The Preakness Stakes is always one of the highlights of the spring sports calendar. Preakness Stakes odds and a betting guide for the famed horse race in Baltimore is below. Mystik Dan (5-2) and Catching Freedom (6-1) are the current favorites. The 2024 race at Pimlico will take place on Saturday, May 18. This will be the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown.
Update: Seize The Grey won the 2024 Preakness Stakes, going off at 9-1 odds. Mystik Dan (2-1) placed and Catching Freedom (7-2) showed.
Preakness Betting odds
View Preakness betting odds below and click to wager. Morning line prices are now available for this year’s big race at Pimlico.
| Post Position | Horse | Preakness Morning Line odds | Trainer | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mugatu | 20-1 | Jeff Engler | Joe Bravo |
| 2. | Uncle Heavy | 20-1 | Butch Reid Jr. | Irad Ortiz Jr. |
| 3. | Catching Freedom | 6-1 | Brad Cox | Flavien Prat |
| 4. | Muth | SCR | Bob Baffert | Juan Hernandez |
| 5. | Mystik Dan | 5-2 | Kenny McPeek | Brian Hernandez Jr. |
| 6. | Seize the Grey | 15-1 | D. Wayne Lukas | Jaime Torres |
| 7 | Just Steel | 15-1 | D. Wayne Lukas | Joel Rosario |
| 8. | Tuscan Gold | 8-1 | Chad Brown | Tyler Gaffalione |
| 9. | Imagination | 6-1 | Bob Baffert | Frankie Dettori |
Preakness field
The Preakness Stakes draw for 2024 took place on Monday, May 13. Here are the favorites based on the morning line odds.
- Mystik Dan (5-2): The 3-year-old colt is riding high following his victory at the Kentucky Derby. Mystik Dan was bested by Muth in the Arkansas Derby but the Kenneth McPeek horse can obviously flourish against elite competition.
- Imagination (6-1): Imagination was another Baffert horse that was not allowed to compete in the first leg of the Triple Crown. The 3-year-old Colt has won races at Del Mar and Santa Anita.
- Catching Freedom (6-1): Catching Freedom is the Louisiana Derby winner and has three wins in six starts. The Brad Cox horse is the top closer in the Preakness Stakes field.
Preakness Stakes payouts
Here is a look at Preakness Stakes payouts, based on a $2 bet, from last year’s race.
Win
- National Treasure: $7.80
Place
- National Treasure: $4.00
- Blazing Sevens: $5.00
Show
- National Treasure: $2.60
- Blazing Sevens: $2.80
- Mage: $2.40
Here are Preakness exotics payouts.
$2.00 Exacta: $31.80
$1.00 Trifecta: $24.20
$1.00 Superfecta: $72.40
Below is a chart showing standard horse racing payouts for a $2 win bet. Keep in mind these are approximate payouts as horse racing and the Preakness Stakes operates on the pari-mutuel system.
| Odds | Payout |
|---|---|
| 1-5 | $2.40 |
| 2-5 | $2.80 |
| 1-2 | $3.00 |
| 3-5 | $3.20 |
| 4-5 | $3.60 |
| 1-1 | $4.00 |
| 6-5 | $4.40 |
| 7-5 | $4.80 |
| 3-2 | $5.00 |
| 8-5 | $5.20 |
| 9-5 | $5.60 |
| 2-1 | $6.00 |
| 5-2 | $7.00 |
| 3-1 | $8.00 |
| 7-2 | $9.00 |
| 4-1 | $10.00 |
| 9-2 | $11.00 |
| 5-1 | $12.00 |
| 6-1 | $14.00 |
| 7-1 | $16.00 |
| 8-1 | $18.00 |
| 9-1 | $20.00 |
| 10-1 | $22.00 |
| 15-1 | $32.00 |
| 20-1 | $42.00 |
| 30-1 | $62.00 |
| 50-1 | $102.00 |
Where to bet the Preakness Stakes and race schedule
The 149th Preakness Stakes is set for Saturday, May 18, 2024. Here is more information and tips on betting the Preakness Stakes, and how you can watch and wager on this year’s event. Many of the same horses that race in the Preakness Stakes competed in the Kentucky Derby, which was held earlier in the month of May.
- Date: Saturday, May 18, 2024
- Time: 6:50 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC
- Tablet, Online, Mobile: NBC Sports App and streamed live on Peacock and fuboTV
- Track & Location: Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland
- Distance: 1 3/16 miles (9 furlongs) – since 1925
- Surface: Dirt
- Horses: 3-Year-Old Thoroughbreds
- Track Record: Secretariat (1:53.00 in 1973)
- Largest Margin of Victory: Smarty Jones (11 lengths in 2004)
Live television coverage on CNBC and Peacock begins at 1:30 p.m. ET and on NBC at 4:30 p.m. ET. Fans can wager legally at racetracks, simulcast centers such as Off Track Betting (OTB) Centers, and on advanced deposit wagering platforms such as FanDuel Racing, BetAmerica and TwinSpires, where bettors in over 30 states can legally bet on horse races from their mobile devices and web browsers. You can also wager on horse racing legally in the state of Nevada at the hundreds of casinos with race and sportsbooks.
Horse racing wagers and bets
In addition to the traditional “straight” wagers (Win, Place, Show), fans can also attempt to cash big in the various “exotic” pools. Exacta (top two finishers), Trifecta (top three), Superfecta (top four), and Super High Five (top five) wagering are all offered, and cashing a ticket in any of these pools can produce a bigger payday.
- Win: Bet on the horse you think you will win the Preakness Stakes.
- Place: Get paid the place price if your horse finishes in first or second place.
- Show: A show bet pays the least, but you win and get paid the show price if your horse finishes first, second or third.
- Exacta: Predict the first two horses in the correct order.
- Trifecta: Predict the first three horses in the correct order.
- Superfecta: Predict the first four horses in the correct order.
- Super High Five: Predict the first five horses in the correct order.
The Preakness Stakes betting odds at the top betting sites and betting apps are finally determined by the pari-mutuel system at the track which means your potential payout depends on how much money is in the pot overall, divided by how many bets are placed. The odds will fluctuate in the build-up to the race and never more so than in the final few moments before post time.
Picking a Preakness winner
There are many ways to handicap a horse race, and there is not shortage of opinions or angles when it comes to the handicapping of the Preakness Stakes following the Kentucky Derby results. From a beginner’s betting guide to the most sophisticated tools for informed handicappers, there are many pieces of information and betting guides to assist you in identifying a potential Preakness winner and narrowing the list of top contenders.
- Handicapping horses and the races takes much time, research and intuition. Beyond studying past performance charts and horse stats, speed figures, class ratings, tracks and bias, jockey and trainer stats, horse pedigree and even post position, a handicapper has to have insight and ability to find various ways to identify horses that are ready to win. That’s especially true for the Derby horses that are running in the Preakness with just a two-week recovery. You can review race videos, tracks, surfaces or find horses that had troubled trips in recent races. But it’s important to distill information that can help you identify horses that may offer some value next time out or others in good form or improving that can provide value wagering opportunities.
- Races and horses should be backed based on positive attributes and not as a result of who’s the best of the worst. As you study some of the betting guides and training tools, you’ll become better prepared and equipped to analyze races in a more meaningful way. That includes the Preakness Stakes along with the Kentucky Derby and the prep races leading up to the Derby. Understanding ‘how’ a horse has run leading up to a race versus the far less important ‘where’ the horse finishes and ‘what’ time he/she completed their recent races will help you become more proficient.
- Trainer Bob Baffert has won the Preakness a record-tying 7 times (D. Wayne Lucas) including in 2015 with American Pharoah and 2018 with Justify, who both went on to win the Triple Crown.
The Preakness has been dominated in recent years by horses who set or press/stalk the pace, but most of the time those were simply the best horses – like Justify, American Pharoah, California Chrome, Big Brown and the filly Rachel Alexandra. Exaggerator was able to come from well off a hotly-contested pace to win the 2016 Preakness. An improving 3-year-old, or fresher and talented runner like the filly and 2020 Preakness winner Swiss Skydiver can emerge. She came from off the pace to get to the front at the three quarter mile marker, and out-dueled 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic to win the Preakness at 11/1 odds.
Preakness Stakes history and results
| Year | Winner | Post | Odds | Time | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | National Treasure | 1 | 5/2 | 1:55.12 | J. Velazquez | B. Baffert |
| 2022 | Early Voting | 5 | 5/1 | 1:54.54 | Jose Ortiz | Chad Brown |
| 2021 | Rombauer | 6 | 11/1 | 1:53.62 | Flavien Prat | Michael W. McCarthy |
| 2020 | Swiss Skydiver | 4 | 11/1 | 1:53.28 | Robby Albarado | Kenneth McPeek |
| 2019 | War of Will | 1 | 6/1 | 1:54.34 | Tyler Gaffalione | Mark Casse |
| 2018 | Justify | 7 | 1/2 | 1:55:93 | Mike Smith | Bob Baffert |
| 2017 | Cloud Computing | 2 | 13/1 | 1:55:98 | Javier Castellano | Chad Brown |
| 2016 | Exaggerator | 5 | 3/1 | 1:58:31 | Kent Desormeaux | J. Keith Desormeaux |
| 2015 | American Pharoah | 1 | 4/5 | 1:58.46 | Victor Espinoza | Bob Baffert |
| 2014 | California Chrome | 3 | 3/5 | 1:54.84 | Victor Espinoza | Art Sherman |
| 2013 | Oxbow | 6 | 15/1 | 1:57:54 | Victor Espinoza | D.W. Lukas |
| 2012 | I’ll Have Another | 9 | 3/1 | 1:55.94 | G. Stevens | D. O’Neill |
| 2011 | Shackleford | 5 | 12/1 | 1:56.21 | M. Guiterrez | D. Romans |
| 2010 | Lookin At Lucky | 7 | 5/2 | 1:55.47 | J. Castanon | B. Baffert |
| 2009 | Rachel Alexandra | 13 | 9/5 | 1:55.05 | M. Garcia | S. Asmussen |
| 2008 | Big Brown | 6 | 1/5 | 1:54.80 | C. Borel | R. Dutrow Jr. |
| 2007 | Curlin | 4 | 7/2 | 1:53.46 | K. Desormeaux | S. Asmussen |
| 2006 | Bernardini | 8 | 12/1 | 1:54.65 | R. Albarado | T. Albertrani |
| 2005 | Afleet Alex | 12 | 3/1 | 1:55.04 | J. Castellano | T. Ritchey |
| 2004 | Smarty Jones | 7 | 3/5 | 1:55.59 | J. Rose | J. Servis |
| 2003 | Funny Cide | 9 | 9/5 | 1:55.61 | S. Elliott | B. Tagg |
| 2002 | War Emblem | 8 | 5/2 | 1:56.36 | J. Santos | B. Baffert |
| 2001 | Point Given | 11 | 2/1 | 1:55.51 | V. Espinoza | B. Baffert |
| 2000 | Red Bullet | 4 | 7/1 | 1:56.04 | G. Stevens | J. Orseno |
| 1999 | Charismatic | 6 | 8/1 | 1:55.32 | J. Bailey | D.W. Lukas |
| 1998 | Real Quiet | 10 | 5/2 | 1:54.75 | C. Antley | B. Baffert |
| 1997 | Silver Charm | 7 | 3/1 | 1:54.84 | K. Desormeaux | B. Baffert |