BALTIMORE -- Ten horses might be coming out of the gate Saturday at the 122nd running of the Preakness Stakes, but in a way there will be only two -- Silver Charm and Free House.

These two gray colts from California will meet for the fifth consecutive time Saturday at Pimlico. While it might not be Affirmed vs. Alydar or Sunday Silence vs. Easy Goer, it definitely is a rivalry.

EACH HAS BEATEN THE other twice, but the edge in the series would have to go to Silver Charm, who won the Kentucky Derby. Free House finished third, 31/2 lengths back.

Silver Charm, who is trained by Bob Baffert and jockeyed by Gary Stevens, is trying to become the first horse to win the first two races of the Triple Crown since Sunday Silence in 1989. Sunday Silence finished second at Belmont in his bid for the Triple Crown, which was last won by Affirmed in 1978. Only 25 Derby winners have gone on to win the Preakness.

It has been 19 years since the last Triple Crown Winner, the second longest drought to Citation in 1948 and Secretariat in 1973.

THE TRACK RECORD IN THE stakes event is 1:53.2, set by Tank's Prospect in 1985 and equaled last year by Louis Quatorze.

Baffert and Paco Gonzalez, Free House's trainer, don't talk about their encounters in terms of a rivalry. They respect each other, and each envisions a stiff challenge from the other's horse in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness.

"Of course, you don't want to meet top horses every time, but there's nothing you can do about it," Gonzalez said Friday. "I think he feels the same way."

Baffert also knows what he's up against.

"I've watched him here," he said of Free House. "He's training well here. He's taken to the track."

WHILE BAFFERT AND GONZALEZ have been keeping an eye on each other's colts, Captain Bodgit, who finished second by a head to Silver Charm in the Derby, has been preparing for the Preakness at nearby Bowie.

Captain Bodgit was the 2-1 second choice to 9-5 Silver Charm, while Free House was third at 9-2. Next at 5-1 was Touch Gold, winner of his only two starts this year and one of six 3-year-olds debuting in Triple Crown competition.

The first three meetings between Silver Charm and Free House were 1-2 finishes at Santa Anita. On Feb. 8, Silver Charm won the seven-furlong San Vicente. Free House won by three-quarters of a length in the 1 1/16-mile San Felipe on March 16 and again by a head in the 1-mile Santa Anita Derby on April 5.

While they were racing in the West, Captain Bodgit was charging into Kentucky Derby contention by winning the 1-mile Florida Derby over favored Pulpit on March 15 at Gulfstream Park and the 1-mile Wood Memorial on April 12 at Aqueduct.

CAPTAIN BODGIT WENT OFF AT 3-1 at Churchill Downs, and became the 18th straight beaten Derby favorite. Silver Charm won at 4-1. Free House finished third after going off at 11-1.

The only other of the 13 Derby starters in the Preakness will be Concerto. He finished ninth, ending a five-race winning streak.

Besides Touch Gold, other Preakness starters who did not race in the Derby are Wild Tempest, Frisk Me Now, Cryp Too and the Robert Perez-trained entry of Jack At the Bank and Hoxie.

Wild Tempest is trained by Nick Zito, who won last year's Preakness with Louis Quatorze, snapping trainer D. Wayne Lukas' streak of six victories in Triple Crown races. Lukas rebounded by winning the 1996 Belmont with Editor's Note.

The Preakness will snap a string of 10 straight appearances in Triple Crown races for Lukas. The last time he did not have a starter in a Triple Crown event was the 1993 Belmont.