Preakness Stakes Betting

Preakness Contenders

The field has been lined up for this Saturday’s Preakness Stakes. While a maximum of 14 horses can race, it looks like a baker’s dozen made it through. Only five from the Derby are running: Super Saver, the Derby winner, Paddy O’Prado (3rd), Lookin at Lucky (6th), Dublin (7th), and Jackson Bend (12th).

A Little Warm pulled out on Monday and had been thought to be a real factor in the Preakness. Conveyance and Sidney’s Candy are considered the speedsters from the Derby, not running the Preakness, A Little Warm could have pushed the field to either run faster or run out of steam. Many feel this will be a slow and steady race without such pushers, which is a race perfectly played for Calvin Borel and Super Saver. This one is going to go to the wire for the horses and the Preakness Stakes betting. Which horse would you bet on for this race? Head over to www.sportsbook.com to place your Preakness Stakes bet today.

The rest of the Preakness field rounds out with: Aikenite, Caracortado, Pleasant Prince, Yawanna Twist, Schoolyard Dreams, Northern Giant, Hurricane Ike, and First Dude. Borel rode Hurricane Ike to a win in the Derby Trial but then won the Derby with Super Saver. So he will face his old mount against jockey Robby Albarado.

Of course, Hurricane Ike will be facing both his second and third place finishers from the Derby Trial, Aikenite and Pleasant Prince. Some believe without the fearless leadership of the racings golden boy, Borel, Hurricane Ike will not fair so well. Remember, Hurricane Ike keeps a fairly good record though with an 8-2-2-1, so it is not all jockey related.

It’s hard to talk about who else might take the Preakness because secretly most people want to see a Triple Crown. But Paddy O’Prado, now back on dirt has a decent shot of making a run for it. He does well when not on artificial turf. Paddy O’Prado loves to threaten Super Saver, so it could be an interesting rivalry renewed yet again.


Most think Yawanna Twist is considered a long shot, as is Aikenite though they both have the heart to make a run for the purse. Yawanna Twist’s campaign to run has pushed him out to play with the big boys even though his record does not hold up. Many think Aikenite is not a real contender, but with an 8-1-2-2 record you cannot give up on this horse’s ability to render the field speechless when he comes out of nowhere. Riding on a high post his 2nd place finish at the Derby Trial.

Horseracing is horse racing. No one knows where it will end up at finish line, but for the first time in a long time, there is a reasonable shot at a Triple Crown. Although that word is thrown around quite a bit after every Derby, the combination of horse and rider entering this Preakness Stakes makes most believe this might just be the year. Only time will tell if the dry spell will end and no matter what there is still Belmont Stakes to take on after the Preakness. But Horse racing bettors will have their eyes and their bets focused on the Preakness this weekend.

Preakness Stakes Betting - The Top Preakness Contenders

Super Saver walks onto the Preakness field with the status of Derby winner. Everyone will be gunning for him as the field begins to open up this week. Hurricane Ike is a likely contender having won the Derby Trial with five furlongs at 1:00:40 under jockey Borel.

D. Wayne Lukas has the record for saddling the most Preakness starters at 34, will add 35 with Dublin. Dublin is thus far the only confirmed horse challenging Super Saver after having come in seventh at the Derby. Lukas has won the Vase five times with Codex, Tank’s Prospect, Tabasco Cat, Timber Country and Charismatic. In 10 years he has even had multiple Preakness starters.

The six other Derby runners under considerations at different levels are Ice Box, Jackson Bend, Lookin At Lucky, Conveyance, Paddy O’Prado and Make Music for Me. Ice Box is listed as doubtful, but Jackson Bend is possible. Make Music for Me is rumored to be skipping Preakness to try and halt Super Saver at the Belmont Stakes if he takes two of the three crowns. Who are you betting on racing against Super Saver? Preakness stakes betting is on the edge on their seats waiting for the final horses to come in.

Many riders and trainers have to take into account the type of course the Pimlico is. While some horses like to ride back and make one long run for it, this course is not friendly to that style of run. Most feel you have to be a contender the whole way through to even have a shot. Pace is everything for keeping your chances high.

It’s a strange game waiting to find the runners. So many plot and think before they choose which horses to take. Turf Melody has held his Pimlico work in favor of finding out who confirms from the Derby before making a choice. The status is all about how the field develops and will be a waiting game until the very end.

With only 14 starters, post position will be drawn May 12^th at 5pm. If more than 14 starters are nominated, they are determined with the first seven horses given preference by the highest lifetime earnings in graded stakes. The next four by highest lifetime earning in all non-restricted stakes, in other words those with no rules other than age or sex. The last three by highest lifetime earnings across all races.

Machowsky does not like the confusing nature of who gets in. With a horse, Caracortado, running well right now, he wants the chance to take on Pimlico but the confusing nature of how you get in might not allow for him to run. The way Caracortado is running they believe it is his best chance to win. They would love the chance to give Super Saver a run for his money, and Preakness Stakes Bettors would too. Are you ready to bet on the Preakness? Get over to www.sportsbook.com and place you Preakness bet now.

Preakness Stakes Betting - Preakness History

Horse racing reeks of tradition and Preakness Stakes (known as “The Preakness”) is no exception. Taking place in Maryland, the Preakness has been the middle stop for a shot the Triple Crown since 1931. Before that time, there was not consistency in when the races ran. Preakness Stakes was actually held on the same day as the Derby twice and Belmont Stakes once. The first true winner of the triple crown, Sir Barton, won in 1919 and ran the Preakness a mere four days after the Derby. The Triple Crown had not been named yet, but he is considered the first winner.

The Preakness Stakes is run at Pimlico Race Course, the second oldest racetrack in the nation. It opened on October 25, 1870, and yes, Seabiscuit ran here. Built on a proposition made by Maryland’s governor Oden Bowie. He got racing friends to agree to race in two years time some of their horses who were currently just yearlings. While Saratoga and the American Jocky Club bid for the event, Bowie promised a model racetrack in Baltimore, and so Pimlico Race Course was born. And Preakness Stakes betting has been growing ever since.

Originally built on 70 acres, the property has since expanded to 140 acres overlooking Jones Falls in Baltimore. The winner of the inaugural race was Milton Stanford’s Preakness out of seven horses. In 1894 the Preakness was ran at Gravesend in Brooklyn. It stayed out of Pimlico until 1908 when it returned to its home field permanently. Its distance of 1 and 3/16 miles was set in 1925.

Tiffanys, created the vase given to the winner, the Woodlawn Vase, in 1860. In 1983 it was assessed at a value of $1 million dollars making it the most valuable trophy in American sports. The vase would live with the winner, starting in 1917, until the next race until 1953. When Native Dancer won, Vanderbilt’s wife decided she did not want the immense responsibility so now the winning owner is given a $30,000 sterling replica to keep while the real one stays in the Baltimore Museum of Art. It is brought to Pimlico field under guard for the annual running.

The Woodlawn Vase had another interesting storage place at one point, buried in Woodlawn. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the Preakness was halted. Everyone was fearful the Vase would be melted down and turned into shot. They buried it until 1866 when the race started rolling again, much to the relief of Preakness Stakes betting.

The winner also receives a blanket of Black-Eyed Susans, the state flower of Maryland. This 18x90 inch blanket takes many days to create, but it is not made of Black-Eyed Susans. These flowers do not bloom in Maryland until June, so instead they begin with 80 bunches of Viking daisies. The centers of the daisies are then daubed with black lacquer to give them the correct coloring.

Another tradition is the painting of the weather vane. As soon as the Preakness has been declared, a painter goes to the top of the Old Clubhouse copula to change the weather vane. The colors of the winner’s silks are painted on jockey and horse and will stay until the race is run again. This tradition began in 1909 after the original weather vane was taken down by lightning; that is when the first horse and rider vane appeared at the Preakness.

While the race has been run on Saturday since 1931, it has been run on every other day of the week except Sunday. In the 90’s, Pat Day set a record by winning the Preakness three times in a row. He has catalogued five Preakness wins, which puts him in a distant second place. Eddie Arcaro won 17 Preakness titles.

Many will soon be able to follow the story of Secretariat via the new film coming out, but what should be known right now is he was the first horse to win the Triple Crown in a quarter of a century (1973). After Secretariat only two more horses won the crown, Seattle Slew in ’77 and Affirmed in ’78. At this point the Triple Crown has gone unclaimed since 1978, making it a 32-year dry spell. 11 horses have won at the Derby and the Preakness but lost at the Belmont Stakes since 1978. All horse owners and betters are looking to end this drought; some think Super Saver might do it.

This year marks the 135^th running of the Preakness Stakes. As the middle event, it tends to be overlooked by the casual horse observer. The Derby sets the bar and the Belmont determines the finish, but if you don’t win at the Preakness you can’t take the crown. The elusive Triple Crown has almost become something of a holy grail in horse racing. Never before has there been such a long patch with no winner. Some say it can never be done again. The only way it can be different in 2010 is if Super Saver wins the Preakness, all eyes will be on him. As a Preakness Stakes bettor, who are you wagering on? Place your bets at www.sportsbook.com the king of Preakness Stakes betting.

Preakness Stakes Betting - Famous Preakness Horses

There have been a number of famous horses to grace the Preakness. It becomes a question of what makes one great. Is it merely their own wins or that of their children? Is it their ability to win at particular races or all races? Is it their ability to satisfy the Preakness Race bettors?

Man O’War is a name known even outside of racing circles. He set a high bar having in 21 starts, 20 wins and only 1 second place. He set multiple records, breaking them often by multiple seconds. While many believe his life as a sire was mismanaged, they had him breeding with his own mares he did produce War Admiral, a Triple Crown winner.

Who can forget Secretariat? The year Secretariat won the Triple Crown, 1973, he set course records at both the Derby and the Preakness, not to mention a world record at Belmont Stakes, winning by 31 lengths. His record for 1 ½ miles is still not broken. The first Triple Crown winner in the era of television horse racing, CBS hardly had a lens that could catch the distance between Secretariat and the second place horse, putting every Horse bettor on the edge of their seats.

Seattle Slew remains the only undefeated Triple Crown winner. Now, he did come in second in two races and unplaced in one, but those were after his big win. Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown with an amazing 9-0 record. He continued to race through medical problems, stilling winning almost every time.

Affirmed, the last Triple Crown winner, 1978, came from a long line of winners. The great-great grandson of War Admiral, and the great-great-great grandson of Man O’War great things were expected of him. This horse had his very own rival in Alydar. He met Alydar 10 times. In the Triple Crown races, Affirmed help Alydar become the only horse to come in second in all those races, a sort of Triple Crown of his own.

War Emblem won the Preakness after having won the Derby and was favored to take the Triple Crown. But a stumble at the beginning of Belmont destroyed his chances. As a particularly choosey horse and irritable to boot, he was not able to win after getting behind. He pushed to hard and lost steam at the end. His attitude continues through the breeding process, as he will only breed with chestnut colored mares.

And finally, Rachel Alexandra. The first filly to win the Preakness in 85 years. Ridden by a man who won the Derby, she had not been so lucky there. The Preakness proved to be her chance to shine as she beat the odds and took the win away from Mine That Bird, who came in a close second. This upset was a sweet victory for the filly. Flush with history, and a long list of legendary winners makes Preakness stakes betting an event in itself. Get over to www.sportsbook.com now to join in the Preakness betting action.

Preakness Stakes Betting - Can Super Saver Win the Triple Crown?

Does Super Saver have what it takes to win the Triple Crown? His jockey, Calvin Borel, certainly thinks so. As one of the oldest jockeys in the field and only one of three jockeys to have won the Derby past the age of 40 let alone win his first Derby at 40, Borel should know he defies the odds. Preakness stakes betting is keeping a keen eye in Super Saver.

Borel’s made headlines for a number of things, not the least being when he knocked his former horse out of the running for a Triple Crown by running a different horse at the Preakness after having won the Derby. Even more shocking, when he won the Preakness with Rachel Alexandra it was the first filly to win that race in 85 years. No jockey had ever given up a Derby winning mount. But this year he is sticking with his stead.

With there being a 32-year dry spell, no Triple Crowns since 1978, some doubt modern horse racing will allow for it. Borel believes in his abilities and he believes in Super Saver. Borel has accomplished a number of firsts. Winning a Triple Crown at 42 would make him the oldest to accomplish the feat. Already present during many of racings biggest moments, Borel would love to add this to his list of achievements.

Before gazing ahead to the Belmont Stakes, let’s take a moment to realize this would be the first ever double back-to-back wins at the Derby and the Preakness. Given the great history of both races, those odds seem pretty long. They odds are only shortened by a great horse and a great jockey. For years people have questioned which matters more. Borel would be the first to tell you, much like Lance Armstrong, it takes a team to win in racing.

Super Saver has the strength to take it all the way. If Borel can continue to ride the rail with his past success the Preakness might be another win for the pair. It is hard to tell what fairs best at any one track, but his plan of action has led him to wins that people doubted were possible. At this point you kind of have to believe in the jockey who stayed under the radar for 20 years and now is making headlines consistently. One of his trainers, Todd Pletcher says, “Calvin Borel is a great rider anywhere he goes. He gets along with this colt really well.” The team hope that means a win at Preakness and Belmont Stakes. No matter what, Borel has placed himself firmly in the history books. As a Preakness Horse bettor are you betting on Super Saver? Head over to www.sportsbook.com and place your Preakness bet now, it’s where everybody bets.