BALTIMORE — Let it rain again on the Preakness. Team Nyquist doesn’t seem concerned.

A driving rainstorm didn’t faze American Pharoah as he splashed his way to victory in the second leg of the Triple Crown last year, and it sure appears like Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist will have to do the same thing in a bid to set up another Triple try in the Belmont Stakes.

The National Weather Service on Friday gave a forecast calling for a nearly 100 percent chance of rain beginning early Saturday and continuing throughout the day, with as much as three-quarters of an inch expected. Temperatures will be in the mid-50s with wind gusts up to 20 mph. Post time for the Preakness is 6:45 p.m.

“With a horse like Nyquist, I’m not overly concerned about the weather,” trainer Doug O’Neill said on a bright, sunny Friday morning. “As far as rain or shine, we’re not going to change anything shoeing-wise He’s going to wear the same shoes he’s got on. We’d just love to have a beautiful day.”

Rain could be a good thing for several of his top rivals, though, especially Derby runner-up Exaggerator, or long shot Cherry Wine. Both have run well in the mud, with Exaggerator taking the Santa Anita Derby on a sloppy track and Cherry Wine breaking his maiden by 9 ½ lengths under similar conditions.

“I’ll be one of the few people doing a rain dance,” Cherry Wine’s trainer Dale Romans said.

Nyquist, with an 8-0 record, won the Florida Derby over a surface listed as good even though the track had been drenched by a rainstorm before the race.