Our Top 5 Preakness Horses to Watch

We’re a day away from the second race of the Triple Crown and folks are starting to pick their favorite horses for Preakness. It’s a historic year in the fact that for the first time since 1996, the winner of the Kentucky Derby won’t be racing at Preakness. With so much uncertainty at play, we’ve been reading up on which Preakness horses experts are keeping an eye on and thought we’d share!

5 Preakness Horses to Watch in 2019

Improbable, The Probable Favorite

Improbable was a favorite in the Kentucky Derby and he continues to be a favorite for Preakness according to the Los Angeles Times. Improbable placed fourth in the Derby, but 7-time Preakness Stakes winner and trainer Bob Baffert has his sights on an eighth Preakness win this Saturday.

War of Will, The Would Have Been Winner

Debate is afoot as to whether or not War of Will truly had a chance of winning the Kentucky Derby race before Maximum Security drifted into his path. But we chose War of Will as a strong contender for the Derby based on Jody Demling’s prediction and the Louisville Courier Journal agrees that he may still be great horse to watch in this upcoming Preakness Stakes.  

Win Win Win and Alwaysmining, The Strong Contenders

CBS Sports reports that Win Win Win and Alwaysmining are strong contenders for Preakness. Hammerin’ Hank Goldberg, an all-time great handicapper who picked the last two Preakness winners feels very strongly about Alwaysmining. According to Goldberg, winning six races in a row makes him a horse worth betting on.

Bodexpress, The Longshot

It’s not always the speed of the horse, but the skill of the jockey that wins the race and many are excited about the skill that John Velazquez (Johnny V) brings to every race. Last year, Johnny V was ranked sixth in the nation according to earnings and on Saturday, he will be riding Bodexpress. If you watched the Derby, then you might have noticed that Bodexpress was one of the horses that was impacted by Maximum Security drifting into War of Will’s path. According to his trainer and the Paulick Report, they’ve analyzed and have made plans to correct other errors that were made early on in the Derby race. If you believe a Hall of Fame jockey can make all the difference, then Bodexpress might be the horse for you.

If you know what horse you’d like to place your bet on, then be sure to stop in for advance wagering this Friday in the OTB room or come by the day of the event to watch the race and place your bets!

This post was written on May 14^th  at 4:00pm CST. Make sure you do your own research to ensure things haven’t changed!

Header Image from Jay Baker, edited by the PHC team.