Preakness Stakes betting is part of the Triple Crown. The Preakness is held on the second Saturday in May at Pimlico in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the second race in the Triple Crown and oftentimes the Preakness Stakes odds are low. Preakness Stakes betting usually favors the Kentucky Derby winner but there are exceptions to that rule. Last year the filly Rachel Alexandra was favored over Mine That Bird.
The odds were right as she won the race in a tough battle with Mine That Bird. The Preakness is not the Kentucky Derby but it does have some appeal as a horse is trying to stay alive for the Triple Crown. The Derby winner is the one that most people will be looking to bet. It really doesn’t matter if the horse is good enough to win or not as people want to see a Triple Crown. Mine That Bird was a huge longshot winner in the Derby and yet he had single-digit odds in the Preakness.
There is no question that Preakness Stakes betting is different than Kentucky Derby betting. The field is much smaller as the Derby usually has 20 horses while the Preakness has around 10. Another difference when talking about the Preakness is the favorite factor. We know that the Derby winner is going to be a prohibitive favorite in this race most of the time. That can be a challenge when handicapping the Preakness. We can either look to bet the favorite or we can look to go against him. The problem with going against the Derby favorite is that it doesn’t work often enough. Keying the Derby winner in exacta or trifectas could be the way to go.
The goal is to find value and to win in the Preakness. The field is usually so small that finding value is sometimes difficult as you look at Preakness Stakes odds. The situation you want is a Derby favorite that looks beatable but even that doesn’t always work. Last year Mine That Bird was beatable but the favorite was Rachel Alexandra. That race was the exception though. Normally the Derby winner will be the favorite in the Preakness. You will either be rooting against the public because they want to see a Triple Crown or you will be betting with them at a short price. That is what makes betting the Preakness interesting.