The Post takes you through everything you need to know about betting on the Preakness Stakes 2023. Find out what types of bets you can place and understand the odds, as well as some tips and tricks to help you at the Run for the Black Eyed Susans.
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More on How to bet on the Preakness
Most Popular Preakness Stakes 2023 Wagers
Preakness Stakes Win
The most popular and simple bet in all horse racing. You are placing money on your horse to win the Preakness Stakes 2023. Anywhere but first in the race, your bet is a loser.
The win market for a horse race would look something like this:
| Post Position | Horse | Odds |
| 1 | National Treasure | 4-1 |
| 2 | Chase The Chaos | 50-1 |
| 3 | Mage | 8-5 |
| 4 | Coffeewithchris | 20-1 |
| 5 | Red Route One | 10-1 |
| 6 | Perform | 15-1 |
| 7 | Blazing Sevens | 6-1 |
| 8 | First Mission | 5-2 |
Preakness Stakes Place
| Pros | Cons |
| More chance of winning than a ‘Win’ bet | Shorter odds than a ‘Win’ bet |
“Place” is the term used for a horse finishing in the top two of the Preakness Stakes. For this wager, you’re picking a horse that is going to finish first or second at Pimlico. You’re a winner if your horse comes in the top two.
| Horse No. | Odds |
| 1 | 4-1 |
| 2 | 50-1 |
| 3 | 8-5 |
| 4 | 20-1 |
| 5 | 10-1 |
Preakness Stakes Show
| Pros | Cons |
| More chance of winning than on a ‘Win’ or ‘Place’ | Further less rewarding odds than a place bet |
“Show” is horse racing vernacular for finishing in the top three in the run for the black eyed Susans. You would win this wager if your horse finishes in first, second or third place.
| Horse No. | Odds |
| 1 | 1/4 |
| 2 | 8/11 |
| 3 | 11/10 |
| 4 | 12/5 |
| 5 | 3/1 |
Across the board
| Pros | Cons |
| Your horse can finish anywhere in the top three | Less rewarding odds than Win, Place or Show |
Some bettors will place a wager on a horse “across the board,” meaning they are putting a certain dollar amount on that horse to either win, finish second or third.
If the horse wins, the bettor gets paid out on all three positions. If the horses finish second, you win the place and show spots. A third-place finish will win you just the show money.
Preakness Stakes Exacta
| Pros | Cons |
| Increased odds and big payout if your exacta wins | Difficulty is increased because two runners are involved, in the exact order. |
Another very popular bet among regular horseplayers and casuals is an “exacta.”
An exacta requires the player to select two horses that they think will finish first and second in the exact order you place them. A tough bet to win, but a huge payout if it lands.
- Example: 1st Mage, 2nd Blazing Sevens
Preakness Stakes Exacta Box
| Pros | Cons |
| Easier to land than a straight Exacta | Odds are shorter than a straight exacta |
An exacta box wager gives the bettor a little more insurance on an exacta bet. If you are playing an exacta box, you need to select at least two horses. If any combination of those horses come in first and second, you win. That way, you have all your horses covered in the order of finish. You have to double your wager amount for this bet, so it’s more costly but worth the risk. Example: National Treasure & PerformPreakness Stakes Trifecta
| Pros | Cons |
| Can lead to huge payouts from little stakes | Less rewarding than an Exacta because |
Similar to the exacta, a trifecta bet is also quite a popular wager among horse racing bettors and folks who bet only on the Triple Crown.
For this wager, the punter tries to correctly predict the exact order of finish for first, second, and third place in a single race.
- Example: 1st National Treasure, 2nd Mage, 3rd First Mission
Trifecta Box
Like with exactas, bettors can also box their trifecta bets. Meaning, if you select three horses in the Preakness Stakes, and they finish 1-2-3 in any order, you win the bet.
Preakness Stakes Superfecta
This wager is like the exacta and trifecta, but the bettor is picking the exact order of finish for the top four runners in a particular race.
Although not as popular as exactas or trifectas, some punters enjoy the high-reward nature of superfecta bets. Obviously, picking four horses to finish in the exact order is nearly impossible, so the odds for superfecta bets can get quite high.
Plus, plenty of tracks and racebooks offer $0.10 superfecta wagering, which can be more attractive for the novice or casual player to get involved in this kind of market at a relatively low cost.
- Example: 1st Blazing Sevens, 2nd Coffeewithchris, 3rd National Treasure, 4th Chase The Chaos
Superfecta Box
| Pros | Cons |
| You don’t have to get the first four in order to win | Still very difficult and can also become costly depending how many horses you include |
Like with exactas and trifectas, punters can also box their superfecta wagers, which means that your horses can finish 1,2,3,4 in any combination to win.
Why exotic wagers are popular
One reason that bettors enjoy exactas, trifectas, and superfectas is it allows them to have some money on longshot horses without needing them to win.
For example, if you think a horse at 30/1 is better than its odds suggest, you can include that horse in your exacta, trifecta or superfecta and if that horse hits the board, your payout could grow substantially.
How do Preakness Stakes Odds work
| American Odds | Fractional Odds | Decimal Odds |
| -110 | 10/11 | 1.91 |
| +200 | 2/1 | 3 |
As you’ll be seeing fractional and decimal odds when betting on horse racing, it’s best we explain how they work.
Fractional odds represent the ratio of the profit won to the stake. For example, a fractional listing of 6/1 (six-to-one) odds would mean that you win $6 against every $1 you wager, in addition to receiving your dollar back (i.e., the amount you wagered).
In other words, this is the ratio of the amount (profit) won to the initial bet, which means that you will receive your stake ($1) in addition to the profit ($6), resulting in a total payout of $7. Therefore, if you stake $10 at 6/1 and win, you get a total payout of $70 ($60 profit + $10 stake).
Here are the payouts from a $2, with the following odds written in fractional format.
| Horse No. | Stake | Odds | Win (Profit + Stake) |
| 1 | $2 | 2/1 | $6 |
| 2 | $2 | 11/4 | $7.50 |
| 3 | $2 | 17/2 | $19 |
| 4 | $2 | 10/1 | $22 |
How to bet on the Preakness Stakes FAQs
When is the 2023 Preakness Stakes?
The 2023 Preakness Stakes takes place on Saturday, May 20. Post time is scheduled for approximately 6:40PM ET.
Where is the Preakness Stakes 2023?
The Preakness Stakes is held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.
How can I watch the Preakness Stakes 2023?
The 2023 Preakness Stakes will be televised on NBC, with coverage starting at 4:30 p.m ET. It will also be shown on NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app and Peacock.
Where is online betting on horse racing legal?
As of 2023, you are legally able to bet on the Preakness Stakes online in the following states:
Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
How to research Preakness Stakes bets
As with any sports betting, it’s important to do some research before placing any bets. There are plenty of statistics and form websites where you can research horses, trainers, jockeys, previous races, form, and styles. We’ve picked out some of the best sites to help craft your Preakness Stakes bet.
| Site | Content |
| Equibase.com | Race cards, entries and results. Plentiful statistics for all your horse racing betting needs. |
| us.racingstats247.com | Comprehensive horse racing statistics. Covering Jockeys, Horses and Trainers. |
| drf.com | The go-to for all your Horse Racing needs. |
| horseracingnation.com | News and information on US Horse Racing. |
Preakness Stakes 2023 Betting Tips & Tricks
The Preakness Stakes comes and goes very quickly. The post draw happens on the Wednesday before the race on Saturday, and wagering officially opens on the Friday when the race weekend begins. Check out a few of our tips and tricks which can help your Preakness Stakes bets go a little further.
Derby Dominators are Preakness Performers
Given the Preakness Stakes is the second race in the Triple Crown, we have seen many entrants of the Kentucky Derby go on to win the Preakness Stakes.
Some of the Preakness Stakes winners who made the Derby are War Emblem (2002), Funny Cide (2003), Smarty Jones (2004), Big Brown(2008), etc.
Although some punters try to reconsider betting for non-Derby winners, however, successful bettors would often wager for Kentucky accomplishers as they can mostly win the Preakness Stakes and especially in the betting games.
This year, Kentucky Derby’s second place finisher Epicenter enters the Preakness Stakes, catching the eye of many bettors out there.
Ignore the longshots
The Kentucky Derby is a race that is often won by longshots. Between 1999 and 2009, there were three horses that paid off at higher than 30/1 to win, and over that time frame you could actually have made an overall profit by betting on every single horse that went off at 20/1 or higher.
Just look at this year’s KentuckyDerby as an example, 80-1 shot Rich Strike stormed down the home straight to snatch victory from favorite Epicenter.
The story is very different in the Preakness. The highest paying winner ever in the Preakness was Master Derby in 1975, and he only went off at 23/1. For a number of reasons the Preakness stakes isn’t nearly as friendly to longshots and surprises as the Derby is.
The low-priced horse trend has been even more pronounced in recent times. Between 2000 and 2010 there was only one horse that paid better than 3/1 to win.
Look for jockey jumps
There is always a lot of jockey movement before a big race, and given the Preakness is two weeks after the Derby, expect to see some movement.
In some cases, this information can be valuable. For example, if a jockey rode a horse in the Derby and that horse is running in the Preakness but the jockey chooses to ride a different horse instead then that’s a pretty good indicator that the jockey wasn’t entirely confident in the horse he had previously ridden.
The most glaring example of this was Calvin Borel in 2009. After winning the Derby riding Mine That Bird he chose to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness. In doing so he gave up a chance at a potential Triple Crown, so Borel made it clear who he believed was the better horse. He won the race, of course.
