The 2025 Preakness Stakes can be the forgotten middle child of the Triple Crown season, and although there isn’t the chance to see a Triple Crown journey continue with Sovereignty not competing at the Preakness Stakes 2025 on Saturday, May 17, nine of the world’s top 3-year-old horses will still be in action. Journalism, the Kentucky Derby favorite who finished second at the Preakness Stakes, is the 8-5 favorite following Monday’s 2025 Preakness Stakes post draw, followed by Sandman (4-1) in the latest 2025 Preakness Stakes odds. Journalism will run from the No. 2 gate, while Sandman will be five stalls over in Gate No. 7. The Preakness Stakes runs at a significantly smaller field size than the Kentucky Derby, which featured 19 horses this year. Which 2025 Preakness Stakes horses should you target? Before making any 2025 Preakness Stakes picks, be sure to see the horse racing predictions and futures bets from SportsLine’s elite horse racing expert Jody Demling.
A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling hit the top three finishers in the 2025 Kentucky Derby in the correct order. He has also called 10 of the last 20 Preakness winners, including 2023 when he hit the winner, exacta, trifecta and superfecta. He hit the trifecta again in the 2024 Preakness Stakes and has predicted the winner of the Belmont Stakes four of the last seven years. Anyone who has followed him on those picks on betting sites like FanDuel Racing and TwinSpires is up huge.
Now, with the 2025 Preakness Stakes odds on the board, Demling is sharing his 2025 Preakness Stakes betting picks and 2025 Preakness Stakes predictions over at SportsLine to help you figure out how to bet the Preakness Stakes. Go here to see them.
Top 2025 Preakness Stakes predictions
One of Demling’s surprising 2025 Preakness Stakes picks for Preakness Stakes betting apps: He’s high on Clever Again, even though he’s a 5-1 longshot in the 2025 Preakness Stakes odds. Clever Again is coming off a wire-to-wire victory at the 2025 Hot Springs on March 30, where he showcased his late burst to create separation down the stretch in a dominant win. Although it was only a 1-mile race, Clever Again won a 1 1/16 mile run in the race before on February 23. He’s undefeated in his two races in 2025.
Fatigue won’t be an issue for Clever Again, who will run for the first time in seven weeks at the Preakness Stakes. Meanwhile, the majority of horses with odds shorter than Clever Again are running their second race in 14 days after competing in the Kentucky Derby. Clever Again is trained by Steven Asmussen, who has been the No. 2 highest-earning trainer in horse racing in each of the last two seasons, and with Asmussen having seven weeks to prepare Clever Again focused on this one race, he’s a longshot Demling believes is worthy of using in 2025 Preakness Stakes bets. See which other 2025 Preakness Stakes horses to target at SportsLine.
How to make 2025 Preakness Stakes picks, bets
Demling is especially high on a longshot who “could be a factor” and spice up your exotics. Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected 2025 Preakness Stakes leaderboard, over at SportsLine.
Which horse wins the Preakness Stakes 2025, and which huge double-digit longshot is a must-back? Check out the latest 2025 Preakness Stakes odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Demling’s picks for the Preakness Stakes, all from the expert who nailed the top three Kentucky Derby finishers in the correct order.