BALTIMORE, Md. - Improbable was installed as the morning-line favorite for the 144th running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Preakness Stakes when post positions were drawn for the middle leg of the Triple Crown on Wednesday evening in Baltimore.

Improbable, who drew post 4, was made 5-2 on Pimlico's morning line by Keith Feustle. The colt leads a field of 13, the largest field since 14 started in 2011, entered for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness. The race will lack the first four horses across the line in the Kentucky Derby for the first time since 1951. Country House, who was elevated to first in the Kentucky Derby via the disqualification of Maximum Security, was declared out of the Preakness last week when he showed signs of becoming ill, erasing the possibility of a Triple Crown bid this year.

Improbable, a Grade 1 winner at 2 but winless thus far this year, is 2-1 on Daily Racing Form national handicapper Mike Watchmaker's line. Improbable was sent away as a tepid favorite in the Kentucky Derby and offered a mild response to finish fifth, elevated to fourth with the disqualification. Trainer Bob Baffert is seeking his record eighth Preakness win; he is currently tied with R.W. Walden, who won the Preakness seven times between 1875 and 1888. Mike Smith, a two-time Preakness winner, picks up the mount.

Also exiting the Kentucky Derby are War of Will (officially seventh after the disqualification), Win Win Win (ninth), and the maiden Bodexpress (13th). War of Will, who won two graded stakes earlier this year at Fair Grounds, is the second choice on Feustle's morning line at 4-1 following his run in the Kentucky Derby, in which he loomed in third before being affected in his run-in with Maximum Security and flattened out in the final sixteenth. Watchmaker has him at 7-2.

The newcomers for the Preakness are Alwaysmining, Anothertwistafate, Bourbon War, Everfast, Laughing Fox, Market King, Owendale, Signalman, and Warrior's Charge.

The complete lineup for the Preakness Stakes:

Post, Horse (Trainer/Jockey), Morning Line

1. War of Will (Mark Casse/Tyler Gaffalione), 4-1
2. Bourbon War (Mark Hennig/Irad Ortiz, Jr.), 12-1
3. Warrior's Charge (Brad Cox/Javier Castellano), 12-1
4. Improbable (Bob Baffert/Mike Smith), 5-2
5. Owendale (Brad Cox/Florent Geroux), 10-1
6. Market King (D. Wayne Lukas/Jon Court), 30-1
7. Alwaysmining (Kelly Rubley/Daniel Centeno), 8-1
8. Signalman (Kenny McPeek/Brian Hernandez, Jr.), 30-1
9. Bodexpress (Gustavo Delgado/John Velazquez), 20-1
10. Everfast (Dale Romans/Joel Rosario), 50-1
11. Laughing Fox (Steve Asmussen/Ricardo Santana, Jr.), 20-1
12. Anothertwistafate (Blaine Wright/Jose Ortiz), 6-1
13. Win Win Win (Michael Trombetta/Julian Pimentel), 15-1
Blinkers on - Bourbon War, Win Win Win

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