May 15 (UPI) — The 150th running of the Preakness Stakes is set for Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.
The Preakness is the middle jewel of the U.S. Triple Crown. Sovereignty, winner of the first leg, the Kentucky Derby, is not running in the Preakness, but is expected to rejoin the series for its final race, the Belmont Stakes on June 7.
Post time for the Preakness is 7:01 p.m. EDT. The race will be broadcast on NBC-TV. It also will stream on Peacock.
Forecasters call for some rain midweek but warm and partly cloudy conditions on race day.
Here are the nine horses entered for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, by post position, with sire, trainer, jockey and morning-line odds.
Photo courtesy of Pimlico Race Course
1. Goal Oriented (by Not This Time), Bob Baffert, Flavien Prat, 6-1
First the good news: He’s never been beaten. More good news: His trainer has won the Preakness a record eight times. Now the (maybe) bad news: This will be just the colt’s third career start. More bad news: He drew the No. 1 gate, so jockey Prat either will have to go for the lead or sit behind rivals and take his chances. The colt has done both. He won his first race April 6 at Santa Anita by 3 1/4 lengths while coming from off the pace, and then won on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs by 3/4 length, leading all the way. Says Baffert: “He is not as fast as these other horses on paper. But I think he is a good horse.”Photo by John Sommers II/UPI
2. Journalism (by Curlin), Michael McCarthy, Umberto Rispoli, 8-5 favorite
He did just about everything in the Kentucky Derby except win. Overcoming a slightly slow start and the sloppy track, he fought to the lead early in the stretch run and yielded grudgingly to the winner, Sovereignty. That rival is not in this field. The Derby defeat snapped a four-race winning skein that included the Grade I Santa Anita Derby. In most of his races, he has waited a few lengths off the pace to make a bold run in the stretch. The question is how well he will bounce back from that Derby effort on just two weeks’ rest. His team waited until the deadline to enter the race, finding enough positive signs to flash the green light.Photo by John Sommers II/UPI
3. American Promise (by Justify), D. Wayne Lukas, Nik Juarez, 15-1
This one got into the Kentucky Derby by winning the Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs, a race added to the qualifying series this year at a track owned by Churchill Downs. His only win prior to that was in a maiden event on a muddy track at Oaklawn Park, and he made no impression in the Run for the Roses, finishing 16th after flashing brief speed. Trainer Lukas won last year’s Preakness with long shot Seize the Grey.
Photo by Liesl King, courtesy of Dubai Racing Club
4. Heart of Honor (GB) (by Honor A.P.), Jamie Osborne, Saffie Osborne, 12-1
This horse spent the winter in Dubai, posting two wins and three seconds at Meydan Racecourse. The runner-up finishes included the Group 2 UAE Derby, which netted him enough points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. Trainer Osborne passed on that chance but decided to try the Preakness largely because there are no suitable races on dirt in Europe. Note 1: The horse who beat him by a nose in the UAE Derby, Admire Daytona, finished last in the Kentucky Derby, 54 3/4 lengths back of Sovereignty. Note 2: Jockey Osborne is the daughter of trainer Osborne.
Photo courtesy of Pimlico Race Course
5. Pay Billy (by Improbable), Michael Gorham, Raul Mena, 20-1
He’s been king of the hill in Maryland, winning four of his last five starts. The most recent win came in the Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park, one of two designated “Win and You’re In” races for the Preakness. Thus, he’s in. Whether he will be competitive, well, that’s another story. The speed figures say probably not. But if Journalism is still tuckered out from the Derby, this could be anyone’s race.
Photo courtesy of Keeneland
6. River Thames (by Maclean’s Music), Todd Pletcher, Irad Ortiz Jr., 9-2
He won his first two starts at Gulfstream Park in January and February, but then was beaten a neck by Sovereignty in the Grade II Fountain of Youth. He returned to finish third, less than 1 length back of the winner, in the Grade I Blue Grass at Keeneland, but trainer Pletcher elected to skip the Derby and give him the added time off for this race. The 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass was his longest effort so far and he couldn’t hold a lead there. Note: The ownership team of WinStar Farm and China Horse Club campaigned 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify.
Photo by John Sommers II/UPI
7. Sandman (by Tapit), Mark Casse, John Velazquez, 4-1
Here’s a late runner who could benefit from a fast early pace, as he did in winning the Grade I Arkansas Derby. That running style, however, lends itself to traffic problems and has contributed to his winning only three of his nine starts and a seventh-place finish, beaten 12 1/2 lengths, in the Kentucky Derby. His running lines consistently show him forced to circle around foes, losing ground. Still, the Arkansas Derby effort was very good, and a smallish field here could lessen traffic woes.Photo courtesy of Coady Photography
8. Clever Again (by American Pharoah), Steve Asmussen, Jose Ortiz, 5-1
Trainer Asmussen sent this colt out for the first time in April 2024 at Keeneland. He finished second in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race and wasn’t seen again until Feb. 23, when he roared home first by 3 1/2 lengths in a 1 1/16-mile maiden race at Oaklawn Park. He backed that up with a 4-length win in the Hot Springs Stakes on March 30 — the other “Win and You’re In” for the Preakness. His top speed figure is second only in this field to Journalism. Don’t trust that statistic, as it was set while loose on the lead against lesser rivals. But if he goes for it and no one challenges, who knows?Photo courtesy of Keeneland
9. Gosger (by Nyquist), Brendan Walsh, Luis Saez, 20-1
He took two tries to find the winner’s circle this winter in Florida, and then shipped north to win the Grade III Lexington Stakes at Keeneland. That wasn’t enough to qualify him for the Derby, so here he is in the outside gate for the Preakness, looking at long odds. It’s certainly not impossible that he could be a pace factor or make a bid in the stretch, but he would have to show marked improvement to impact the outcome.
