The 2025 Preakness Stakes will be held on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course, with post time scheduled for 7:01 p.m. ET. Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty is bypassing the second leg of the Triple Crown and is likely to return for the Belmont Stakes, but runner-up Journalism was entered into the 150th Run for the Black-Eyed Susans. Journalism dueled with Sovereignty down the stretch at Churchill Downs but ultimately came up 1 1/2 lengths short of making history. However, trainer Michael McCarthy was impressed enough with his recovery to give him another bite at the apple on Saturday. He’s the 8-5 favorite in the 2025 Preakness Stakes odds, followed by Sandman (4-1), River Thames (9-2) and Clever Again (5-1). Before making any 2025 Preakness Stakes picks, be sure to see the horse racing predictions and 2025 Preakness Stakes futures bets from SportsLine’s elite horse racing expert Jody Demling, considering his domination of Triple Crown races.
A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling hit the top three finishers in the Kentucky Derby in the correct order. He also called 10 of the last 20 Preakness winners, including 2023 when he hit the winner, exacta, trifecta and superfecta. He hit the trifecta in the 2024 Preakness Stakes and has predicted the winner of the Belmont Stakes four of the last seven years. Anyone who has followed those picks on sites like FanDuel Racing and TwinSpires is up huge.
Now, with the 2025 Preakness Stakes post positions set and odds on the board, Demling is sharing his 2025 Preakness Stakes betting picks and 2025 Preakness Stakes predictions over at SportsLine to help you figure out how to bet the Preakness Stakes. Go here to see them.
Top 2025 Preakness predictions, expert analysis
Will Sovereignty run in the Preakness Stakes 2025? No, Sovereignty won’t run at Pimlico in the Preakness 2025. Sired by Into Mischief out of the Bernardini mare Crowned, Sovereignty captured graded-stakes wins in the Street Sense Stakes and Fountain of Youth Stakes before finishing second to Tappan Street in the Florida Derby. With Tappan Street out because of an injury, he went off as the second favorite (5-1) at Churchill Downs.
Sovereignty was squeezed inside out of the gates but jockey Junior Alvarado got him settled in along the rail. He was 13 1/2 lengths off the pace set by Citizen Bull in the backstretch, where he and Journalism began moving up through the field. The pair swung wide around the final turn and dueled down the homestretch, but Sovereignty pulled away in the final furlong for a 1 1/2-length win.
Demling just revealed his 2025 Preakness Stakes projections for Journalism, the Kentucky Derby favorite who finished a hard-fought second in the first leg of the Triple Crown. Trainer Michael McCarthy didn’t give official word that Journalism would be entered into the field for Preakness 150 until Sunday afternoon, but he made mention of how well the son of 2007 Preakness Stakes winner Curlin recovered and didn’t think that the two-week turnaround would pose a problem.
Curlin also gave a good effort in his Kentucky Derby run in 2007, finishing third before going to win at Pimlico and then finishing second in the Belmont Stakes. However, the Santa Anita Derby winner was outrun despite jockey Umberto Rispoli putting him in an ideal position at the top of the stretch. He’ll likely have a brisk pace to contend with after Clever Again was entered into the field and he’ll face another dangerous closer in Sandman, who should benefit from running against a smaller field. See which other 2025 Preakness Stakes horses to avoid at SportsLine.
One surprise: Demling is high on Clever Again, even though he’s a 5-1 longshot for anyone taking advantage of Preakness Stakes promo codes. Hall-of-famer Steve Asmussen is the winningest trainer in the history of North American horse racing and he counts two Preakness victories among his 10,000+ wins. Curlin won the 2007 Preakness Stakes and went on to win horse of the year honors and then filly Rachel Alexandra put Asmussen back in the winner’s circle again in 2009 on her way to winning horse of the year as well.
Clever Again is nowhere near as experienced, racing once as a two-year-old and then going on a 10-month hiatus before going wire-to-wire for a pair of wins at Oaklawn Park earlier this year. However, he certainly has the pedigree to win an American classic as a son of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Damsire Galileo was also a three-time G1 winner overseas and those genetics plus the comfort levels of his two wins in Arkansas have Asmussen unconcerned about the added distance. See which horses to back at SportsLine now.
How to make 2025 Preakness Stakes picks, bets
Demling is especially high on a huge longshot who “could be a factor” and will spice up your exotics. Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected 2025 Preakness Stakes leaderboard, over at SportsLine.
Which horse wins the Preakness Stakes 2025, and which huge longshot is a must-back? Check out the latest 2025 Preakness Stakes odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Demling’s picks for the Preakness Stakes, all from the expert who nailed the top three in correct order at the Kentucky Derby and nailed the last two Preakness trifectas.
2025 Preakness Stakes odds, post positions
