2025 Preakness Stakes: Horse-by-horse preview of the Triple Crown race

The Preakness Stakes will be run Saturday for the final time at Pimlico Race Course before the run-down track is torn down and a new facility is built in Baltimore. The Preakness will move to Laurel, Md., next year before it returns home in 2027.

This race will not include the Kentucky Derby winner, Sovereignty. Trainer Bill Mott will rest his colt in preparation for the Belmont Stakes.

Total: $2 million. First place: $1.2 million. Second place: $400,000. Third place: $220,000. Fourth place: $120,000. Fifth place: $60,000.

Other Triple Crown races: Kentucky Derby (winner: Sovereignty), Belmont Stakes (June 7).

Opening odds

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Jockey: Flavien Prat

Career earnings: $111,960

2025 starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 2-2-0-0

Career starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 2-2-0-0

Last two: Allowance/Churchill (1st), Maiden/Santa Anita (1st)

Notable: Has run only twice, including during the Kentucky Derby undercard when he posted a speed rating of 109 on a sloppy track. Baffert holds the record for most Preakness wins by a trainer with eight.

Trainer: Michael McCarthy

Jockey: Umberto Rispoli

Career earnings: $1,638,880

2025 starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 3-2-1-0

Career starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 6-4-1-1

Last three: Kentucky Derby (2nd), Santa Anita Derby (1st), San Felipe Stakes (1st)

Notable: Finished 1½ lengths back of Sovereignty in the Derby, which ended a run of four consecutive victories. Sired by 2007 winner Curlin.

Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas

Jockey: Nik Juarez

Career earnings: $444,874

2025 starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 4-1-0-0

Career starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 10-2-1-1

Last three: Kentucky Derby (16th), Virginia Derby (1st), Risen Star Stakes (5th)

Notable: Got bumped early and had a rough ride in the Derby coming out of the fourth post position. Is the 49th Preakness starter for Lukas, easily a record for trainers. Lukas won here last year with Seize The Grey.

Trainer: Jamie Osborne

Jockey: Saffie Osborne

Career earnings: $340,919

2025 starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 4-1-3-0

Career starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 6-2-4-0

Last three: UAE Derby (2nd), Al Bastakiya/Meydan (2nd), UAE Two Thousand Guineas.Meydan (2nd)

Notable: Jockey Osborne is the daughter of the trainer and will become the fourth woman to ride at the Preakness. Has hit the board in all six races, but this is his first on this side of the pond.

Trainer: Michael Gorham

Jockey: Raul Mena

Career earnings: $234,475

2025 starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 4-3-1-0

Career starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 8-4-1-1

Last three: Federico Tesio Stakes (1st), Private Terms Stakes (1st), Miracle Wood Stakes (2nd)

Notable: A local favorite with Maryland connections, Pay Billy started his career at Delaware Park before moving on to Laurel Park.

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Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Career earnings: $261,900

2025 starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 4-2-1-1

Career starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 4-2-1-1

Last three: Blue Grass Stakes (3rd), Fountain of Youth Stakes (2nd), Allowance/Gulfstream (1st)

Notable: Finished second to Derby winner Sovereignty at the Fountain of Youth. Pletcher is 0-for-10 at the Preakness, with his best finish third with Impeachment in 2000, his first horse here. Ortiz is 0-for-6.

Trainer: Mark Casse

Jockey: John Velazquez

Career earnings: $1,254,595

2025 starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 4-1-1-1

Career starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 9-3-1-2

Last three: Kentucky Derby (7th), Arkansas Derby (1st), Rebel Stakes (3rd)

Notable: Another colt who had a rough trip at the Derby, where he started in the 15th post. Was the second betting favorite to Journalism that day.

Trainer: Steve Asmussen

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Career earnings: $198,400

2025 starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 2-2-0-0

Career starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 3-2-1-0

Last three: Hot Springs Stakes (1st), Maiden/Oaklawn (1st), Maiden/Keeneland (2nd)

Notable: Should look to get out front and set the pace. His last race was a mile, which he ran in a fine 1 minute, 37.1 seconds. Asmussen has two wins, two seconds and two thirds here in 16 starts.

Trainer: Brendan Walsh

Jockey: Luis Saez

Career earnings: $292,200

2025 starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 2-2-0-0

Career starts-1st-2nd-3rd: 3-2-1-0

Last three: Lexington Stakes (1st), Maiden/Gulfstream (1st), Maiden/Gulfstream (2nd)

Notable: Lightly raced, and still very raw. Skipped the mammoth Derby field. Speed figures in his three races are 80, 94, 96. Anything can happen, but a win here would be stunning.

Ed Barkowitz, sportswriter: 1-Goal Oriented, 2-Journalism, 7-Sandman, 6-River Thames

Journalism may very well be the best in the field, but it could be a sloppy track, which would even things out. No one’s won more Preaknesses as a trainer than Bob Baffert (eight). The No. 1 post has won three times here in the last 10 years (American Pharoah 2015; War of Will 2019; National Treasure 2023). Looking for Sandman to bounce back from a rough Derby.

Kerith Gabriel, editor: 2-Journalism, 7-Sandman, 1-Goal Oriented, 3-American Promise

Riding with Journalism once again for one reason: Umberto Rispoli’s ability to get the best out of that horse, regardless of what’s slated to be a wet track this weekend. Journalism was the post-time favorite in the Derby at 8-5 odds, and is again. If the odds say he can run it back, I second that. Sandman and Goal Oriented are toss-ups to place or show, but can’t go wrong with either, specifically Goal Oriented at 6-1 odds. Wayne Lukas is due for a strong finish, and he just might have one as well with American Promise.

Luke Reasoner, sports/news designer: 2-Journalism, 1-Goal Oriented, 7-Sandman, 5-Pay Billy

With Sovereignty skipping the Preakness, the Triple Crown dream is once again off the table. After correctly picking two horses in the top four of the Kentucky Derby, I’m sticking to the strategy that worked: trusting horses with ties to Ocala, Fla.— because clearly, there’s something in the water down there besides gators in the Horse Capital of the World.

So, I’m rolling with Journalism again, focused with Goal Oriented to finish second, entering Sandman in third, and for the long shot, Pay Billy — because if he wins, maybe someone will hit it big.

The Kentucky Derby winner is skipping the Preakness for the fourth time in six years, not including 2020 when the pandemic fouled up the schedule. Bill Mott, who trains Derby winner Sovereignty, explained why he’s bypassing this race and instead targeting the Belmont Stakes on June 7.

“Over the years, people have realized that spacing these horses out a little bit gives you the opportunity to make them last a little longer,” the trainer said. “We’re looking at a career, and you want the career to last more than five weeks.”