Despite the favorite not winning the Preakness Stakes the last six years, the horse with the lowest odds has still won nearly half (73 of 149, 49%) of the time entering Saturday’s 2025 Preakness Stakes. Journalism is the 8-5 favorite in the latest 2025 Preakness Stakes odds and seeks to reverse the recent trend of the favorite’s results in the second leg of the Triple Crown after being unable to win as a favorite at the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago. He’s joined by Sandman (4-1) and American Promise (15-1) as the three Kentucky Derby starters in the nine-horse 2025 Preakness Stakes field, as rest could play a role in determining Saturday’s winner from Pimlico Race Course with a 7:01 p.m. ET post time.
River Thames (9-2), Clever Again (5-1) and Bob Baffert’s Goal Oriented (6-1) have the best odds of any non-Kentucky Derby starter to win the Preakness Stakes 2025. The 150th edition comes with a record-tying $2 million Preakness Stakes purse, so it’s bringing out another talented field of 2025 Preakness Stakes entries. With so much to consider while making your 2025 Preakness Stakes picks, a little expert help can go a long way.
The first Preakness Stakes was guaranteed to produce the largest victory in race history, being that it was the inaugural one, but no one could have predicted at the time how long it would stand. In 1873, Survivor won the first Preakness Stakes by 10 lengths and that stood as the largest margin of victory for more than 100 years. Smarty Jones surpassed Survivor’s mark in 2004 with a dominant victory by 11 1/2 lengths. Funny Cide nearly knocked off Survivor’s record one year before Smarty Jones, but he fell just shy via a victory by 9 1/2 lengths. They are the only three horses to win the Preakness Stakes by more than nine lengths in one of the most competitive races of the Triple Crown. Seize the Grey led wire-to-wire in winning last year’s Preakness Race, and although he never trailed, it was a competitive run as he exited with a victory by just 2 1/2 lengths.
Given all the history, there’s a method to picking which horses to focus on for exacta, trifecta and superfecta bets in a Preakness Stakes like this, and SportsLine expert Jody Demling knows what it is. He can help you make the best 2025 Preakness Stakes picks possible.
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 2025 Kentucky Derby in the correct order. He has also called 10 of the last 20 Preakness winners, including 2023 when he hit the winner, exacta, trifecta and superfecta. He hit the trifecta again in the 2024 Preakness Stakes and has predicted the winner of the Belmont Stakes four of the last seven years. Anyone who has followed him on those picks could be up huge at sites like FanDuel Racing, TwinSpires, and 1/ST BET when trying to figure out how to bet on the Preakness.
Now, with the 2025 Preakness Stakes post positions set and odds on the board, Demling is sharing his picks and 2025 Preakness Stakes betting predictions over at SportsLine. Go here to see them.
Top 2025 Preakness Stakes expert picks
Here’s a refresher on these types of bets from SportsLine’s Jody Demling:
Preakness Stakes Exacta: Pick the first- and second-place finishers in the correct order. A $1 exacta returned $59.70 at the 2024 Preakness Stakes with Seize the Grey and Mystik Dan.
Preakness Stakes Trifecta: Pick the first-, second- and third-place finishers in the correct order. A $1 trifecta returned $183.70 at the 2024 Preakness Stakes with Seize the Grey, Mystik Dan and Catching Freedom.
Preakness Stakes Superfecta: Pick the first-, second-, third- and fourth-place finishers in the correct order. A $1 superfecta returned $749 at the 2024 Preakness Stakes with Seize the Grey, Mystik Dan, Catching Freedom and Tuscan Gold.
While Demling has no quibbles about the favorite status of Journalism (8-5), Demling is building his tickets around Clever Again (5-1). He’s also high on another longshot who “could be a major factor,” spicing up his 2025 Preakness Stakes exotics. You can see his picks here.
How to make 2025 Preakness Stakes bets
Demling has specific recommendations for exacta, trifecta and superfecta wagers so you can cover all your bases at the Preakness Stakes 2025. He’s sharing them over at SportsLine.
So which horses do you take? And in what combinations? Visit SportsLine to get Demling’s picks for exacta, trifecta and superfecta bets for the 2025 Preakness Stakes.
2025 Preakness Stakes odds, futures, horses, post positions
| Post | Horse | Odds | Projection |
| 1 | Goal Oriented | 6-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 2 | Journalism | 8-5 | SEE PICKS |
| 3 | American Promise | 15-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 4 | Heart of Honor | 12-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 5 | Pay Billy | 20-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 6 | River Thames | 9-2 | SEE PICKS |
| 7 | Sandman | 4-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 8 | Clever Again | 5-1 | SEE PICKS |
| 9 | Gosger | 20-1 | SEE PICKS |
2025 Preakness Stakes horses, scouting reports
Preakness Stakes profiles 1 Goal Oriented | 2 Journalism | 3 American Promise | 4 Heart of Honor | 5 Pay Billy | 6 River Thames | 7 Sandman | 8 Clever Again | 9 Gosger
