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Triple Crown Betting Odds: The beauty of the Preakness Stakes is that one horse heads there every single year knowing that two more wins in a row will give him the Triple Crown. Rare is the race in which the Kentucky Derby doesn't run in the second leg of the Triple Crown even though these thoroughbreds really aren't trained to run twice in a matter of just 14 days at two different tracks.
The 2018 Preakness Stakes is scheduled for Saturday, May 19 at 6:45 p.m. ET. As is the case every year, the action at Pimlico Race Course can be seen live on NBC.
2018 Preakness Stakes At a Glance
Race Distance: 1 3/16 Miles
Record: 1:53 (Secretariat, 1973)
Purse: Approximately $1.5 million
Qualification: 3-year olds (colts and fillies)
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 is rarely actually filled up.
The first way to qualify for the Preakness Stakes is to finish in the top 5 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 who runs in the Kentucky Derby who 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 who run 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 who simply choose to not run.
List of Preakness Stakes Winners (Since 2000)
| Year | Winner | Odds | Jockey | Trainer | Time |
|---|
| 2017 | Cloud Computing | 13.40 | Javier Castellano | Chad Brown | 1:55.98 |
| 2016 | Exaggerator | 3.00 | Kent Desormeaux | Keith Desormeaux | 1:58.31 |
| 2015 | American Pharoah | 0.90 | Victor Espinoza | Bob Baffert | 1:58.46 |
| 2014 | California Chrome | 0.60 | Victor Espinoza | Art Sherman | 1:54.84 |
| 2013 | Oxbow | 15.00 | Gary Stevens | D. Wayne Lukas | 1:57.54 |
| 2012 | I'll Have Another | 3.00 | Mario Gutierrez | Doug O'Neill | 1:55.94 |
| 2011 | Shackleford | 12.00 | Jesus Castanon | Dale Romans | 1:56.21 |
| 2010 | Lookin At Lucky | 2.40 | Martin Garcia | Bob Baffert | 1:55.47 |
| 2009 | Rachel Alexandra | 1.80 | Calvin Borel | Steve Asmussen | 1:55.05 |
| 2008 | Big Brown | 0.20 | Kent Desormeaux | Richard Dutrow | 1:54.80 |
| 2007 | Curlin | 3.40 | Robby Albarado | Steve Asmussen | 1:55.05 |
| 2006 | Bernardini | 12.90 | Javier Castellano | Tom Albertrani | 1:54.65 |
| 2005 | Afleet Alex | 3.30 | Jeremy Rose | Timothy Ritchey | 1:55.04 |
| 2004 | Smarty Jones | 0.70 | Stewart Elliott | John Servis | 1:55.59 |
| 2003 | Funny Cide | 1.90 | Jose Santos | Barclay Tagg | 1:55.61 |
| 2002 | War Emblem | 2.80 | Victor Espinoza | Bob Baffert | 1:56.36 |
| 2001 | Point Given | 2.30 | Gary Stevens | Bob Baffert | 1:55.51 |
| 2000 | Red Bullet | 6.20 | Jerry Bailey | Joe Orseno | 1:56.00 |
Fastest Times in Preakness Stakes History
| Year | Horse | Time |
|---|
| 1973 | Secretariat | 1:53.00 |
| 1996 | Louis Quatorze | 1:53.40 |
| 1985 | Tank's Prospect | 1:53.40 |
| 2007 | Curlin | 1:53.46 |
| 1990 | Summer Squall | 1:53.60 |
The great Secretariat still reigns supreme as the top horse who ever raced in the Triple Crown, but there have been some times where other horses have challenged his record time of 1:53.00. The closest times 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. Cloud Computing won the Preakness Stakes in 1:55.98 in 2017, making him the first horse since Lookin At Lucky in 2010 to run the Preakness in less than 1:56.
Longest Odds To Win the Preakness Stakes
| Year | Horse | Odds |
|---|
| 1975 | Master Derby | 23.40 |
| 1925 | Coventry | 21.80 |
| 1926 | Display | 19.35 |
| 2013 | Oxbow | 15.00 |
| 1900 | Hindus | 15.00 |
| 1909 | Effendi | 15.00 |
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 have won, the Preakness Stakes has such underdogs, yet none have ever actually hit the line first. 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
| Jockey | Preakness Stakes Wins | Years Won |
|---|
| Eddie Arcaro | 6 | 1941, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1957 |
| Pat Day | 5 | 1985, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996 |
| George Barbee | 3 | 1873, 1876, 1883 |
| Bill Hartack | 3 | 1956, 1964, 1969 |
| Lloyd Hughes | 3 | 1875, 1879, 1880 |
| Gary Stevens | 3 | 1997, 2001, 2013 |
| Victor Espinoza | 3 | 2002, 2014, 2015 |
| Kent Desormeaux | 3 | 1998, 2002, 2016 |
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 a modern day 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
| Trainer | Preakness Stakes Wins | Years Won |
|---|
| R. Wyndham Walden | 7 | 1875, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1888 |
| D. Wayne Lukas | 6 | 1980, 1985, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2013 |
| Bob Baffert | 6 | 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2015 |
| Thomas J. Healey | 5 | 1901, 1922, 1923, 1926, 1929 |
| Jim Fitzsimmons | 4 | 1930, 1935, 1955, 1957 |
| Jimmy Jones | 4 | 1947, 1948, 1956, 1958 |
R. Wyndham Walden holds the record for Preakness Stakes victories with seven, and at this point, there might reasonably only be one man who can catch him. His record has stood the test of time for going on 120 years, but Bob Baffert is just one Preakness victory short of tying his mark. Baffert has had a number of chances to get the job done with some really good horses, but this isn't necessarily going to be the easiest feat on the planet to get the tying seventh victory considering how many different trainer options are out there.
D. Wayne Lukas also 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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2018 Preakness Stakes Contenders
