2015 Preakness Stakes: Firing Line trying to avoid becoming the next Alydar

The 1978 Belmont Stakes is a classic in the annals of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown history, with the excitement of watching grainy video of Affirmed and Alydar dueling down the stretch at the Belmont Stakes almost as high today as seeing it live 37 years ago must have been. Affirmed won by a nose, becoming the 11th (and so far, final) Triple Crown winner. Yet even without winning, Alydar became a star in the sport as well, said to be the best horse never to have won a major race.

Repeating that history wouldn’t be the worst outcome -- especially given all the talk leading up to the Run to the Roses centered on favorites American Pharoah and Dortmund -- but Firing Line’s connections hope to avoid just that. After finishing second just one length back of Pharoah in the 2015 Kentucky Derby, Firing Line will compete in the 2015 Preakness Stakes, despite it being an event many horses skip to rest up for the third leg at Belmont. That makes this year’s Preakness all the more compelling to watch.

“We got past Dortmund, and it was starting to feel a little bit like Alydar and Affirmed, and now we faced two Affirmeds instead of one in the Kentucky Derby,” Firing Line jockey Gary Stevens said (via UT-San Diego). “Hopefully we can turn the tables on American Pharoah, the same as we did Dortmund. But believe me, I have plenty of respect for all three horses. They are very, very good and exceptional colts.”

American Pharoah, Dortmund and Firing Line are all scheduled to run in Saturday’s Preakness, with the former two (both trained by Bob Baffert) starting on the inside rail and Firing Line all the way on the outside of the eight-horse field at Pimlico. Odds were set as expected, with Pharoah an overwhelming favorite (with 4/5 morning line odds) and Dortmund (3/1) and Firing Line (4/1) again battling for second. The only other horse given much chance with oddsmakers is Danzig Moon, who finished fifth in Kentucky, while the other four are seen as longshots.

The field has dropped by more than half since the Kentucky Derby nearly two weeks ago. Many trainers choose to skip the Preakness entirely. Todd Pletcher, for example, chose not to enter any of his four charges: Carpe Diem, Materiality, Competitive Edge and Stanford. Three entrants -- Tale of Verve, Divining Rod and Bodhisattva -- did not race in the Derby.

Competing in the Preakness on two weeks of rest shouldn’t be much of an issue, according to Stevens. He said that Firing Line was one of the rare horses who came out of the Kentucky Derby feeling fresh. A lighter schedule might have contributed to that. American Pharoah and Dortmund each ran six races leading up to the Kentucky Derby. Dortmund ran four since late December, while Pharoah took a long break between September and March but has run in three since. Firing Line took the month of April off entirely, participating in no races between March 22 and the Derby on May 2.

“I love the way he’s come out of the race,” said Firing Line’s trainer, Simon Callaghan (via ESPN). “He’s been eating up, he’s been very bright and showing us lots of positive vibes since the race. I think that’s one thing. He’s really the sort of horse that just takes these big races and all the build-up and everything in his stride, and coming back in distance a touch, I think certainly is not going to count against him. I think we’ve got a really good chance of turning the tables, but obviously we highly respect both of Bob’s runners, and there’s a couple of other interesting runners in there as well.”

The Preakness will be called to post at 6:18 p.m. Saturday. The race can be viewed on NBC.