Preakness Stakes odds are on the board for the third Saturday in May as the second race for the Triple Crown occurs. Preakness Stakes betting has been around since the late 1800’s and it is the shortest race in the Triple Crown. Let’s take a look at some recent trends that apply to Preakness Stakes odds.
Preakness Stakes odds history tells us that the Preakness is shorter than the Derby but not by that much. The race is a mile and 3/16th so that does mean that speed is more of a factor in Preakness Stakes betting. Preakness Stakes odds trends tell us that the best post position is #6 as that position has 14 winners in Preakness Stakes odds history since 1909. The next best post position in Preakness Stakes odds is #4 with a total of 12 victories. Post positions #2 and #3 have 11 wins each but it should be noted that no horse has won from any of the first three posts since 1994. Looking at Preakness Stakes odds trends is always interesting but going back too far can be counter productive as the fields were smaller decades ago.
Favorites are oftentimes the way to go in Preakness Stakes odds. A total of 65 favorites have won in Preakness Stakes betting including 2008 when Big Brown was a huge favorite. He was not, however, the biggest Preakness Stakes betting favorite ever. Big Brown went off at 1-5 in Preakness Stakes odds but Citation went off at .10-1 in 1948 which meant he was a virtual certainty to win and he did. The biggest longshot to win in Preakness Stakes odds history was Master Derby who won at odds of 23-1 in 1975. That number right there tells you that big numbers are rare in the Preakness since the longest shot ever to win was 23-1.
When you look at Preakness Stakes odds it is not unusual at all to see a big favorite. Preakness Stakes odds of 2-1 or less have become commonplace in recent years. Favorites in horse racing win about a third of the time but that percentage is even higher in the Preakness. The field is much smaller than in the Derby and the number of horses that really can win are usually only two or three. This makes for a big favorite many times in Preakness Stakes betting.
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