a light northerly wind and an afternoon high temperatures around 77.

After a dominant showing in the Kentucky Derby, Orb is the odds-on favorite to win the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, on Saturday.

Orb’s odds have improved to 1/1 as of Friday night and the horse has been at the top of the odds list the entire week, according to Bovoda Sportsbook. The rest of the list has undergone a bit of shuffling, however. Mylute’s odds have slowly improved since Thursday, currently sitting right behind Orb at 5/1 odds. Departing is close behind with 6/1 odds, and the top three horses have been locked into those spots all week.

Fiftyshadesofhay raced further back in the field than in many of her recent races, but the addition of blinkers by trainer Bob Baffert appeared to improve her focus in the later stages as she kept running at the leaders even when it appeared her chances to win were slipping away.

Jockey Joel Rosario once again rode a magnificent race even faced with a less than ideal circumstances. Despite his filly running further back in the pack that is her norm, Rosario patiently settled her into a good rhythm, moved her into the clear after coming off the far turn, and gave her a strong ride to the finish. Rosario will ride Orb in Saturday’s Preakness.

The Preakness occupies a strange place in the Triple Crown sequence; as the middle leg of the series, a colt can’t win the Triple Crown with a victory at Pimlico but it can sure lose it. And unlike the Belmont Stakes that depends so much on whether a Triple Crown is on the line, there is always the chance we could be watching a Triple Crown winner in the Preakness, even if those hopes are dashed at the end of the mile-and-three-sixteenths journey around Old Hill Top.

The winner of the Kentucky Derby always attracts a lot of attention at the Preakness and this year is no different, as Orb’s performance in Louisville and his connections are the backdrop to a wonderful story for this three-year-old son of Malibu Moon. The hopes and dreams of horse-racing fans for an end to the Triple-Crown drought rest firmly on the four legs of Orb.

Preakness weekend begins today at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore with the running of the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (Post Time: 4:47 pm Eastern; TV: NBCSN). Similar to the Kentucky Oaks, the Black-Eyed Stakes is a race for three-year-old fillies at a mile and an eighth on the main track.

Let’s take a look at the field for the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes:

As of Friday, Orb remains the favorite to win the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, on Saturday.

After winning the first leg, the Kentucky Derby, Orb has current odds of 10/11 at the Preakness, according to the Bovada Sportsbook. This means no change for the favorite since Thursday’s odds were posted. Next in the nine-horse draw, Mylute and Departing share 13/2 odds. This isn’t different for Departing, but Mylute moved there from a 6/1 line on Thursday.

The 20-horse field at the Kentucky Derby doesn’t just provide splendid visuals year after year, but also monster payouts in the wagering pools due to the complexity of the race. The Preakness field is limited to 14 starters and many times the race will draw fewer than a full gate which tends to spur a couple of results: typically a cleaner run race (less bad trips), and smaller payouts at the betting windows.

While in the Kentucky Derby it might make sense to play huge trifecta or superfecta in the hopes of hitting that life-altering score, casting a wider net with your wagers at Pimlico can leave you with a poor return on investment if the race turns chalky.

The introduction of Orb to the racing world began with few expectations or fanfare, but simply the fourth race on the card at historic Saratoga on Saturday, August 18^th. The race featured eight two-year-old colts looking for the first victory of their career, led by Violence, a well-intentioned first-time starter trained by Todd Pletcher that went to the post as the 4/5 odds-on favorite. Four other colts in the field were making the first start of their career, including Orb, the second-longest shot on the board at odds of 29/1.

Orb broke poorly from the gate in the seven-furlong maiden special weight race, running last after both the quarter and half-mile marks. As the field entered the top of the lane, the eventual Kentucky Derby winner began to find his best stride with less than a quarter mile to go, moving from the rear of the field to within just a few lengths of the lead. Orb failed to get to the wire ahead of his rivals on this day but his strong late kick propelled him to a third-place finish, just a length behind the top two finishers, Violence and Titletown Five.

Sire: Tiznow

Dam: d’Wildcat Speed

Damsire: Forest Wildcat

Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas

Jockey: Julien Leparoux

Owners: Hornung, Martin, Lukas, Davis, Miller & Shade

Record: 7-1-2-1

Earnings: $87,398

Notable Races: 4^th, G3-Derby Trial; 9^th, G2-Louisiana Derby; 2^nd, Gazebo Stakes

Orb remained a steady 1/1 favorite to win the 2013 Preakness Stakes, despite drawing a seemingly unfavorable post position out of Gate 1 on Wednesday. The Kentucky Derby winner will need to best Mylute (5/1 odds out of Gate 5) and newcomer Departing (6/1 odds out of Gate 4) to continue his Triple Crown run.

Here are the odds for the full field at the Preakness: