2011 Preakness Stakes Field: Mr. Commons Has Rare Route to Preakness

Mr. Commons, Newcomer to East Coast, is in Contention for Preakness

The Preakness Field has the familiar Kentucky Derby names, as well as those who have great bloodlines looking to capture some of that magic. There are also those that have a history that we do not see every year.

Mr. Commons is one of those horses. In his career, Mr. Commons has not raced outside the state of California. The last horse to do so was Point Given in 2001. He happened to win the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, so that's a big name to live up to.

As for Mr. Commons himself, he also has solid speed and aggressiveness, and perhaps most importantly, his trainer is John Shirreffs, who happened to be the trainer for Zenyatta.

Despite being a horse that came out of nowhere, this one has all the intangibles needed to make a great run at the derby. Does that mean the horse could be an upset winner?

While that's certainly possible, I do find it a bit hard to believe. A third place finish in the Santa Anita Derby is good, losing to Midnight Interlude, but no other races were that much better. He can push in the final stretch, but so can many other horses, so I don't know if I have the confidence that he can pull an upset.