2021 Preakness Stakes Odds – Early line betting

Saturday, May 15^th, 2021 is the date of the second leg of the Triple Crown, the 2021 Preakness Stakes. All eyes will be on Medina Spirit to see if he is the real deal or just a one-hit Kentucky Derby-winning wonder. The Bob Baffert trained colt was a 12-1 shot at Churchill Downs nearly two weeks ago. Early Preakness line has him installed as the bettor’s choice at 7-2. But can he live up to the hype? 

The 2021 Preakness Entries

• Medina Spirit 7-2
• Concert Tour 9-1
• Malathaat 10-1
• Midnight Bourbon 15-1
• Crowded Trade 16-1
• Ram 18-1
• Unbridled Honor 18-1
• France Go De Ina 20-1
• Rombauer 20-1
• Get Her Number 25-1

There were 20 horses slated to run in the Derby. However, trainer Kenneth McPeek’s, King Fury, was scratched which left 19 vying for horse racing’s most prestigious crown. Essential Quality, the Blue Grass Stakes winner trained by Brad Cox, was the favourite at 3-1. However, he finished a disappointing fourth place and will not run in the 2021 Preakness Stakes. 

Another one of Cox’s Kentucky Derby entries, Mandaloun, outdueled his more highly lauded stablemate. He got the place money for all of those who believed in the 27-1 longshot. Like Essential Quality, Cox has decided to hold him out of the Preakness. He is intent on giving Mandaloun a breather while pointing him to several other high-stakes races this year, and thereafter.

Triple Crown tough schedule

Cox stated on a National Thoroughbred Racing Association conference call. “I’m just not a big fan of running back in two weeks. Unless you win the Kentucky Derby and your horse comes out of it in good order. I think (then) you march forward. But without there being an opportunity to get a Triple Crown. I just think it’s best for the horse to target some other races later on in the year.’’

Hot Rod Charlie got the show money in the Derby but will be a no-show for the 2021 Preakness Stakes. “Bill Strauss (a fellow minority owner) and I discussed it with (trainer) Doug O’Neill,” said Greg Helm. Helm is manager of Roadrunner Racing 2018. The group of La Quinta Country Club friends who bought Hot Rod Charlie as a yearling in 2019. “We all agreed it is better conditioning for the horse to take a break. Especially as there isn’t an opportunity to win the Triple Crown.”

“Had Charlie won the Kentucky Derby, we certainly would have gone to Preakness,” Helm said. “But this gives us a great opportunity to train him and get him ready for the Belmont.”

Who’s left in the Preakness Stakes?

Medina Spirit was a relative longshot to win the Kentucky Derby. Like all Derby winners before him, he is suddenly thrust into the spotlight as the odds-on-favorite. However, we can see that all of his chief Derby rivals will be in absentia for the 2021 Preakness Stakes. Yet the Triple Crown betting will be hot and heavy. Many believe Medina Spirit is not as dominant as many of his Kentucky Derby-winning predecessors.

Concert Tour was held out of the Run for the Roses. He finished a disappointing third, as a 3-5 favorite, in a six-horse Arkansas Derby race. After his lackluster performance, it was the owner, Gary West, and not legendary trainer, Bob Baffert, who made the call. 

“Gary (West) didn’t feel comfortable running him right back three weeks later in the Derby,” Baffert said on the NTRA call. “I’ve never had an owner who had a nice horse talk me out of running a horse in the Derby. (But) It was probably a good call.”

Midnight Bourbon backs up in Preakness Stakes

Medina Spirit’s closest rival remaining from the Derby field is Midnight Bourbon. Currently 15-1 in the 2021 Preakness Stakes, he finished sixth place at odds of 13-1. Irad Ortiz Jr will replace Mike Smith in the saddle for the Steve Asmussen trained colt. Midnight Bourbon broke roughly out of the gate in the Derby. He is the defending three-time Eclipse Award champion.

“We didn’t think he got the opportunity that he deserved after he missed the break. His back end went out from underneath him,” said David Fiske. Fiske is the longtime racing and bloodstock manager for the late Verne Winchell and subsequently for Verne’s son Ron Winchell. “He got jostled around by the horses on either side of him, then lost some ground. He was pretty wide on the second turn; I think eventually he ran 52 or 56 feet farther than the winner. So that would have put him a little closer. And speed seemed to be lethal on Saturday. There weren’t a whole lot of horses that were closing on the front-runners. Then, it took two handlers to get him back to the barn to give him a bath. It didn’t seem to take that much out of him. So we thought we’d give it a try.”

The 2021 Preakness Stakes is run on May 15th at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course. The Preakness has been won by 6 fillies over the years and, while 3 women have ridden in the race, there have been no wins so far.

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