10 of the best three-year-old horses in the United States will contest the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 15, 2021. Get to know the best contenders, and find out the best Canadian sportsbooks for betting the race!
The 2021 Preakness Stakes will happen on Saturday, May 15 at Pimlico Race Course. After being run in October last year, the race is back at its traditional time: two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, the second jewel of the American Triple Crown. Read on to find out more about the contenders, and the best Canadian sportsbooks for betting the race online!
A field of 10 horses will go 1 3/16 miles for a $1 million purse, and the iconic blanket of Black-Eyed Susans. The field features Kentucky Derby first-place finisher Medina Spirit and his stablemate Concert Tour, the most likely favourites for the race, though it is a deep-betting race with several interesting new faces.
Preakness ContendersSportsbooks are offering excellent bonuses and rebates for betting the Preakness Stakes online. Make sure to learn about the best Canadian sportsbooks, make an account on the one that is right for you, and take advantage of these wagering incentives!
First of all, let’s get to know the Preakness contenders. Then, we can start to find out who among them can win!
2021 Preakness Stakes Field
The 2021 Preakness field, with Preakness trainers and jockeys as well as official morning lines, is as follows:
Crowded Trade - Chad Brown/Javier Castellano (10-1)
Midnight Bourbon - Steve Asmussen/Irad Ortiz, Jr. (5-1)
Rombauer - Michael McCarthy/Flavien Prat (12-1)
France Go De Ina - Hideyuki Mori/Joel Rosario (20-1)
Unbridled Honor - Todd Pletcher/Luis Saez (15-1)
Risk Taking - Chad Brown/Jose Ortiz (15-1)
Concert Tour - Bob Baffert/Mike Smith (5-2)
Preakness Handicapping
Assuming he is allowed to run, Medina Spirit will be the favourite in the Preakness Stakes. (He will be allowed to contest the race if he passes a pre-race drug test.) Medina Spirit finished first in the Kentucky Derby for Bob Baffert. Baffert has won seven Preaknesses already and has never run worse than second with a Kentucky Derby winner.
Medina Spirit drew well, the 3 gate, and has an excellent running style for the Preakness. He should be forward from the beginning, and he has been extremely game when horses have tried to challenge him. Expect him to be involved in the race from start to finish.
Concert Tour is Medina Spirit’s stablemate in the Bob Baffert barn, and will also be allowed to run if a pre-race test comes back clean. Concert Tour should show a lot of pace from the outside. However, he disappointed in a weaker-than-usual Arkansas Derby and will have other speed to contend with in the Preakness, making him an underlay at a short price.
Midnight Bourbon is another logical horse, conditioned by good Preakness trainer Steve Asmussen. He ran a good sixth in the Kentucky Derby. A poor break knocked him off of his usual leading style, but he still rallied. With a better break, he should be forward from the beginning, and he is a consistent horse who always finds a way to run to his company.
Crowded Trade is the better of two entrants from the Chad Brown barn. He is lightly-raced but was able to get some underneath shares in Kentucky Derby preps on the New York circuit. His tactical versatility should be an excellent asset, as should his good draw. Also, Brown has won the Preakness before with Cloud Computing, who profiled very similarly.
Rombauer most recently ran third behind Essential Quality in the Blue Grass. A closer in California, Rombauer was able to sit closer to the pace at Keeneland, a positive dimension for how Pimlico plays. He also deserves respect since his trainer, Michael McCarthy, does very well with shippers. Rombauer is one of the most intriguing longshots in the race.
Unbridled Honor is a later bloomer for trainer Todd Pletcher. He most recently rallied for a good second behind King Fury in the Lexington Stakes. Though Pletcher has struggled in the Preakness, he has been very hot through the spring. And, with plenty of speed in the Preakness, Unbridled Honor is well set to invade exotics like the superfecta.
Preakness Stakes Best Bets
The best bet in the Preakness Stakes is Crowded Trade, a lightly-raced but improving horse for Chad Brown, a trainer who knows how to win the Preakness with a horse like him. Play him to win, and use him with other top contenders in exotic wagers.
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