The 150th running of the Preakness Stakes (Grade I), the second jewel of the Triple Crown, is set for Saturday, May 17, 2025 at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.

When is the Preakness Stakes?

The Preakness Stakes is on Saturday, May 17, 2025

Where is the Preakness Stakes?

The Preakness Stakes is raced at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Maryland

When is the field drawn for the Preakness Stakes?

Post positions are scheduled to be drawn Monday, May 12 at Pimlico.

Where can I bet and watch the Preakness Stakes?

Wager and watch the Preakness Stakes via your OTB player account with OffTrackBetting.com or just watch the race live on TV with NBC with a post time of 6:45 p.m. ET.

Sovereignty to skip Preakness, target Belmont Stakes

May 6 - Sovereignty, the Kentucky Derby winner, will skip the Preakness Stakes on May 17 and point to the 2025 Belmont Stakes on June 7 at Saratoga, according to a release from the Pimlico press department.

"We received a call today from trainer Bill Mott that Sovereignty will not be competing in the Preakness," Mike Rogers, the executive vice president of 1/ST Racing, said in a release. "Bill informed us they would point toward the Belmont Stakes.

Rodriguez Out Of Preakness Stakes With Foot Issue

May 9 - Wood Memorial (G2) winner Rodriguez will not compete in the Preakness Stakes, reports the Daily Racing Form, due to concerns over a lingering hoof issue. The issue caused Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert to scratch the colt from the Kentucky Derby last week, and now it will keep Rodriguez out of the second jewel of the Triple Crown.

D. Wayne Lukas Trained American Promise Preps For 150th Preakness Stakes

May 7 - When Nik Juarez rides American Promise in the 150th Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course May 17, it will be the 31-year-old Marylander's first mount in his home state's biggest race.

"It's a dream come true for every rider to ride the Derby," said Juarez, who comes from a longtime Maryland racing family. "For me, I'm super-excited to ride the Preakness, to be home at Old Hilltop, Pimlico, lots of good memories there. It's another dream come true."

Juarez, who grew up in Westminster, north of Baltimore, shifted circuits over the years from Maryland to New Jersey-Florida and then to Arkansas for the past few winters. He began riding for seven-time Preakness winner D. Wayne Lukas at Oaklawn Park, which led to Juarez traveling to Colonial Downs to ride American Promise for the first time in the Virginia Derby. After a 7 ¾-length victory, Juarez was rewarded with his first Kentucky Derby (G1) mount. If that 16th-place outcome was disappointing, Juarez is undaunted going into the 1 3/16-mile Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

"American Promise was able to show us he has the speed, that size, and he really won going away at Colonial Downs," Juarez said Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs, where he is riding this spring at the suggestion of his agent, Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens. "The Kentucky Derby was awesome. Just being here in Louisville, being around 'The Coach,' seeing him in his element, to be a part of his team was really amazing. And being represented by Gary Stevens, it was a dream come true."

Of course, the actual running of the Derby can at times be more akin to a nightmare.

"It was a bit of a dogfight," Juarez acknowledged. "We had Citizen Bull, who broke outward. Two horses to my inside were impeded. I had to make a trip for American Promise the best way I could. Luckily, getting into that first turn, it was where we wanted to be, and he was able to avoid most of that trouble. There were many variables. It's the Kentucky Derby, you're dealing with that many horses. I just think he got a lot out of the race, and he's still American Promise."

American Promise had another scheduled walk day before he resumes training Thursday.

Journalism, the Kentucky Derby runner-up and beaten favorite, returned to the track Wednesday, jogging once around Churchill Downs' mile oval under exercise rider Marc Witkowski. Justin Curran, who heads trainer Michael McCarthy's Louisville operation, said the Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner will gallop Thursday.

"He seemed happy. He came out of his race well," Curran said. "Just like he's bounced out of every race. The rider is happy. And if the rider is happy, everybody else is happy."

Journalism's Preakness status is still pending.

WinStar Farm LLC, CHC Inc., Pantofel Stable LLC and Wachtel Stable's River Thames, who was withheld from the Kentucky Derby while his connections zeroed in on the Preakness, has pleased his Hall of Fame trainer, Todd Pletcher, with his preparation for the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course.

"He's doing well. He galloped well this morning and is scheduled to breeze on Saturday at Belmont," Pletcher said. "I'm happy with his progress."

River Thames kicked off his career by winning his first two starts by a combined 11 ¼ lengths before the son of Maclean's Music came up a neck short of holding off Sovereignty while finishing second in the March 1 Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream following a wide trip. River Thames again lost valuable ground in the Blue Grass (G1), in which he finished third, beaten by less than a length by winner Burnham Square.

"He's run well in every start. The tough beat in the Fountain of Youth looks even stronger after Sovereignty's performance in the Derby," Pletcher said. "He's held his best form. He's run well every time. We're hoping maybe by bringing in a fresh horse, it will give us a little bit of an advantage."

Irad Ortiz Jr., who was aboard for the Blue Grass, has the return call on River Thames

Jim and Claire Limited's Heart of Honor, who finished second in the April 5 Lexington (G3) at Keeneland before shipping back to trainer Jamie Osborne's Lambourn, England stable, is scheduled to ship back to the U.S., where he will quarantine at Churchill Downs before vanning to Pimlico Race Course Monday. The 3-year-old son of Honor A.P. is scheduled to run in the 150th Preakness Stakes..

Osborne is no stranger to competing in major U.S. stakes, having campaigned Toast of New York stateside in 2014. The Thewayyouare gelding, who captured the UAE Derby (G2) at Meydan Race Course that year, finished second in both the Del Mar Classic (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita. Toast of New York returned four years later to finish second in the 2018 Lukas Classic (G2) at Churchill.

Do Heart of Honor and Toast of New York share any similarities?

"If you asked me that three or four months ago, I'd say, 'No.' Other than they are both big, scopey, good-looking, good-actioned horses, Heart of Honor didn't have Toast's strength," Osborne said. "But I say he has now. He's just thriving at the right time. I suppose when Toast won the UAE Derby, he was a little bit of a shell and by the time we got to the Breeders' Cup Classic, he had changed and just looked like a monster. This horse now has probably done that change a little bit earlier than Toast. The similarities are: they have great frames and they're strong powerful horses."

Osborne's daughter Saffie, who was aboard Heart of Honor for the UAE Derby, has the return call for the Preakness.

RKTN Racing's Pay Billy, who earned an automatic berth with his victory in the April 19 Federico Tesio at Laurel Park, is scheduled to put in his final work for the Preakness Thursday morning at Delaware Park.

Trainer Mike Gorham indicated Pay Billy's regular rider, jockey Raul Mena, will be up for the work and will also have the mount in the Preakness.

"I breezed him last Saturday just real easy, but tomorrow is going to be his real final serious work," Gorham said. "Probably a good half and gallop out strong. He's been training good, galloping good all week long and acting good. Everything's going forward."

The Preakness will be the first Triple Crown race for Gorham, a multiple graded-stakes winning trainer who has won 1,443 races since 1985. A former assistant to leading New England conditioner Bruce Smith, he has been a fixture in the Mid-Atlantic region for decades.

A native of Canton, Mass., the 61-year-old Gorham's best horse was Grade 1-winning millionaire mare Mandy's Gold, who won or placed in 21 of 24 career starts and whose four graded triumphs included the 2003 Pimlico Breeders' Cup Distaff Handicap (G3). Gorham's last graded win was the 2007 Swale (G2) at Gulfstream Park with Adore the Gold.

"I've run in Maryland for a lot of years and the Mid-Atlantic for a long time. To me, going to Pimlico is like a home game for us. We're there all the time and a few different times I've even been stabled there with horses. We know the area," he said. "It's great. We all try to get good horses and get into these big races. Now we're in one, so we'll try to make the best of it."

Wood Memorial (G2) winner Rodriguez had a routine gallop at Churchill Downs Wednesday morning. Trainer Bob Baffert plans to work the Authentic colt this weekend. The record eight-time Preakness winner notified the Pimlico racing office that Rodriguez and possibly as-yet-to-be determined horses for other stakes would arrive in Baltimore on Monday.

Clever Again, winner of Oaklawn Park's Hot Springs Stakes at a two-turn mile in his last start, had a walk day Wednesday at Churchill after working five-eighths of a mile in 1:01.60 Tuesday. Clever Again is trained by two-time Preakness winner Steve Asmussen.

Lexington winner Gosger galloped Wednesday morning at Keeneland and remains on schedule to work Friday or Saturday, after which a Preakness decision will be made, trainer Brendan Walsh said.

UAE Derby Runner-Up Heart of Honor on Course for Preakness Run

May 6 - British trainer Jamie Osborne reported from his Lambourn stable Tuesday that UAE Derby (G2) runner-up Heart of Honor is scheduled to ship to the U. S. Thursday to begin preparations for a start in the 150th Preakness Stakes (G1) May 17 at Pimlico Race Course.

"He has to quarantine at Churchill. It's a bit of a pain," said Osborne, whose stable is located an hour from London. "He's going to van to Pimlico on Monday. He'll be on the track at Pimlico Tuesday morning."

Heart of Honor ran five races at Dubai's Meydan Race Course after debuting with a second-place finish at Southwell (England) on an all-weather surface. Jim and Claire Limited's son of Honor A.P. came up a nose short of winning the 1 3/16-mile UAE Derby April 5 at Meydan, settling for second behind Japan's Admire Daytona.

Kentucky Derby Winner Sovereignty Possible For Preakness

May 4 - While the Preakness Stakes (G1) is a possibility, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said a decision has yet to be made about the next start for Godolphin's Sovereignty, who scored a 1 ½-length victory over favored Journalism in Saturday's Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs.

The Preakness Stakes, the 1 3/16-mile Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, will be held for the 150th time on May 17 at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course.

Executive Vice President of 1/ST Racing Mike Rogers made the traditional Sunday morning phone call to formally invite the Derby winner to the 150th Preakness. Rogers spoke with Mott and Godolphin's director of bloodstock Michael Banahan.

"We're in discussions about that now," said Mott, who addressed the media outside his Churchill Downs barn Sunday morning alongside Banahan. "Michael and I have already had a brief discussion. We're just tossing back the options. We want to do what's best for the horse. Of course, you always think about a Triple Crown, and that's not something we're not going to think about. But I think we've got to come to a conclusion probably in the next few days. It's not going to be this morning."

Mott, whose main base is New York, said Sovereignty will remain with his Churchill Downs division while a decision is being made.

Mott won the 2019 Derby with Country House, who crossed the finish line in second but was awarded the victory upon the disqualification of Maximum Security for impeding several horses. Country House missed the Preakness after coming down with a temperature. After a series of setbacks, he never ran again.

Asked about the possibly of having another chance to attempt the second step of the Triple Crown, Mott said, "Look, it's good to have that option... I'm not downplaying the Triple Crown. We want to do what's best for him, as we would with any other horse."

Said Banahan: "Give Bill a few days with his team to assess him, see how he's doing. If he's in a great shape, we'd certainly have a look at everything.... It's a quick turnaround, as we all know. That's what makes the Triple Crown so special. We'll just do what's right for him. He'll tell us, 'Yea' or 'Nay.'"

Mott reported that Sovereignty, the second betting choice who rallied from 17th under Junior Alvarado, came out of the Derby in fine order.

"He looks great," he said. "He ate up [Saturday] night. I was really flabbergasted when I saw him. By the time I got back to the barn, he'd eaten up. His tub was already out of the stall. He must have eaten his dinner in 20 minutes, which is pretty unusual for a horse that's run that hard. He jogged good this morning. He looked good.

"He did sustain a little scrape on the outside of his pastern, most likely leaving the gate," Mott added. "He broke and the horse outside of him was trying to get over, and it looked like maybe that horse caught him on the outside of his right front pastern. It's more of a scrape, it's not a cut, a scrape about four inches long. Right now, it looks to be a superficial thing, but everything else on him looks good: knees, ankles, jogging good. I can't be happier with everything else.... On a normal day with a horse that's not him, you wouldn't be concerned about it, really."

Pay Billy Earns Automatic Preakness Berth

April 19 - Pay Billy emerged from Saturday's Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park with the lion's share of the $150,000 purse and a guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the Grade 1, $2,000,000 Preakness, the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, to be held at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, May 17.

"Win, and You're In here; the fees are paid. If he's doing well, it's a good possibility," trainer Michael Gorham said about a potential Preakness start.

Pay Billy also exited the winner's circle with a cut on his left rear hock after a roughly-run edition of the 1 1/8-mile test for 3-year-olds.

Ridden by Raul Mena, Pay Billy established a forward position on the first turn while racing wide and in between horses. Behind Pay Billy was hard-luck Sacred Thunder, who clipped heels and stumbled badly.

That likely was the cause of Pay Billy's wound.

"A couple of jockeys tried to get position," Mena said. "It was a race [where] even on paper, there didn't look like there was a lot of speed. A couple of riders were thinking the same way. Somebody had to take the position. In the corner, all the riders got a little bit tight. I didn't want to be on the lead, so I put my horse in the clearest path and got out of the trouble."

Pay Billy settled outside in fourth position as longshots Right Wing Runner and Bold Diversion carved out splits of 24.13 and 48.60 seconds with Bold Diversion tucked neatly behind them on the rail.

Mena asked Pay Billy for a run on the second turn, and they advanced to the lead in tandem with a four-wide Just a Fair Shake.

Pay Billy was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm. A $38,000 yearling purchase, the bay colt was purchased by RKTN Racing for $60,000 at last April's OBS Juvenile auction.

An Improbable half-brother to stakes-winning sprinter Espionage out of Grade 3-winning sprinter Harlington's Rose, Pay Billy's second and third dams were also stakes winners.

A maiden winner at six furlongs in his fourth and final start at two, Pay Billy next wired a first-level allowance field by five lengths on Jan. 25 before finishing second, beaten a nose, in Laurel's Miracle Wood on Feb. 22.

He rebounded from that heartbreaking loss to take down the Private Terms Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 22.

"He's just getting better all the time," Gorham said after the Private Terms. "A big, strong horse that's way more relaxed now. He does everything perfect. He works good, he acts good, he feels good in the barn. He's just happy to be here and wants to do more."

Perhaps he'll do a great deal more in the Preakness.

Bracket Buster & Gosger possible for Preakness

April 13 - Gosger and Bracket Buster both are possible for the 150th Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico after finishing 1-2 in Saturday's (April 12) $400,000 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland.

While not committing to the 1 3/16-mile Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, Gosger trainer Brendan Walsh and Bracket Buster trainer Vicki Oliver both said after the race that their colts earned consideration for the May 17 Preakness at Pimlico Race Course.

Gosger wore down front-running 25-1 shot Bracket Buster in the final sixteenth-mile for a two-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Lexington. It was Gosger's first start since winning a Gulfstream Park maiden special weight race in his second start on Feb. 15.

Bracket Buster was making his first start at age 3. In his last start, he finished fifth in Churchill Downs' Oct. 27 Street Sense (G3). The first three finishers that day were Sovereignty, Gulfstream's Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2) winner and Curlin Florida Derby (G1) runner-up; Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Tiztastic, and Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Sandman.

"He's still got a lot of maturing to do," Walsh said of Gosger. "He's still a little raw. But I love what I saw today. He was a little green, but he beat a couple of really nice horses. I think he's a very nice horse in the making. We gave him a little time off after his maiden win because I felt, when I looked at him, that he was doing a lot of growing. Even in the paddock today I was thinking he still has a bit of filling out to do.

"[Jockey] Irad (Ortiz) said he only really got going and straightened out when he got to the second wire (a sixteenth-mile past the finish for Keeneland's 1 1/16-mile races). He said he really started to run then, which is a very encouraging thing to hear. It's always nice to win a nice race like that with a young horse, a lightly raced horse. I think he's got some big days in front of him."

Asked about the Preakness five weeks later, Walsh said, "We'll see how he comes out of this. There is a nice bit of spacing to it, and if he was doing well we'd have to consider it, absolutely. I thought at the start he could potentially be a Kentucky Derby (G1) horse, but we brought him down to Florida and had a maiden race planned for him and he got sick... He's making us be patient, but he's paying us back for it."

Gosger is campaigned by the family of Harvey Clarke, the late breeder of 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another. Gosger's second dam, Arch's Gal Edith, is the mother of I'll Have Another. Gosger's sire is 2016 Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, who finished third in the Preakness.

Bracket Buster in his third start won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race Oct. 9 at Keeneland at 33-1 odds, followed by his fifth place in the Oct. 27 Street Sense.

"I thought he ran really, really well," Oliver said. "I wish we'd had a race in him before this race, but it was just the way it set up. We gave him a long break and just decided this was a better spot than the allowance race that was a big, huge field. We took our shot here, and it paid off."

She said the Preakness is a possibility.

"He's always been in consideration for the 3-year-old stakes," Oliver said. "That's why we didn't really push on him for the early, early 3-year-old races on the Derby trail. He's a late, late May (22nd) foal and needs a lot of time to develop, and that's what we gave him. He's run in very, very tough company, so he's proved to everyone he can be a part of all of this. It's just if we get the right trip and the right place and hopefully we get lucky."

Others being considered for the Preakness are Hill Road, third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and Tampa Bay Derby (G3), and UAE Derby runner-up Heart Of Honor. The April 19 Tesio at Laurel Park and Bathhouse Row at Oaklawn Park will be 'Win and In' Races for the Preakness as long as the winners are Triple Crown eligible. The Oaklawn Handicap on the 19th will also be a `Win and In' for the Pimlico Special (G3).

Preakness Stakes 150 - Total of 16 Stakes, Eight Graded, Worth $4.3 Million May 16 & 17

Feb 6 - Headlined by the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, a total of 16 stakes, eight graded, worth $4.3 million in purses will be contested Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17 at historic Pimlico Race Course.

First run in 1873, the Preakness is the second oldest of the Triple Crown races, predating the Kentucky Derby (G1) by two years. The inaugural Belmont Stakes (G1) was held in 1867.

The $2 million Preakness, contested at 1 3/16 miles, will anchor a May 17 program of 10 stakes worth $3.25 million in purses including the $250,000 Dinner Party (G3) for 3-year-olds and up and $150,000 Gallorette (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and older, each going 1 1/16 miles on the grass, and $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs.

Other supporting stakes on Preakness Day are the $150,000 Chick Lang sprinting six furlongs and $100,000 Sir Barton at 1 1/16 miles on the main track and $100,000 James Murphy going one mile on the turf, all for 3-year-olds; $125,000 Skipat for fillies and mares 3 and older at six furlongs; and $125,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint, a five-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up.

Returning the Preakness Day lineup will also be the $100,000 UAE President Cup (G1) for 3-year-old Arabian horses, run at 1 1/16 miles.

The 101st running of the $300,000 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles tops six stakes, three graded, worth $1.05 million in purses on Friday, May 16. It is joined by the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 3/16 miles and $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) for sophomore fillies sprinting six furlongs.

Also on the traditional Preakness Eve program are the $125,000 Allaire du Pont for fillies and mares 3 and up at 1 1/8 miles and a pair of turf stakes - the $125,000 Hilltop for 3-year-old fillies going one mile and $100,000 The Very One for fillies and mares 3 and older sprinting five furlongs.

OffTrackBetting.com - US Legal Preakness Stakes OTB is a great way to bet Preakness Stakes online, right from your phone. Available to customers across the United States, OTB features both Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing from major racing venues in the US as well as top international racing from Europe, Japan, Australia and Hong Kong.