Expert Picks: Who Will Win the Preakness?

Joe Drape and Melissa Hoppert look at the contenders for the 146th Preakness Stakes.

Medina Spirit, who won the Kentucky Derby on May 1 to give the trainer Bob Baffert a record seventh victory in the race, was installed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, despite nearly not running at all after it was disclosed that he had tested positive for betamethasone, a corticosteroid, after the Derby. While officials in Kentucky awaited results from a second sample before determining whether Medina Spirit’s Derby victory would be overturned, Preakness organizers on Tuesday announced they would let the colt run after Baffert and his lawyer agreed to expanded testing and monitoring of his horses in Baltimore. Below, the Preakness horses are listed in order of post position, with comments by Joe Drape and Melissa Hoppert of The New York Times. The morning-line odds were set by Keith Feustle of Pimlico Race Course.