While it’s virtually impossible to give you any hard and fast rules in Preakness Stakes betting, or any other horse racing event for that matter, there are a few factors unique to the race that should be taken into account when handicapping the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown. For obvious reasons, these alone can’t help you win, and specifically because the field won’t be set up until the week before race day. At any rate, once the field is announced, it is crucial to evaluate all of the contenders with the following concepts to keep in mind:

• Distance

The Preakness Stakes racetrack has a distance of 1 3/16 miles, which means it’s a bit shorter than the Kentucky Derby which is two weeks prior to the race. This means there is no question about the contenders’ ability to handle this distance.

• Schedule

One of the major reasons why winning the Triple Crown is such a rare event it’s because of the grueling schedule of the three races. While the ideal resting period in between races varies from horse to horse, the highest level equine contenders race fewer than ten times annually. And in most cases, Thoroughbreds rarely race without a break of at least three weeks to a month. However, for an aspiring Triple Crown champion, it is necessary to win all three races in just a five week span. In five weeks, there is a two week gap between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, and then there is three weeks between the Preakness and the final Belmont Stakes.

• Weather and Track Condition

Anyone who has witnessed the 2010 Kentucky Derby can say that weather can be crucial in deciding the winner of a race, and horses are known to be very sensitive to the conditions they run in and the surface they run on. To up their chances, most horse owners and trainers try to avoid racing a young horse with much potential in inclement weather or on a sloppy racetrack. So if the weather at a racetrack gets bad, you’ll see a number of “late scratches” because of this. But a Triple Crown race is a different matter, and unless a horse’s connections have reasons to fear for its safety due to the bad elements or track condition, they usually make the start.

• Post Position

In theory, horses that get into the inside position have an edge over those at the outside in any race. However, at the Pimlico racetrack, there is a historically demonstrated bias to horses that run good on the rail. This has produced a number of theories as to why racing near the rail is so valuable in Pimlico—from firmer dirt to an advantage on the tight turns. Whatever the reasons are, it’s something worth paying attention to.

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