Oddsmakers will continue to tinker with the lines for the 2016 Preakness Stakes until race time, but Nyquist is the heavy favorite to follow up his Kentucky Derby victory with a win in the second race of the Triple Crown.
Preakness 2016: Nyquist heavy favorite in morning line odds
The Kentucky Derby winner is unsurprisingly a huge favorite to follow up with another win at the Preakness Stakes on Saturday.
Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports
Nyquist holds current odds of 3-5 (-167) to win on Saturday, well ahead of the rest of the 11-horse field. Exaggerator, the second-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago is being given the best chance at besting Nyquist with 3-1 (-300) odds at earning the win at Pimlico Race Course. Stradivari at 8-1 (-800) and Collected at 10-1 (-1000) are the only other horses with odds better than 20-1 to pull off the upset.
The 11-horse field in Baltimore is much smaller than the 20-horse Kentucky Derby, but Nyquist will have to battle tough conditions at the Preakness Stakes where rain has made for a muddy track. Two weeks ago, a brief burst of rain threatened to affect the Kentucky Derby, but the track mostly dried by post time. It promises to be much muddier at Pimlico.
In three of the last four years, the winner of the Kentucky Derby also earned a win in the Preakness Stakes. But American Pharoah became the first horse in 37 years to follow up the pair of wins with another in the Belmont Stakes to earn the Triple Crown.
During the 37 years of a Triple Crown drought, 13 horses won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, but couldn’t get the third victory.
Here are the morning line odds for the race (horse order is based on post position):
| Horse | Morning line odds |
| Cherry Wine | 20-1 |
| Uncle Lino | 20-1 |
| Nyquist | 3-5 |
| Awesome Speed | 30-1 |
| Exaggerator | 3-1 |
| Lani | 30-1 |
| Collected | 10-1 |
| Laoban | 30-1 |
| Abiding Star | 30-1 |
| Fellowship | 30-1 |
| Stradivari | 8-1 |
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