The 2025 Preakness Stakes will take place on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, and while most of the attention on Kentucky Derby runner-up Journalism and newcomers to the Triple Crown trail like Clever Again and Goal Oriented, there’s a local horse worth keeping an eye on. Pay Billy ran the first two races of his career at Delaware Park, but he has run his last seven races at Laurel Park in Maryland. He earned his way into the 2025 Preakness Stakes field with a win at the Federico Tesio (LS) last month.
Sire Improbable finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby and sixth in the Preakness in 2019. Pay Billy is 20-1 in the 2025 Preakness Stakes odds. How should you handle this fan favorite and which 2025 Preakness Stakes longshots are worthy of consideration? SportsLine’s horse racing experts are breaking down the Preakness Stakes 2025 from all angles.
A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Jody Demling hit the top three finishers in the Kentucky Derby in the correct order. He also called 10 of the last 20 Preakness winners, including 2023 when he hit the winner, exacta, trifecta and superfecta. He hit the trifecta in the 2024 Preakness Stakes and has predicted the winner of the Belmont Stakes four of the last seven years. Anyone who has followed those picks on sites like FanDuel Racing and TwinSpires is up huge. You can see Demling’s full projected leaderboard at SportsLine.
Here are three Preakness Stakes longshots to target, according to Demling:
Clever Again (5-1)
Steve Asmussen became the first trainer in history to crack the 10,000-win mark in 2023 and two Preakness winners have trained in his stable. Curlin won the 2007 Preakness Stakes and was later named horse of the year and then Rachel Alexandra became the fifth filly in history to win the Preakness Stakes in 2009. Meanwhile, jockey Jose Ortiz won the 2022 Preakness Stakes with Early Voting.
Clever Again is coming off a wire-to-wire win at the Hot Spring Stakes where he posted a blistering Beyer Speed Figure of 101, giving him the second-fastest speed figure in the Preakness Stakes 2025 field behind Journalism’s 108 in his Santa Anita Derby win. Sire American Pharoah won the Triple Crown in 2015 and damsire Galileo had multiple Grade 1 wins at 12 furlongs overseas, so the added distance shouldn’t be a problem for this talented but inexperienced bay colt. You can bet Clever Again at FanDuel Racing now and get a no-sweat first bet up to $500:
Goal Oriented (6-1)
Trainer Bob Baffert has a record eight wins in the Preakness Stakes, most recently winning in 2023 with National Treasure. That horse didn’t run in the Kentucky Derby that year because Baffert was suspended and now he’ll look to take another horse from off the Triple Crown trail to the winner’s circle here, albeit under markedly different circumstances.
This son of Not This Time out of Afleet Alex mare Bizzy Caroline was purchased for $425,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2023, but he didn’t make his debut until last month with a win in a six-furlong maiden race at Santa Anita. However, Baffert saw enough to ship him off to Churchill Downs for an allowance race on the Derby undercard where he went to the lead early and earned another win. Baffert said he’s had the Preakness on the back of his mind and now he’ll have a chance to add a ninth win in the Run for the Black-Eyed Susans to his resume.
American Promise (15-1)
Sire Justify was a Triple Crown winner in 2018 and damsire Tapit was the top stud in North America from 2014-2016, counting four Belmont Stakes winners among his progeny. In addition to the incredible pedigree, American Promise is also the most experienced horse in the 2025 Preakness Stakes field, as he’ll be making his 11th career start on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.
American Promise won the Virginia Derby going away to earn his way into the Kentucky Derby, but finished a disappointing 16th at Churchill Downs. However, 89-year-old trainer D. Wayne Lukas is a legend with seven Preakness wins under his belt, including last year with Seize The Grey (who also went off at 15-1). Expect American Promise to be at or near the front early and this price has him primed for using underneath to beef up your Preakness Stakes exotics payouts. You can bet American Promise now at TwinSpires and get up to $400 in bonus bets.
How to make 2025 Preakness Stakes picks, bets
Demling is especially high on a huge longshot who “could be a factor” and will spice up your exotics. Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected 2025 Preakness Stakes leaderboard and betting tickets, over at SportsLine.
SportsLine also has Preakness Stakes 2025 picks from long-time horse racing journalist Gene Menez. You can also find 2025 Preakness Stakes bets from Michelle Yu, a racing analyst who has already hit winners in multiple prep races this year.
Best Preakness Stakes betting promos
Here are several places to bet on the Preakness Stakes.
This news was originally published on this post .
About the author
