2019 Preakness Stakes odds, best predictions: Expert who has hit 9 winners makes picks
Last year, Justify won the Preakness as a commanding 2-5 favorite by a half-length over Bravazo. Two years ago, Cloud Computing took down this historic Triple Crown race as a 13-1 long shot over Classic Empire. Saturday's 2019 Preakness is shaping up to be another nerve-wracking race, with 13 horses going to post at Pimlico at 6:48 p.m. ET. This year, a veritable who's who of trainers have horses in the 2019
Preakness lineup, including Bob Baffert, Mark Casse, Steve Asmussen, and Brad Cox. The 2019 Preakness jockeys are also well-known and include Mike Smith, Irad Ortiz Jr., Florent Geroux, and Joel Rosario. The latest 2019 Preakness odds show a huge long shot in Everfast (50-1) and an overall favorite, Baffert's Improbable (5-2). Baffert arrived at Pimlico Race Course on Thursday and has won this leg of the Triple Crown five times since 2001, most recently with Justify last year en route to a Triple Crown.
Before you make any 2019 Preakness picks for Saturday's race in Baltimore, you need to see the top horse racing predictions from SportsLine's resident guru, Jody Demling. He'll help you navigate a crowded 2019 Preakness field.
A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling comes into the 2019 Preakness on a mind-blowing streak: He has called nine of the last 14 winners of this Triple Crown race.
He was all over Big Brown, I'll Have Another, California Chrome, American Pharoah, and Justify at the Preakness after each horse won the Kentucky Derby. He also knew when the Kentucky Derby winner was ripe to lose in the Preakness: Demling also correctly predicted that Afleet Alex, Curlin, Rachel Alexandra and Looking at Lucky would spoil Triple Crown bids at Pimlico.
Demling is at his best in the biggest horse races. He has hit nine of the last 11 Oaks-Derby doubles at Churchill Downs. That means he held a ticket with the winners of both races all but twice in the last 11 years.
He followed up last year's Preakness by predicting Justify's groundbreaking victory in the Belmont Stakes, as well as calling the winners of the Haskell Invitational, Pennsylvania Derby, Lecomte Stakes, Arkansas Derby and Louisiana Derby, just to name a few.
Demling nailed the superfecta at this year's Pegasus World Cup for a $678 payout on a $1 bet. He also hit the superfecta at the Robert B. Lewis Stakes and picked the winner of the Risen Star Stakes in February. On Friday, he nailed the winner, exacta, trifecta, and superfecta at Pimlico's prestigious Black Eyed Susan. Anyone who has followed him is up huge.
Now, with the 2019 Preakness lineup taking shape, Demling is sharing his picks at SportsLine.
We can tell you he wants no part of Anothertwistafate, one of the top Vegas favorites at 6-1. In fact, Demling says Anothertwistafate barely cracks the top five. Like last year's Triple Crown winner, Justify, Anothertwistafate is a son of Scat Daddy, who blossomed on the West Coast. After losing his debut race in November, Anothertwistafate won three straight at Golden Gate. The last of those, a seven-length triumph in the El Camino Real Derby, was the most impressive and stamped him as a leading Kentucky Derby contender.
He finished second in his next two races, however, and failed to qualify for the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs. Those two races came on dirt, which continued a troubling trend for Anothertwistafate: He is 3-for-3 on the synthetic surface at Golden Gate, but 0-for-3 on dirt. In addition, at Wednesday's 2019 Preakness post draw, he drew the No. 12 position in the field of 13, which could hamper his near-the-lead running style. He's not worth the steep 6-1 premium you'll need to pay.
