2015 Preakness Stakes Trivia Quiz

Answer: The field was comprised of 20 horses.

The 2015 Preakness Stakes included only eight horses making it the smallest Preakness field in 15 years. If a filly runs in the Preakness, then it is allowed to carry 121 pounds. The 2015 field was all colts so they all carried 126 pounds. The 9.5 furlong distance of the race makes it the shortest of the triple crown races.

Answer: Rainy. The track was muddy and sloppy

Luckily none of the horses were badly injured in spite of the rainy conditions at Pimlico. The weather conditions likely were the main cause of the race time being about four seconds slower than in 2014. The last time the conditions were this poor for the Preakness was in 1983 when Deputed Testamony won the race.

Answer: Firing Line

Firing Line really pushed American Pharoah in the 2015 Kentucky Derby but he struggled throughout the Preakness. Firing Line had the third best odds in the field at 4-1.

Answer: Tale of Verve

Tale of Verve had previously won a race at Keeneland at the 1 3/16 miles distance and his performance at the 2015 Preakness Stakes showed that he deserved to be in the field. Prior to the Preakness Tale of Verve's earnings were $54,600 so the $300,000 purse was quite a substantial pay day.

Answer: Javier Castellano

In the 2014 Preakness Stakes, Javier Castellano rode General a Rod and finished fourth. Castellano's win in the 2006 Preakness is overshadowed by the tragic injury that the Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro suffered in the race. Prior to the 2015 Preakness, Divining Rod had two first place finishes but they were both at shorter distances.

Answer: He led from start to finish (wire-to-wire victory).

Unlike in the 2015 Kentucky Derby when American Pharoah was not in the lead for the majority of the race, he essentially led the Preakness race in its entirety. Mr. Z challenged him early on and Dortmund somewhat until the 3/4 mile marker but they had poor finishes as American Pharoah won by seven lengths.

Answer: 1

Inside positions are generally considered unfavorable in horse racing as the rail barrier can act as an obstacle. Dortmund drew the second position where a Preakness winner hadn't started from since Snow Chief in 1986. Bob Baffert, American Pharoah's trainer, was disappointed with his horse's post position before the race noting "If American Pharoah is the best horse, we're going to find out".

Answer: 22.8 seconds

With the rainy conditions Victor Espinoza sought to have a fast start for American Pharoah. In spite of the poor conditions at the 2015 Preakness, American Pharoah's 22.8 second quarter mile was about a half second faster than his time in the 2015 Kentucky Derby. For comparison to humans, Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson's fastest time in the quarter mile was 43.18 seconds.

Answer: Victor Espinoza

Victor Espinoza was born in Mexico and was the eleventh of twelve children. After the 2015 Preakness Stakes, Espinoza became the first jockey in history to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown three times.

Answer: The horse that was the morning line favorite won the race in both years.

At the Preakness in 2014, California Chrome was a heavy favorite with 3-5 morning line odds and in 2015 American Pharoah was a heavy favorite with 4-5 odds. Ahmed Zayat was the owner of American Pharoah whereas California Chrome was owned by Steve Coburn and Perry Martin. California Chrome was sired by Lucky Pulpit whereas American Pharoah was sired by Pioneerof The Nile.