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2025 Preakness Stakes Wagering Strategies

by Spencer Toth - 5/13/2025

Preakness Stakes wagering strategies

The 2025 edition of the Preakness Stakes will go down this weekend, and there is a wide variety of wagering strategies you can implement. Using and sticking to a few simple tips and tricks can maximize your chances of staying in the green on Saturday. The 2025 Kentucky Derby winner, Sovereignty, will not be racing this weekend, which leaves the door wide open to all nine contenders. The short field means it is easier to dissect the prospective horses, and can prove to be one of the most profitable races of the year. Here are your Preakness Stakes wagering strategies you can use to come out on top. 

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Avoid the Favorite:
Journalism is coming into this race as an overwhelming 8-5 favorite to win the Preakness Stakes. While this is the kind of treatment the Kentucky Derby winner usually receives, Journalism is getting the same kind of respect despite finishing second. Favorites have done remarkably poorly in the Preakness Stakes, with the outright favorite going on to win just four of the last 19 races. This is nothing against Journalism specifically, but the short field, 1 3/16 mile race, and the wide-open nature of this race ensure the favorites have consistently fallen short. Four horses are coming in with odds between 4-1 and 6-1, all of which are great contenders to upset Journalism. The joy of winning can overshadow the math behind betting on horse racing, and you must not be afraid of chasing a few medium-longshots at the 2025 edition of the Preakness Stakes. You may win less often by wagering on the underdogs, but the occasional 5-1 victory will more than make up for previous losses if you use effective wagering strategies. 

Understand Your Options and Keep it Simple:

There are no incredible long shots at the 2025 Preakness Stakes with Gosger and Pay Billy coming in with 20-1 odds. The lack of longer underdogs will tempt casual bettors into making absurd wagers, including Trifectas and Superfectas, but these will drain your bankroll more often than not. Chasing massive payouts with small initial stakes is an easy way to set your money on fire, and keeping it simple is the way to go at the Preakness Stakes. There are three standard wagering props you can use, and they are to win, place, and show. To Win is very straightforward, as that is whichever horse finishes first, while Place and Show wagers are on which horses will finish second and third, respectively. Unlike a trifecta, where you need to correctly pick the order of your horses, if you make a “to place” bet and your horse wins the race, you still get paid out. The returns on these bets will not be as large as creative parlay-style wagers, but they are far more likely to hit. Walking away with a small profit after you spread out a few bets across strong contenders will still feel good, even if it will not result in life-changing returns. By keeping it simple and understanding your betting options, you can give yourself the best odds of churning a profit at the Preakness Stakes. 

Don’t be Blinded by Kentucky Derby Results:
It can be easy to look at which horses did well at the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and extrapolate that into your Preakness Stakes wagering strategies. Journalism, Sandman, and American Promise all raced at the Churchill Downs earlier this month. Journalism finished second, Sandman 7th, and American Promise 16th. However, the best strategy you can use is to avoid these horses altogether. Five straight Preakness Stakes winners did not participate in the Kentucky Derby. Not only is this a good trend to follow, but the Pari-Mutuel odds system ensures you can capitalize on the blind faith other bettors will put in Kentucky Derby participants. Being fresh for this race is one of the crucial factors to success, and the sloppy conditions expected make this trend all the more important to keep in mind. Don’t be blinded by the mainstream media’s coverage of the major races. You can often find value by examining contenders' strong showings in lesser-known races heading into the Preakness Stakes. 

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