2019 Preakness Stakes Odds & Betting Trends

For the first time since 1996, the winner of the Kentucky Derby will not run in the Preakness Stakes, when it’s held at Pimlico Race Course this weekend.

Derby winner Country House is skipping the Preakness due to illness. With Country House and disqualified Derby winner Maximum Security both out of the Preakness, the favorite at Bovada Sportsbook is Improbable at +225.

Improbable is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Derby. He is trained by Bob Baffert, who has already sent seven horses to the winner’s circle in the Preakness. Another win for Baffert this weekend would break the tie for most Preakness wins he currently holds along with Robert Wyndham Walden. Improbable has three wins in his career already and some experts expect the shorter distance of the Preakness and the smaller field compared to the Derby to give him an advantage at Pimlico.

Improbable one of four entries that ran in Kentucky Derby

Including Improbable, there are four horses in the Preakness that also ran in the Derby. The other three are War of Will, Win Win Win and Bodexpress.

From that trio, War of Will, who finished seventh in Kentucky, is getting the best odds at +350, which puts him right behind Improbable. War of Will has been maddeningly inconsistent as he followed three straight wins with a disappointing ninth place in the Louisiana Derby and the seventh place in the Kentucky Derby.

Win Win Win was ninth in the Derby and is a +1200 underdog in the Preakness, while Bodexpress was well back in 13th place in the Derby and a +2000 long shot in the Preakness.

Dark horse Alwaysmining has six straight wins

Three other horses are getting triple-digit odds in the Preakness, led by Alwaysmining at +600. Pardon the pun, but Alwaysmining could be a dark-horse contender in the Preakness as he has won his last six races. None of those wins came against the kind of talent he’ll face at Pimlico, but Alwaysmining did outrun Win Win Win at the Heft Stakes so there is some small precedent for him to hang with the bigger names.

Anothertwistafate follows Alwaysmining on the Preakness Stakes odds at +700. He finished at least second in his last five races, which include three wins.

The last horse with triple-digit odds is Bourbon War at +800. He has won two races in his career, but finished fourth in his last race, the Florida Derby, behind Maximum Security, Bodexpress and Code of Honor.