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After knocking around at Oaklawn Park for the last six months, Crupper will get his shot at the big time on Saturday when he enters the starting gate for the 2026 Preakness Stakes. But the winner of the Bathhouse Row Stakes will face a major class test in the second leg of the Triple Crown. Bet Crupper and the entire Preakness Stakes at DraftKings Racing, where new users who click through our links can win a share of $150,000 with DK Horse's King of the Track promo here:

3 Crupper (30-1)

  • Trainer: Donnie Von Hemel
  • Jockey: Junior Alvarado
  • Last race: First in the Bathhouse Row Stakes by ½ length
  • Career record: 6 starts: 2 wins, 3 thirds
  • Career earnings: $210,665
  • Best career Beyer Speed Figure: 80 (Bathhouse Row Stakes)
  • Sire: Candy Ride

Below, we'll dig further into Crupper as part of our series profiling all the horses competing in the 151st Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 16. We'll look back into his past performances, what questions need to be answered Saturday and analyze how the post draw affects his chances.

Now that you know who's in the field, you'll want to know how to bet the Preakness Stakes on the top horse racing betting apps. Win a share of $150,000 at DK Horse with our promo code. Claim it here:

What to know about Crupper

Just four weeks ago, Crupper was 1-for-5 with a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 68. At that point, getting to the Preakness Stakes seemed as unlikely as getting to the moon.

But then, in the Bathhouse Row Stakes at Oaklawn Park, he was able to dictate slow fractions on the front end (47.65 and 1:13.10) and won wire-to-wire. The victory earned this son of Candy Ride an automatic berth in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

But that performance came back slow, earning just an 80 Beyer Speed Figure. For comparison, only one other horse in the Preakness field, Bull by the Horns, has a slower career-best Beyer (70).

And now, Crupper will go from a race in which he was able to set slow fractions by himself to a Preakness race, which features several horses who like to be on or near the lead. That is not a favorable scenario for him.

The good news for Crupper backers is that he's improving at the right time. Also, he seemed to enjoy the stretchout in distance in the Bathhouse Row, so perhaps he wants to go farther.

But Crupper is one of four 30-1 longshots on the morning line at DK Horse and 1/ST BET, and there's a good chance he will leave the starting gate with the biggest price in the race. Claim our jumbo-sized 1/ST BET offer here to get a $500 sign-up bonus with the promo code 500BET:

Post draw analysis

The post position did no favors for Crupper, who finds himself on the inside of almost all of the speed horses. (Only Taj Mahal is inside Crupper.) Both of his career victories have come either on or near the lead, but since he doesn't have the speed to go gate-to-wire again, Crupper will need to work out a trip under jockey Junior Alvarado from near the front end. And even if Alvarado can find a hole, Crupper will still have to run light years faster than he has before just to be competitive.