Preakness Stakes Betting Guide

The Preakness Stakes is annually held on the third Saturday in May. Rombauer captured the 2021 crown, clocking in with a time of 1:53.62. Rombauer won with final odds of 11-1. As for the “Run for the Black-Eyed Susans” in 2022, the race will be held on Saturday, May 21.

Preakness Stakes post positions and odds

Here is a look at Preakness odds from the 2021 race.

Preakness Stakes payouts

Here are how the payouts broke down for the 2021 race:

Rombauer ($2 bet)

• Win: $25.60
• Place: $10
• Show: $5.20

Midnight Bourbon ($2 bet)

• Place: $4.60
• Show: $3

Medina Spirit ($2 bet)

• Show: $2.80

Exacta ($2 bet)

• $98.60

Trifecta ($1 bet)

• 162.70

Superfecta ($1 bet)

• 1,025.50

Where to bet the Preakness Stakes and race schedule

The 147th Preakness Stakes is set for Saturday, May 21, 2022. Here is more information and tips on betting the Preakness Stakes, and how you can watch and wager on this year’s event.

• Date: Saturday, May 21, 2022
• Time: 6:47 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC
• Tablet, Online, Mobile: NBC Sports App and streamed live on NBCsports.com/live 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 NBCSN begins at 2 p.m. ET and on NBC at 5 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 TVG, BetAmerica and TwinSpires, where bettors in 33 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 first or second.
• 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 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 no shortage of opinions or angles when it comes to the handicapping 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