2016 Preakness – The Shooters Are Coming for Nyqvist
He may be undefeated in eight career races, but Nyquist doesn’t seem to have gained the full confidence of the betting market after taking down the 2016 Kentucky Derby in impressive fashion. At press time, Nyquist is available at 5/8 to win the 2016 Preakness Stakes this Saturday (6:18 PM ET, NBC). That’s down from 5/7 last week.
Maybe bettors are feeling nervous about the competition. Of the nine other horses now listed as probable for the 2016 Preakness, only two were in action at the Kentucky Derby: second-favorite Exaggerator (9/2), and Japanese import Lani (40/1). The rest are “shooters,” horses that intentionally skipped the Derby in order to prepare for Pimlico. One of these shooters could end Nyquist’s winning streak this Saturday.
Fit as a Fiddle
The most intriguing of these shooters is Stradivari, who’s third-favorite at 9/1 on the Preakness futures market. The Kentucky-bred colt, trained by Todd Pletcher, is a largely unknown commodity with zero stakes races under his belt. However, Stradivari won his only race as a 3-year-old, taking down an allowance on April 17 at Keeneland by 14 ½ lengths. He posted a 100 Beyer Speed Figure traveling 1 1/8 miles, and he did it without much coaxing from jockey John Velazquez.
Velazquez was also on board when Stradivari won his maiden on his second attempt back in December. This was over 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream Park; Stradivari prevailed by 11 1/4 lengths, but he only posted a Beyer figure of 79 in the process. Unfortunately, a “minor setback” in training was enough to convince Pletcher to keep Stradivari out of Derby contention. Perhaps it was for the best, judging by that allowance at Keeneland.
Cool and Collected
Among the other shooters lined up for the Preakness are a pair of stakes winners: Collected (25/1), a Bob Baffert horse who took first at the Grade 2 Lexington Stakes, and Uncle Lino (33/1), who cashed in for Gary Sherlock at the ungraded California Chrome Stakes. Collected might have some value in this situation after breezing 7 furlongs in a pair of workouts at Churchill Downs.
If the shooters fail to stop Nyquist, there’s always Gun Runner. After winning both the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes and the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby for Steve Asmussen, Gun Runner gave Nyquist a strong challenge at the Kentucky Derby, finishing 3 3/4 lengths behind in third. At press time, Gun Runner remains listed as possible for the Preakness; final entries are due on Wednesday, and post positions will be drawn at 5 PM ET.
