2023 Preakness Stakes Odds & Expert Picks for Favorites & Contenders
- Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore is the second leg of the Triple Crown
- Kentucky Derby winner Mage is the favorite, and the only horse competing out of the Run for the Roses
- Is Mage too good, or might a horse who is more rested win the garland of Black-Eyed Susans? See the Preakness Stakes odds adn our expert picks here
There were 23 horses who wanted to run in the Kentucky Derby, 20 earned enough points to make the field, and three were named as also eligibles in case of a scratch. All of the AE’s drew in, and 18 horses ended up running at Churchill Downs. Lightly raced Mage won the roses. Two weeks later, Mage has seven opponents and is the favorite in the Preakness Stakes odds, but his opponents do not include any of the 22 horses who entered to face him in Louisville.
Even without many of the rivals who would get significant support at the betting window, Mage will be challenged on Saturday. Preakness Stakes odds make him the favorite, but not a dominating one.
How to bet on horse racing can be done in multiple ways. Different handicappers attack things in various ways, and sometimes the race dictates the play. Let’s look carefully at the Preakness Stakes odds, and consider our top Preakness Stakes expert picks.
Preakness Stakes Odds
| Horse | Odds |
|---|---|
| Mage | +125 |
| National Treasure | +300 |
| Blazing Sevens | +500 |
| Red Route One | +800 |
| Perform | +1200 |
| Coffeewithchris | +2000 |
| Chase the Chaos | +5000 |
The 2023 Preakness Stakes odds above make Mage the clear favorite at +125, but followed by two clear contenders in National Treasure and Blazing Stevens,
Run since 1873, the Preakness Stakes has been contested at seven different distances. In 1935 it was run at a-mile-and-three-sixteenths, and it has stayed that way for nearly a century. The last two horses to win the Preakness after triumphing at the Kentucky Derby, Justify and American Pharoah, went on to capture the Triple Crown.
Saturday’s feature event is slated to begin at 7:01 pm EST. Weather in Baltimore is expected to be nice, in the 70’s, with a 20-percent chance of rain. NBC will televise the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
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Preakness Stakes Favorite
Usually if you win the Kentucky Derby, you come to Baltimore as the favorite. This year, Derby champ Mage is the only horse that ran at Churchill Downs making the trip to the Charm City. That makes him a significant chalk.
In only his fourth career start, Mage was far back early on in the Run for the Roses, raced wide on the second turn, and had plenty of juice to get by Two Phil’s and hold of Angel of Empire to win America’s biggest race.
Now Mage must repeat that performance just two weeks after his Derby glory, against seven opponents who have had between three and six weeks off since their last start.
Mage has two wins in four starts, with both loses coming to Forte, who was the Derby favorite but scratched the morning of the race with an injury. Mage is unlikely to get the fast pace he used to help rally at Churchill Downs.
Preakness Stakes Contenders
Trainer Bob Baffert, who has won the Preakness seven times, was banned from running a horse in the Kentucky Derby this year and last because of Medina Spirit’s disqualification for a banned drug in his system in 2021. He sends out National Treasure, who following Friday’s scratch of First Mission, could be loose on the lead. That makes him worthy of consideration in your Preakness Stakes 2023 picks..
National Treasure has just one win in five starts, but was third behind Forte in November’s Breeders Cup Juvenile. In January, he finished third in the Sham Stakes, and two months later he was forth in the Santa Anita Derby. Baffert puts blinkers on the half million dollar son of Florida Derby and Met Mile champ Quality Road. Blinkers usually means he intends to use his speed early in the race.
Last year Early Voting won the Preakness for trainer Chad Brown. It was a good decision to skip the Kentucky Derby, with a suicidal pace, and wait for the Preakness. In Baltimore, Early Voting got out well, sat just behind an average to slow pace, rolled by, and held off the late comers.
Brown sends out Blazing Sevens on Saturday among the Preakness Stakes contenders. Like Mage and Perform, he is the son of Blue Grass Stakes winner Good Magic. Blazing Sevens has two wins in six starts. He won his debut in July at Saratoga, and on October 1 took the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes. Since then he has run three times, twice getting out akwardly, and never being particularly close to winning. He was a distant third behind Tapit Trice and Verifying in April’s Blue Grass.
Preakness Stakes Longshot
If you think that there may be some speed up front, perhaps National Treasure and Coffeewithchris slug it out early, that could create value in Preakness Stakes odds. Mage and Blazing Sevens aren’t the only horses who could rally nicely.
Red Route One has faced very strong competition and does his best running down the stretch. A two-time winner in nine starts, he was second behind Arabian Knight in the Southwest Stakes, finished second back of Confidence Game in the Rebel Stakes, and won the Bath House Row Stakes last time out.
Perform rallied to win the Federico Tesio Stakes last month, after breaking his maiden in March. He lost his first five races, but Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has the horse in good form. His last loss came to Mage in January.
Preakness Stakes Expert Picks
This feels a lot like last year’s Preakness, particularly with First Mission scratched. There isn’t much speed. Is National Treasure good enough to go wire-to-wire? If he doesn’t get pushed a ton early on, will Mage be able to rally? He might, and Red Route One is capable too. The race sets up for National Treasure, but it is unclear how good he is. Mage is likely to be closer to the pace on Saturday, and is the most likely winner at a short price.
Preakness Stakes Picks: Mage (+125)
Get more Preakness Stakes predictions from SBD here!
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Dave Friedman has covered professional and college sports for two decades. From ESPN to the Associated Press, Regional Sports Networks, Metro Networks, and many local outlets, he has written about and broadcast major and minor events throughout the country.
