145th Preakness Stakes Betting Odds

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145th Preakness Stakes Betting Odds

The Preakness Stakes doesn’t have quite the same prestige as the Kentucky Derby, but the second leg of the Triple Crown is one year older than the Derby. The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans first took place in 1873, but it has a much rockier history than the first leg of the Triple Crown. In recent years, there were concerns that the race could be moved or shut down entirely until an agreement was reached that will keep the race at Pimlico Race Course for the foreseeable future.

The 2020 Preakness Stakes is scheduled for Saturday, May 16 at 6:45 p.m. ET. As is the case every year, the action at Pimlico Race Course can be seen live on NBC.

2020 Preakness Stakes At a Glance

Race Distance: 1 3/16 Miles

Record: 1:53 (Secretariat, 1973)

Purse: $1.5 million

Qualification: Three-year-old thoroughbreds

Qualifying for the Preakness Stakes isn't nearly as rigorous as it is for the Kentucky Derby. There are a total of 14 slots available for three-year old fillies and colts in the Preakness Stakes, but the field rarely fills up.

The first way to qualify for the Preakness Stakes is to finish in the top five at the Kentucky Derby. Career earnings and earnings in non-restricted stakes races are used to fill up the field. For the latter reason, pretty much any horse that runs in the Kentucky Derby and wants to come back two weeks later at Pimlico is qualified to do so. Every year, at least three or four who ran in the Derby turn around and run in the Preakness, and often times, we see most of the field in the second leg of the Triple Crown comprised of the horses that ran in the first leg.

A special slot is also reserved for the winner of Pimlico's special prep race for the Preakness Stakes, the Federico Tesio Stakes. Often times, winners of late prep races for the Kentucky Derby, including the Illinois Derby and the Lexington Stakes come to Pimlico for the second leg of the Triple Crown. We also occasionally see trainers and owners have the gumption to run horses who only have maiden wins under their belt against the big boys simply due to the fact that there are so many who are more qualified that simply choose to not run.

Preakness Stakes Winners (Since 2000)

Fastest Times in Preakness Stakes History

The great Secretariat still reigns supreme at the Preakness Stakes, but there have been some times where other horses have challenged his record time of 1:53.00. The closest calls came in 1985 and 1996 when Tank's Prospect and Louis Quatorze ran matching 1:53.40 times to win the Preakness Stakes.

Since 2000, the only horse to come anywhere near the record held by Secretariat was Curlin in 2007, and he ran that race in 1:53.46. Even when the great American Pharoah won the Preakness Stakes in his Triple Crown year in 2015, his time was 1:58.46, though it should be noted that the race was run in a driving rainstorm that day. Triple Crown winner Justify ran the race in 1:55.93 in 2018 and Cloud Computing won the Preakness Stakes in 1:55.98 in 2017. War of Will posted the best time at this track since Curlin last year though, finishing the race in a blistering 1:54.34.

Longest Odds To Win the Preakness Stakes

It's hard to believe that there has never been a horse win the Preakness Stakes with a price of even 25 to 1 on his head. Master Derby is the longest shot to ever win the second leg of the Triple Crown at 23.40. Unlike the other legs of the Triple Crown where horses go off the board at 50 to 1 all the time and occasionally win, the Preakness Stakes rarely sees horses go off at those lofty odds. Oxbow, who was 15 to 1 in 2013, is largely considered to have pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Preakness Stakes history. Cloud Computing represented one of the bigger upsets in recent history as well at a price of 13.40 to win the 2017 Preakness Stakes.

Most Jockey Wins in Preakness Stakes History

Most of the jockeys you see on this list won the Preakness Stakes several times way back in the day. However, it isn't out of the ordinary to see an active jockey go on a bit of a run. The most famous run in recent times, of course, is Victor Espinoza, who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in consecutive years with California Chrome and American Pharoah respectively.

Kent Desormeaux won his third Preakness Stakes aboard Exaggerator in 2016, giving him a span of 18 years from his first Preakness victory until his third.

The record of six Preakness Stakes victories held by Eddie Arcaro figures to stand up for quite some time in the future though, as no active jockey has more than three career Preakness Stakes wins.

Most Trainer Wins in Preakness Stakes History

R. Wyndham Walden and Bob Baffert hold the record for Preakness Stakes victories with seven. The record of seven by Walden stood for 120 years, but Baffert tied the record in 2018 with Justify’s win.  D. Wayne Lukas has six Preakness Stakes wins. It's plausible for him to get his seventh as well, though it's been a while since he's trained a champion three-year old pony, and his options are incredibly limited at the end of his career.

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