Preakness odds are oftentimes influenced by the post position of the horses in the race. How important is the post position when it comes to Preakness wagering? What post positions have been the most successful in Preakness odds?
Preakness can be affected a little bit by the post position draw. The inside posts have a little bit of an advantage at Pimlico normally but when it comes to Preakness odds the inside posts have been a disaster. The last winner in Preakness wagering to come from post position one, two or three was Tabasco Cat back in 1994. In the last 10 years of Preakness wagering we see that six of the ten winners came from the outside post positions 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Since 2000 the top two post positions are post position #4 and post position #8 in Preakness odds.
Each of those has two victories. Post positions 7, 9, 11 and 12 have won the other four races in Preakness odds. Going back another two years we see that post positions 6 and 10 have wins in Preakness odds. What does all of this tell us about post position and Preakness ? It says that you don’t want a horse starting from any of the first three post positions in Preakness . Anything else has not been a problem.
Keep in mind though that this history of outside post position is only in the last 10 to 15 years. Tracks are constantly changing and races always have different characteristics that chance. It could be that Pimilico has changed and the inside post position is avoided by trainers which would account for the lack of success from the Preakness wagering winners. If a post position is known to be unfavorable then trainers of the top horses in Preakness are going to avoid it.
Post positions are just one factor to consider when looking at the Preakness. They are not as important as they are in the Kentucky Derby but history has shown they can influence the Preakness from time to time.