News and STORIES

Medina Spirit Cleared For Preakness Stakes, Draws Post 3

Author: Ryan Knuppel
Published: Wednesday May 12, 2021
The Preakness Stakes takes place on Saturday, and officials have officially announced that Medina Spirit will be able to compete. The Bob Baffert-trained horse failed a drug test after winning the Kentucky Derby, and the trainer was subsequently suspended from making entries at Churchill Downs.

It has also been muted that the first Triple Crown winner could have his victory removed if the second test also comes back positive. However, an agreement was reached regarding the Preakness this weekend, as Baffert has approved conditions of ‘rigorous testing and monitoring.’

Medina Spirit Draws Post 3


The official statement by the Maryland Jockey Club was made shortly before the draw for starting positions was made on Tuesday. The result of the draw means that Medina Spirit will start in post three, and has shortened in price with many of the leading sportsbooks. Post three hasn’t produced the winner of the Preakness Stakes since California Chrome in 2014. However, it has produced 12 winners since 1909. The starting positions between one and eight have produced the most winners, with all of them leading to more than ten winners in the past. Medina Spirit will go off for the Preakness as the clear favorite in the betting, as he looks to follow in the footsteps of eight previous Kentucky Derby winners since 2000 to win the second Triple Crown race.

Justify was the most recent horse to have achieved the feat in 2018, while American Pharoah also won both Triple Crown races before claiming success in the Belmont Stakes. Kentucky Derby winners have fared well in the Preakness since 1997, as eleven winners have gone on to win the Preakness. Horses such as Silver Charm (1997), War Emblem (2002), and Big Brown (2008) have achieved the feat previously. However, there will be no shortage of gamblers this week, hoping that Medina Spirit isn’t able to win the race due to the events from the past seven days.

Concert Tour Draws Post 10


Both of Baffert’s horses in the mix for the Preakness have fared contrastingly when it comes to the draw. Concert Tour will have a huge challenge on his hands, as he has been drawn in post ten. Out of the starting positions, posts 9 to 13 have produced fewer winners combined than the starting positions between 2 and 7 have individually.

Only post 13 has drawn fewer winners of the Preakness than post 10. There have only been two previous winners from the starting position that Concert Tour finds himself in this weekend, with the most recent being Real Quiet in 1998. The only other horse to have won from the same post was Greek Money in 1952.

Most Successful Starting Positions


The starting positions may not be as important as the Kentucky Derby, but there are still some very interesting trends that gamblers will want to be aware of before the weekend. The most successful post when it comes to winners of the Preakness Stakes is post six. Sixteen winners have come from this starting position since 1909, which includes Oxbow, Big Brown, and Charismatic since 1999.

Rombauer will be starting in that position in this weekend’s 146th Preakness Stakes. Crowded Trade and France Go De Ina will both have popular starting positions, as they have been drawn in posts four and seven, respectively. Both posts have produced 14 winners in the past, which is the second-highest in the Preakness. Previous winners to have started in post four include 2007 winner Curlin and Red Bullet in 2000. Meanwhile, 2018 winner Justify won from post seven, as did Lookin At Lucky in 2010 and Smarty Jones in 2004.

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