Preakness Stakes Expert Predictions and Betting Advice

Uncle Lino Odds to Win the 2016 Preakness Stakes with Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/18/2016

There is good news and bad news as this colt travels from California to Maryland for the Preakness Stakes. The good news is that he has spent the spring racing against the top horses in California - or at least the top horses not named Nyquist. The bad news is that he hasn't beaten them. He's followed Derby entrant Mor Spirit to the wire three times, Derby runner-up and Preakness entrant Exaggerator twice, and Derby entrant Danzig Candy once. So he's been good enough to consistently compete with the cream of the crop but never good enough to beat them.

Awesome Speed Odds to Win the 2016 Preakness Stakes with Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/18/2016

Almost every year in the Preakness there is a horse you need to be aware of - one called the crab cake factor by many. Maryland is really only relevant to elite national racing one or two days of the year. The rest of the time it is a lower-level circuit - a good circuit, but not a top one. When a local horse is entered in the Preakness, then, it becomes a bit of an event - a chance to show the world that Maryland racing has some game.

Stradivari Odds to Win the 2016 Preakness Stakes with Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/17/2016

Todd Pletcher had a disastrous Kentucky Derby - as he so often does. In response he did what he also so often does - forgot it ever happened and moved on to the next runners in his vast stable for the Preakness. Destin and Outwork are on the sidelines waiting for their next assignment, and in their place is a less-experienced but far-more-intriguing runner than those two.

Collected Odds to Win the 2016 Preakness Stakes with Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/17/2016

Bob Baffert is not having the Triple Crown year this year that he did in 2015. Of course, no one else has had that kind of year since 1978, either, so he doesn't need to feel too bad. His lone shooter in the Kentucky Derby, Mor Spirit, didn't have a particularly good day in finishing 10th and now sits on the sidelines waiting for his next start.

2016 Preakness Stakes Field Early Look
by Trevor Whenham - 5/10/2016

The dust has only barely settled, and it will still be a week or more until we know for sure what the Preakness field will look like. We do have early indications, though, and it seems like we could be heading towards a full field - the field is capped at 14 runners in the middle leg of the Triple Crown. Things are so volatile right now, though, that it also wouldn't be surprising if we wound up with a small field - a big favorite can scare off a lot of horses. While the real handicapping doesn't really start until the field is set, we can take a look at what we have so far and get started with our work:

Can Nyquist Win the Triple Crown? Expert Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/10/2016

For more than 30 years as an obsessive horse racing fan there was nothing I wanted more than to see a Triple Crown winner. American Pharoah finally delivered last year, and it was even better than I had hoped. Now, after Nyquist won the Kentucky Derby as the heavy favorite last weekend, people are getting greedy and looking for a second straight Triple Crown.

Kentucky Derby Horses in the 2016 Preakness Stakes
by Trevor Whenham - 5/10/2016

There was a time when we used to see a large number of horses that had run in the Kentucky Derby come back two weeks later for the Preakness. It was the Triple Crown, and horses took on the challenge from beginning to end. That has changed significantly now. It is far more common these days to see a horse drop off the Triple Crown trail entirely or to skip the Preakness and wait for the Belmont than it is to head right from Louisville to Baltimore.

Horses that Can Win the Preakness Stakes in 2016
by Trevor Whenham - 5/10/2016

It's too early to know what the final Preakness Stakes field is going to look like. Based on early indications, though, we have the possibility of seeing a full field of 14 in the starting gate. As in any race, though, the number of horses that reasonably have a chance of winning the Preakness is quite a bit smaller than the number of horses likely to enter. As things stand now, here are the seven potential entrants who are the horses that can win the Preakness:

2015 Preakness Stakes Post Positions with Expert Betting Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 5/14/2015

I felt heading into the Kentucky Derby that this was the fastest, deepest, most talented crop of three-year-olds that I've seen in a decade. So it makes sense that this year's Preakness Stakes features one of the most competitive fields that we've seen in Pimlico in some time.

2015 Preakness Stakes Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/13/2015

The field is set, the horses have arrived in Baltimore, and all that is left now is for us to wait for the Preakness Stakes to begin. By the time Saturday rolls around, this race will have been broken down a million different ways. It's a small field, but it lacks no intrigue. The three best three year olds in the country right now are here, joined by a couple of intriguing longer shots and a few horses that look like they accidentally entered the wrong race.

2015 Preakness Stakes Betting Advice: Live Long Shots
by Trevor Whenham - 5/13/2015

The Preakness is going to be a very top-heavy race. American Pharoah will be a strong favorite, probably at less than even money by post time. Firing Line and Dortmund are also going to be popular with bettors and should both be at less than 5/1. The rest of the field is going to be far less popular. In fact, there is at least a chance that all of the rest of the horses will be at least 20/1.

2015 Preakness Stakes: Handicapping the Pace Scenario
by Trevor Whenham - 5/13/2015

The pace makes the race. If you have ever doubted that that cliché is true you just need to look at the Kentucky Derby. Dortmund set the early pace, and the fractions were far from aggressive. American Pharoah and Firing Line were able to rate off that pace and save themselves. When you give the three best horses in the field an energy-saving early trip and all the room they need to move then you aren't going to have much of a race.

Preakness Stakes Props Odds and Expert Betting Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 5/13/2015

The 2015 Triple Crown horse racing season for the top three-year-old thoroughbreds in the nation resumes this Saturday with the running of the Grade 1 $1.5 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. While bettors will be dialed into American Pharoah's bid to win the second leg of this series after his thrilling win in the Kentucky Derby on May 2 at Churchill Downs, there are a few golden opportunities to try and cash in on the special props and futures that some of the top sportsbooks have released in conjunction with Saturday's race.

Bodhisattva Odds to Win the 2015 Preakness Stakes with Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/13/2015

Can Bodhisattva win the Preakness? No. It would take a miracle and a disastrous outing from at least five other horses in the field. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't talk about the horse, though. He fills a role that makes the Preakness special - the local horse. Three hundred and sixty four days of the year Pimlico is irrelevant on the highest levels of national racing, but the Maryland circuit is home to strong trainers, excellent jockeys, and a proud tradition.

2015 Preakness Stakes Expert Betting Advice: Tips on Maximizing Wagers
by Trevor Whenham - 5/12/2015

One of the things that makes the Preakness interesting from a betting perspective is that it is always different from year to year. You always have the Kentucky Derby winner to contend with, but how impressive that winner is, how strong the rest of the Derby field was, who is coming back to face him again, and what new horses are joining the mix all give the Preakness a different betting look each year.

2015 Preakness Stakes: Handicapping the Jockeys
by Trevor Whenham - 5/12/2015

It’s shaping up to be the smallest field in the Preakness at least since 2000 when Red Bullet stunned overwhelming favorite Fusaichi Pegasus in a field of eight. Trainers are obviously too scared of what Bob Baffert brings to the table this year to take a serious shot at him. Normally at this time we would just look at the most interesting stories among the Preakness jockeys. With a field this tiny, though, we can look at all of the jockeys (odds to win the race are from Bovada):

Tale of Verve Odds to Win the 2015 Preakness Stakes with Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/12/2015

I would guess that virtually no one had heard of Tale of Verve until the Wednesday before the Kentucky Derby. That’s when entries were due for that race, and this horse was a shocking entrant in the race. No one had seen him coming. He was the 22nd horse on the list, and only 20 could run. There were scratches, but they came too late, and he was left out of that field.

Handicapping the 2015 Preakness Stakes Trainers
by Trevor Whenham - 5/12/2015

I usually have to pick and choose the best stories to tell each year when I write about the Preakness trainers. This year, though, we have only eight horses that are Preakness possibles, and two of them are trained by the same guy, so there are no decisions to be made — I’ll just look at them all. Here. then, is your group of prospective Preakness trainers (odds to win the race are from Bovada):

Divining Rod Odds to Win the 2015 Preakness Stakes with Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 5/12/2015

There are three types of horses that typically join the Triple Crown trail at the Preakness stage. The first is a highly-talented horse that wasn't quite mature enough to try the Derby. Bernardini or Bayern come to mind. Next are the no-hope horses, often with local connections, that are just looking to take a shot at a miracle. It rarely ends well for them.

2015 Preakness Stakes Handicapping: Early Look at the Field
by Trevor Whenham - 5/6/2015

It is shaping up to be a much smaller field for the Preakness than we saw in the Kentucky Derby — potentially much, much smaller. All that matters, though, is that American Pharoah is, barring injury, headed to Baltimore and ready to take his next step towards history. Here are the horses he is sure to face in the Preakness and others that are potential foes: