5 horses to watch

Stradivari With only three races on his résumé, this 3-year-old son of Medaglia ‘Oro is looking to follow a similar path taken by 2006 Preakness winner Bernardini. The bay colt makes his stakes debut in the second leg of the Triple Crown. But his two victories have been eye-catching — one by 11¼ lengths at Gulfstream Park last year and the latest a 14½ lengths at Keeneland on April 17. Both races were around two turns, an encouraging sign for trainer by Todd Pletcher. Pletcher is well aware Stradivari is taking on much more experienced 3-year-olds but “from a talent standpoint he belongs.”

Collected

A well-traveled 3-year-old, this Baffert-trained Lexington winner seems to be improving. The son of City Zip clinched his Preakness chance after a solid seven-furlong workout Friday at Churchill Downs. He opened his 2016 campaign with a win in the Sham Stakes and ran fourth in the Southwest at Oaklawn Park. He then rebounded and won the Sunland Park Festival of Racing Stakes and the Lexington.

Laoban

Like Nyquist, a son of Uncle Mo. Based on that alone, who can discard this colt? Laoban was an also-eligible but not get into the field limited to 20 starters. Trainer Eric Guillot has a speedy, front-running horse that could shake things up in the Preakness. In his last start, Laoban set the pace in the Blue Grass despite a slow start but faded to fourth.

Uncle Lino

Yet another son of Uncle Mo? Well, yes. With a leading 20 horses nominated to Triple Crown races, Uncle Mo is racing’s top sire these days with his first class of 3-year-olds. A remarkable feat. In Uncle Lino, here’s a colt making his first start outside California, which has been home base for three of the last four Preakness winners. In his last race for trainer Gary Sherlock, Uncle Lino won the California Chrome Stakes at Los Alamitos on April 30. He ran second, fourth and third, respectively, in the Robert B. Lewis, the San Felipe and the Santa Anita Derby.

Cherry Wine

Dale Romans is looking to pull off a surprise and win his second Preakness. The trainer won the 2011 race with Shackleford at 12-1 odds. Unlike Shackleford, Cherry Wine prefers to come from off the pace. In his last two races, the gray son of Paddy O’Prado finished fourth in the Rebel and rallied for third in the Blue Grass.