Horse Racing: 149th Preakness
Tommy Gilligan / USA TODAY Sports

Named after former Major League Baseball player Jim Gosger, the equine Gosger enters the Preakness Stakes having won his last two starts. But the gray son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist will need to get much faster if he hopes to hit a home run in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

9 Gosger (20-1)

  • Trainer Brendan Walsh
  • Jockey Luis Saez
  • Last race 1st in the Lexington Stakes by 2 lengths
  • Career record 3 starts: 2 wins, 1 seconds
  • Career earnings $292,200
  • Best career Beyer Speed Figure 88 (maiden special weight)
  • Sire Nyquist

Below, we'll dig further into Gosger as part of our series profiling all the horses competing in the 150th Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 17. We'll look back into his past performances, what questions need to be answered on Saturday and analyze how the post draw affects his chances.

Preakness Stakes profiles 1 Goal Oriented | 2 Journalism | 3 American Promise | 4 Heart of Honor | 5 Pay Billy | 6 River Thames | 7 Sandman | 8 Clever Again | 9 Gosger

Preakness Stakes picks Michelle Yu | Gene Menez | Jody Demling | Jeff Hochman

What to know about Gosger

Despite being a 20-1 longshot at FanDuel Racing, TwinSpires and 1/ST BET for the Preakness Stakes, Gosger has some things going for him. He has won his last two starts, including a victory in the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes on April 12. In that race he defeated fourth-place finisher Hypnus by six lengths, and that one just ran a game second to Goal Oriented on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

Gosger also has a more-than-capable trainer in Brendan Walsh, who consistently finishes among the top 10 trainers every year. He has tactical speed that allows him to be placed wherever his jockey sees fit. And, based on a bullet work on May 10, he seems to be doing well entering the Preakness.

But Gosger's speed figures say he needs to get much faster in a hurry in order to be a contender. His career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 88 is the second lowest in the field (only Pay Billy is slower) and 20 points shy of Journalism's 108. Based on the conversion rate of one length for every two points in route races, Journalism is 10 lengths better than Gosger. That's a lot of real estate. 

He also can't seem to find a jockey who wants to stay on him. Gosger has had a different jockey in each of his four career starts. Luis Saez will be the latest rider to hop aboard.

Post draw analysis

After being able to save ground in the Lexington Stakes, Gosger drew the far outside No. 9 post, which may make saving ground in the Preakness Stakes much more difficult. He is projected to either press or stalk the pace from the outside before putting in whatever run he can muster at the top of the stretch.