Make long money on Pegasus' short odds By Ed McNamara Special to ESPN.com As soon as advance wagering for the 125th Preakness Stakes opens Friday, they'll be knocking each other over to bet on a sure thing. There's free money out there. Who's gonna beat the big horse? Fusaichi Pegasus will be odds-on to polish off the second jewel of the Triple Crown Saturday in Baltimore, and it's not easy to make a case against him. But the price will be so low that a win wager seems like a waste of time. As Yogi Berra might say, since everybody is playing him to win, nobody should bother. That doesn't mean the Derby winner doesn't have a few questions to answer. He'll be racing on short rest for the first time, which is a concern for his ultraconservative trainer. When asked recently whether the 1 3/16-mile Preakness or the 1½-mile Belmont Stakes would be a more difficult challenge, Neil Drysdale said, "This one. Obviously, the problem here is that it's two weeks (between races) instead of three." Japanese entrepreneur Fusao Sekiguchi's superstar has scared off all but four of the 18 horses he blew away May 6 at Churchill Downs, and three new players are taking a shot. The best of these is Red Bullet, who ran second, 4¼ lengths behind Fusaichi Pegasus on April 15 in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct before skipping the Derby. Not since 1983 has a Derby absentee won the Preakness, but the reloaded Red Bullet has the ammunition to do it if Fusaichi Pegasus has an off day. The other new faces, Snuck In and Hugh Hefner, are automatic throwouts. Impeachment (third in the Derby), Captain Steve (eighth), High Yield (15th) and Hal's Hope (16th) are back, but there are no pressing reasons to take them seriously. Derby also-rans often win at Pimlico, but almost never in a year where there is an outstanding horse. If he stays healthy, Fusaichi Pegasus could become one. He has all the qualifications: speed, the willingness to rate, instant acceleration and the ability to make multiple moves. He's built like a tank, moves like a cheetah and cooperates fully once the gates open. His eccentric temperament never has gotten him into trouble in a race, only in the mornings. "He's very athletic, and he's a very giving horse," Drysdale said. "When you ask him to go, he goes. It helps to have a horse who's very tractable, who stops and starts when you want to and responds to commands. "In the Derby, Kent (Desormeaux) was riding him to go through on the rail, and then he had to tell him 'Wait a minute, we've got some traffic here. We're not ready to go yet.' Some horses, after you stop them, it takes them a few strides to get going again. This one just goes on." If Fusaichi Pegasus repeats his efforts in the Wood and the Derby, everybody else will be running for second. That's the most sensible way to view this race. Concede victory to the favorite and put him on top of Red Bullet in a $20 exacta, or whatever amount you're comfortable with. Then play Red Bullet atop Fusaichi Pegasus in a smaller exacta so that you're guaranteed a decent profit if they run 1-2 in either order. I'd also throw in a few token plays with High Yield and Captain Steve underneath the fave, just in case Red Bullet doesn't fire. The Fusaichi Pegasus-Red Bullet exacta was worth $12.40 in the Wood Memorial. Think of it this way: If you think the favorite is a lock to win, would you be willing to take 5-1 odds on the horse most likely to finish second? That's good value, and that's the way I'll be playing. I love to bomb away with longshots, and I've connected quite a few times with double-digit winners in the Preakness. But you have to pick your spots, and this race isn't one of them.

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