Post position success in the Preakness

Post 17 may be the most dreaded starting position in the Kentucky Derby (G1), still reigning as the lone post with no winners in the race's long history. But in the Preakness S. (G1), post-position success rates are a bit more equitable — though, that's not to say some gates aren't more preferable than others.

Dating back to 1909, when Pimlico became the permanent home of the Preakness, at least one horse has won from each of the starting gates 1-13, with a maximum field of 14 permitted for the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Below we look at which gates have produced the most winners and examine which horses in the 2023 edition of the Preakness are most likely to succeed based on recent history at Pimlico.

While field size has varied greatly in the Preakness over time, the race has averaged around 10 starters over the last decade.

Dating back to 2013, when Oxbow scored a 15-1 upset victory over Kentucky Derby winner Orb, post 6 has produced two winners, tied with posts 1 and 5 for the most victories in that time span. Additionally, nine of the past 11 Preakness champions drew posts 1-6.

Going back to 1909, post 6 has been most successful, resulting in 17 victories, while posts 4 and 7 are tied with the second most wins, at 14.

Post 1 has generated 11 winners, but only three of those occurred after 1994. Post 2 has been less successful in recent history, with only Cloud Computing triumphing from that gate in the last 36 years. Post 3 also endured a 21-year drought between Prairie Bayou's win in 1993 and California Chrome's victory in 2014.

Posts 9 through 13 boast a combined 12 victories all time, but the overall tally is largely affected by the smaller field sizes of the Preakness.

2023 Preakness post positions

Eight three-year-olds will race in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness on Saturday, May 20, with recent Kentucky Derby winner and morning line favorite Mage (8-5) drawing post 3, which has produced a 10.4% win rate since 1909, but just two winners since 1993.

The second choice on the morning line, #8 First Mission (5-2) will break from the outside, with post 8 averaging an 8.7% win rate dating back to 1909. The most recent runners to claim the Preakness from post 8 are Bernardini in 2006 and War Emblem in 2002.

Shug McGaughey trainee Perform scored the high-win-percentage post 6, but the Good Magic colt is the third longest shot on the morning line at 15-1 and has yet to face graded stakes company.

In Post 7, Chad Brown will attempt to collect a second straight Preakness victory with Blazing Sevens (6-1), who has followed a similar path to Brown's champion Early Voting. The Klaravich Stable runner skipped the Derby to focus on training for the second leg of the Triple Crown in 2022.

Last year, Early Voting broke from post 5, the same post Red Route One drew for Steve Asmussen. The Hall of Fame trainer has won the Preakness twice, in 2007 with Curlin and 2009 with Rachel Alexandra, who ran from post 4 and 13, respectively.

Rounding out the field for the 2023 Preakness are #1 National Treasure (4-1), #2 Chase the Chaos (50-1), and #4 Coffeewithchris (20-1), all three of whom drew post positions that have produced one winner each since 2017.

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