Preakness Betting Online: How To Bet On The Preakness Online

Yes, you can legally bet on the Preakness online. In fact, it is legal to bet on horse racing online in around 25 states, including Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, Illinois and more. Horse racing is different than sports betting in terms of legalized gambling for reasons that aren’t worth getting into here. The points remains: you can bet on the Preakness online in many states. Here’s how.

Online Preakness betting

BetAmerica

BetAmerica is actually owned by Churchill Downs, the track that holds the Kentucky Derby. They are a legal horse racing betting site and a burgeoning online sportsbook, currently live in New Jersey.

Their app offers Preakness betting to residents of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts New York, and many other states.

You can sign up here to receive a 100% deposit match up to $100.

TwinSpires

TwinSpires, too, is owned by Churchill Downs. They offer legal Preakness betting options in Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois and other states.

You can sign up here to receive a $100 bonus after betting.

Preakness odds by post

Betting guide

It’s the 144^th running of the Preakness Stakes, baby!

The second-leg of the Triple Crown is upon us, and it’s time to see if Country Horse can run it back and move one step closer to history. There’s nothing quite like watching a majestic thoroughbred’s attempt to gallop its way to immortality.

Oh, what’s that? He’s not running? And the top-four finishers at the Kentucky Derby aren’t running?

All right. Well then.

It’s true. There will be no Maximum Security, who initially won the Kentucky Derby but was then controversially disqualified, nor will you see Code of Honor or Tacitus. As for Country Horse, he will become the first Kentucky Derby victor to skip the Preakness Stakes since 1996 because of what trainer Bill Mott described as a cough.

That’s a little bit of a bummer, but the race should still be rife with drama and intrigue, particularly for those planning to wager on it.

There will nine new horses in the 13-horse field, many of which are expected to be contenders.

Anothertwisafate (6-1), Alwaysmining (8-1), and Owendale (10-1) are among the horses expected to make serious runs.

Still, two Derby entrants are generating a lot of buzz ahead of this one: Improbable (5-2 odds) enters as the morning-line favorite after crossing the finish line fifth earlier this month, while War of Will (4-1) is also one of the top favorites.

States where it’s legal to bet on the Preakness online

You can bet on the Preakness online with BetAmerica and TwinSpires in the following states:

• Arkansas
• California
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Iowa
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• New York
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Vermont
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

Type of bets

There are multiple ways to bet on a horse race besides just picking the winner.

Exacta

This requires you to get the first two horses correct.

Trifecta

First three horses.

Superfecta

First four horses.

Super High Five

First five.

Win-place-show

This allows you to bet on a horse to finish first (win), place (second), or show (third). You will win less than the total odds on the horse since there’s a greater chance of hitting.

Preakness post time and TV schedule

The expected post time is 6:48 p.m. ET Saturday and the race can be viewed on NBC. The network’s coverage will begin at 5 p.m. with extensive pre-race coverage.

Preakness weather

The weather is expected to be good at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. A mix of sun and clouds are expected. High temperatures are expected to approach 80 degrees, but should sit in the mid-70s by race time. While the general expectation is that it should be a pleasant and seasonable day, forecasters are cautioning about the unlikely chance of a late-day pop-up thunderstorm.

Preakness favorites

Improbable

A Bob Baffert horse, Improbable was one that I liked ahead of Kentucky Derby, but had a somewhat underwhelming showing. Baffert described him as “a little bit feisty” and having “a bigger engine on him.” Reasons to like Improbable include that he’s a Baffert horse, has the pedigree, and has shown the ability to compete in higher-level races, as he did two weeks ago.

As a two-year-old, Improbable won a $100,000 race at Churchill Downs and also won a Grade 1 race. This year, he’s grabbed a pair of second place finishes, including one in a Grade 1 and another in a Grade 2 race. The ability to win and compete in these races is promising, as is his kick that’s expected to play better in the Preakness than it did on an off-track in the first big race.

Reasons to not like him include that he’s getting a little extra love simply because he’s a Baffert horse, and from a racing standpoint, the chestnut colt didn’t show the speed required to pull away and finish two weeks ago. Ultimately, however, this is a watered down field, and there’s a belief among many experts that Improbable has what it takes to finish this time around.

War of Will

War of Will came across the finish line eighth at the Derby. It should go without saying there’s been much debate over the impact (or lack thereof) of Maximum Security’s interference down the stretch in that race, but some say it cost War of Will a potentially much higher finish. A physically gifted horse that has his trainers and owners believing this time around, War of Will must run from the rail again at Pimlico, which was obviously a hurdle he failed to clear last time out. The good news this time is that he has the potential to take advantage of a sparser field, one that shouldn’t be as congested with some good runners out of the gate. Still, only two horses have won from this position over the last 25 years.

Anothertwistafate

Anothertwistafate didn’t run in the Kentucky Derby after falling short of the points needed for qualification. A disappointing ninth-place finish at Santa Anita back in November raised some red flags, but those concerns were eased after he bounced back with three wins and two-second place finishes. One of those wins, his El Camino Real Derby, punched his ticket to Pimlico.

Perhaps a problem for the three-year-old colt trained by Blaine Wright, who’s running from the No. 12 post, will be that Preakness winners are typically horses that perform well in the Kentucky Derby. While he will need to overcome that trend, again, none of the top four finishers from that race will be at the gate on Saturday afternoon, so the door is open.

Preakness longshots

Everybody loves a long-shot, and it’s easy to see why. Less risk, bigger payouts. For instance, bettors who backed Country Horse at 65-1 odds were probably quite pleased after Maximum Security’s controversial post-race disqualification. The payout was the second-largest in the history of the storied race, but can a similar result happen again? Maybe.

Keep in mind, this Triple Crown season has been historically wide-open, with no true dominant horse on the track. The unusually high-volume of turnover after a wild Kentucky Derby has further muddied the picture, so the possibility for chaos is strong in that context.

Warrior’s Charge

Trainer Brad Cox brings Warrior’s Charge to Pimlico after a pair of wins beginning in March has sprung some hope that the three-year-old can ride the momentum. The concern for Warrior’s Charge is that he’s not a particularly crafty horse in that he hasn’t navigated or had to overcome mid-race adversity or traffic to win. Moreover, he hasn’t run on a track the length of the Pimlico, nor has dealt with elite competition. That said, he’s still viewed as a threat because of his ability to get out fast, outrun, then front-run other horses. It’s possible that limited but impressive skill emerges here to spring an upset.

Bourbon War

Here’s a horse that will need things to break just right in order to win. I know that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement—but here’s the thing—they could very well break just right. Bourbon War should be fresh—he hasn’t raced since late March—finishing fourth in the Florida Derby. Before that, he finished in second-place at the Grade 2 Xpressbet Fountain of Youth Stakes and picked up an optional claiming win. So how does Bourbon War overcome the odds? Pretty simple. Hope the pace is fast, the field spreads out, and that there is an opening to surge late.

Bet on the Preakness with BetAmerica here.

Bet on the Preakness with TwinSpires here.