There will be no Triple Crown winner in 2025.
After Sovereignty won the Kentucky Derby earlier this month, trainer Bill Mott pulled the horse from the Preakness. The move assures that at least one leg of the three famed horse races will be won by another horse this year.
Without Sovereignty among the nine horses racing on Saturday, bettors will have a new favorite to win this year’s race at Baltimore’s Pimlico Park. As of Wednesday morning, Sandman – with 2023 winning jockey John Velazquez – was the favorite, owning 4-to-1 odds to win the second leg of the Triple Crown.
Plenty of horses have similar odds as bettors begin placing their bets. Which top horses should bettors consider in this year’s Preakness? We’ll cover our top three bets and one long-shot winner for Saturday’s premier race.
Jockey Jose Ortiz will ride one of the favorites in this race as Clever Again enters with 5-to-1 odds. Ortiz has won the Preakness before, claiming a victory in 2022 while riding Early Voting. This year, the jockey hopes to deliver trainer Steve Asmussen’s third Preakness win with this incredible horse.
Clever Again has a strong pedigree to boot. The horse’s sire is American Pharoah, a Triple Crown winner in 2015. While American Pharoah’s offspring have won notable races, none have won any leg of the Triple Crown. Bettors should expect Clever Again to buck the trend, winning the Preakness Stakes on Saturday.
Journalism, the Kentucky Derby runner-up, is a strong favorite to win the race. Trainer Michael W. McCarthy has won the Preakness before, earning a 2021 victory with Rombauer despite entering the race with 11-to-1 odds.
The writing on the wall that keeps Journalism from winning could be his jockey. Italian Umberto Rispoli is a 20-year veteran, but he’s never won any of the Triple Crown races before. Bettors should expect that trend to continue despite Journalism’s father, Curlin, having produced multiple winners in horse racing’s biggest competitions.
No post position has produced more first-place finishes than the sixth spot, winning an incredible 12 percent of the races entered. That’s where River Thames is slotted this year, and there’s reason to believe this horse will have a strong showing.
First, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. is one of the most decorated riders in the race. Since 2011, he’s posted over 120 major victories, including 19 in the Breeders’ Cup. He’s also a two-time winner of the Belmont Stakes.
The second reason is this horse’s career highlight, having finished second to Sovereignty in the Fountain of Youth Stakes. While River Thames has a lot pointing to a potential upset victory, bettors should wager that this horse will show instead.
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has won the Preakness seven times over the last 45 years, including last year’s winner Seize the Grey. Now, American Promise could become his eighth horse to do so, his second time winning the race back-to-back during his illustrious career.
Justify sired American Promise, but none of the eight notable offspring from this Triple Crown have won any of the big three races. Jockey Nik Juarez has won more than 1,000 career races, but leading American Promise to victory would be the first time he’s won a Triple Crown competition.
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Earnest is a 25-year veteran of the newspaper industry. He's spent the majority of his early years working as a sports reporter and editor. He made the move back to the digital world in 2022, joining EatWatchBet as a senior writer. Ernie covers college football betting, fantasy football, and NFL betting for EatWatchBet.