Preakness today; Big Brown is big favorite

The 133rd Preakness is at 6:15 PM EST tonight. Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown is an overwhelming favorite against a decidedly weak field. ESPN's Bill Finley writes:

Against a group of competitors better suited to a race like the Ohio Derby than a Triple Crown event, [Big Brown] can regress by several lengths and still beat this field easily. He is the only Grade I winner in the field and only one of two horses (along with Gayego) to crack the 100 mark on the Beyer Speed Figures. The competition stinks.

The only way to handicap the race is to pick the winner of the other race, the 12-horse contest for second place. From a betting and handicapping standpoint, that's a pretty interesting, wide-open event. I've got it down to five horses: Macho Again, Tres Borrachos, Kentucky Bear, Riley Tucker and Giant Moon. I will use this quintet underneath Big Brown in every exotic wager imaginable.

Incidentally, Finley predicts Big Brown will lose the Belmont in three weeks. If so, he'd be the eleventh straight Derby-Preakness winner to lose the Belmont with a Triple Crown on the line.