Making a Preakness bet happens on the third Saturday of May each year. This year it happens on Saturday, May 15th as horses go a mile and 3/16th at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the third race in horse racing’s Triple Crown and features exciting Preakness odds.
Preakness bet numbers normally favor the Kentucky Derby winner and that should be the case again this year. The Preakness is the shortest of the Triple Crown races and occurs just two week after the Kentucky Derby. Despite the quick turnaround, history has shown the winner of the Preakness is almost always a horse coming out of the Derby. Making a Preakness bet first occurred in 1873 at Pimlico. That first field had seven starters and was won by Survivor. The 10 length win was one of the largest in Preakness history.
Preakness history indicates that the winner of the race receives the Woodlawn Vase. The first televised Preakness was back in 1948 on CBS. This year’s race will be broadcast by NBC. Other Preakness facts indicate that the fastest time in the race is held by Tank’s Prospect and Louis Quartorze.
Normally the favorite does very well in Preakness odds. In fact, the favorite has won this race almost half the time which is a huge number. Last year it was Rachel Alexandra winning as the favorite. Two years ago it was Big Brown winning as a huge favorite in the Preakness. Three years ago Curlin upset the favored Street Sense but that was not a big upset since Curlin was the second choice in the betting. Four years ago it was a tragic race as the favorite Barbaro broke down. That allowed Bernardini to win the race in an upset. Afleet Alex was the 2005 winner while Smarty Jones won as a big favorite in 2004. Favorites have rolled this past decade in the Preakness with Funny Cide winning in 2003, War Emblem in 2002 and Point Given in 2001. Fusaichi Pegasus was upset in the 2000 Preakness by Red Bullet.
The Preakness has a nice horse racing purse of a million dollars. The Kentucky Derby winner has even more at stake, as if the horse can win the Preakness he would be alive for the Triple Crown at the Belmont in three weeks. Horse racing has not had a Triple Crown winner since 1977.