We’re back to the traditional horse racing calendar in 2021, which means that just two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, it’s time to line up for the next jewel in the Triple Crown — the Preakness Stakes, from Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course. There was a time when most of the horses from Churchill Downs would enter this race too, but a modern trend has become giving horses more time to recover between races. Medina Spirit, the winner (for now) of the Kentucky Derby, will be back to try for a Triple Crown under the cloud of the results of a split sample test after testing positive for betamethasone, but the next four finishers from Churchill Downs, including Mandaloun, who would get the Kentucky Derby win should Medina Spirit get disqualified, will not be in the starting gate.
Let’s look at the updated Preakness Stakes betting odds for the ten entrants, along with our last-minute wagering thoughts.
Horse Racing News: Preakness Stakes Preview
| Post | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Early Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ram | D. Wayne Lukas | R. Santana Jr | +3000 |
| 2 | Keepmeinmind | Robertino Diodoro | D. Cohen | +1500 |
| 3 | Medina Spirit | Bob Baffert | J. Velazquez | +180 |
| 4 | Crowded Trade | Chad Brown | J. Castellano | +1000 |
| 5 | Midnight Bourbon | Steve Asmussen | I. Ortiz Jr | +500 |
| 6 | Rombauer | Michael McCarthy | F. Prat | +1200 |
| 7 | France Go de Ina | Hideyuki Mori | J. Rosario | +2000 |
| 8 | Unbridled Honor | Todd Pletcher | L. Saez | +1500 |
| 9 | Risk Taking | Chad Brown | J. Ortiz | +1500 |
| 10 | Concert Tour | Bob Baffert | M. Smith | +250 |
If you want to back a Bob Baffert-trained horse who is not under as much suspicion as Medina Spirit, then take a look at Concert Tour, the second betting choice. Before the Arkansas Derby, this was the horse that many thought would bring Baffert another Triple Crown. However, he entered the Arkansas Derby as a -333 favorite but came in third. Baffert’s disappointment was such that he held Concert Tour out of the Kentucky Derby altogether, making this his next race. Concert Tour’s training has picked up since then in terms of quality, so he’s definitely a credible pick to win.
Crowded Trade has some similarities with Cloud Computing in terms of their racing history. They both won their maiden races in their first try, and then both came in second at the Gotham Stakes and third in the Wood Memorial. Cloud Computing followed those results up with a win at the Preakness Stakes, and so trainer Chad Brown, who worked with both of these horses, hopes that the results will follow at Pimlico as well.
Rombauer is a horse that likes to come from behind and charge to late wins, so keeping him out of the Kentucky Derby was likely a wise choice given the wire-to-wire lead that the pacesetters held in that race. Rombauer won the El Camino Real Derby on February 13, earning a free entry into the Preakness Stakes, and if he can take advantage late, he could provide value, particularly in the exotics.
Risk Taking comes in as a bit of a last-minute entry, after his connections scratched him from the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park last Saturday. He won the Withers Stakes at Aqueduct on February 6, but after entering the Wood Memorial as the favorite, he settled for an unimpressive seventh place. It’s hard to say whether his training since then gives enough reason to go for the value.
France Go de Ina is an interesting wild card, even though he disappointed at the UAE DERby, coming in sixth in his last race. Joel Rosario, one of the top jockeys in the business, will be in the saddle, and he could get this horse into one of the trifecta or superfecta slots.
Preakness Stakes Betting Odds
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