Preakness Stakes 2022 odds: Everything you need to know, Epicenter tabbed favorite
By Andy Serling
FOX Sports Horse Racing Analyst
The 147th Preakness Stakes takes place in Baltimore on Saturday. Let's dive into the betting favorites, trainers, jockeys and the history of the race.
The Preakness Stakes was first run in 1873, two years before the first Kentucky Derby. Named for the winner of the first Dinner Party Stakes — the second most attended horse racing event in the United States — the race is a 16th of a mile shorter than the Derby and plenty speedy. I speak from extensive experience when I say it is always a good time.
When the nine horses line up for the start of this race, one name will be conspicuous by its absence, Rich Strike. While it’s not without precedent, it’s unusual for the Kentucky Derby winner to be held out of the Preakness.
Last year’s official winner, Mandaloun, didn’t know he won the Derby until nearly a year later when Medina Spirit was disqualified, so he gets a pass. Country House, which placed first in 2019 after the disqualification of Maximum Security, was held out of the Preakness with a "cough," only to be retired and never race again. It must have been a very bad cough.
Go back another 23 years to Grindstone, the 1996 Derby winner who missed the Preakness with an injury that forced his retirement from racing. In 1985, Spend A Buck dominated the Derby but took a lucrative offer to race in the Jersey Derby instead of the Preakness and Belmont. Money over prestige. Tough to blame them.
Rich Strike is supposedly skipping the Preakness to wait for the Belmont Stakes — the third jewel of the Triple Crown. This is a shocking development. The cynic in me won't believe he runs at Belmont Park on June 11 until his name appears in the entries. Stay tuned.
However, even without our Derby winner, there will be plenty of drama this weekend. Secret Oaks — the heroine of the Derby for fillies, Kentucky Oaks — is taking on the boys. She will break from post position four and was installed as the 9-2 third choice. I wouldn't be surprised if she was the second betting choice by post time.
Her trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, has had success racing fillies against colts, including a victory in the 1988 Run for the Roses with Winning Colors. He has won the Preakness six times — as recently as 2013 with Oxbow — and understands the importance of a win here.
"If she puts the Preakness on her resume, it’s going to take her to another level," he said.
Fillies have had some recent success at this event. Swiss Skydiver won the 2020 Preakness, while the great Rachel Alexandra won it in 2009 during one of the greatest seasons in racing history. If you are not familiar with Rachel Alexandra, I recommend watching her thrilling victory later that summer in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga.
Favoritism undoubtedly belongs to Derby runner-up Epicenter. As of Monday, Epicenter was the heavy 6-5 favorite to win. He drew the advantageous eight post, where he should be able to secure a comfortable position outside his chief rivals.
Steve Asmussen, Epicenter's trainer, came close to finally winning his first Derby. "I can’t believe it after Epicenter’s effort," Asmussen said after the race. "And the scenario in which I went 0 for 24, you couldn’t make up. I got beat by a horse that just got in."
He was referring to his Kentucky Derby record, 24 starters with no victories. It’s not hard to relate to his sense of disbelief. All the people that liked Rich Strike forgot to mention it before the race was run.
The only other Derby players returning to the Preakness are fourth-place finisher Simplification — a favorable inside post and 6-1 morning line — and 14th place finisher Happy Jack — post position six and 30-1 odds. Simplification is expected to be the fourth choice in betting. On the flip side, Happy Jack is considered an outsider, and it's hard to see him becoming Rich Strike II.
The most significant new player in the Preakness is Early Voting. Installed as the 7-2 second choice — a role he may ultimately cede to Secret Oath — he drew post position five. As the expected pacesetter, this post should present no problems whatsoever.
Trained by Chad Brown, Early Voting possesses abundant early speed and is lightly raced — running only three times. One of the reasons he passed on the Derby was the number of other horses with early speed. Given how the race played out, this was a wise choice.
Klaravich Stable, Early Voting's owner, and Chad Brown followed the same path to Preakness victory in 2017 with Cloud Computing. Much like Early Voting, Cloud Computing had only competed three times, and while qualified for the Run for the Roses, he was held out to await the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Can lightning strike twice for this team?
On the jockey front, reigning champion Joel Rosario will look for his first Preakness win on Epicenter, with the same being true for the highly regarded Luis Saez, who pilots Secret Oath.
We also have some jockey swapping with the following two choices: Simplification’s Derby rider Jose Ortiz, also without a Preakness score, will return to ride Early Voting, while the Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez picks up the mount on Simplification.
Velasquez is a three-time Derby winner, but he also has never won the Preakness.
The only jockey riding this year’s Preakness who has won the race is Tyler Gafflione, when he guided War of Will to victory in 2019.
While it is fair to say the race has lost some of its luster without the chance of a Triple Crown winner, the race is still an important event in the racing landscape. It sets the table for the Belmont Stakes and other critical races like the Travers this summer in Saratoga and eventually the Breeders Cup events in the fall.
Check back in a couple of days when I will share some ideas on how to bet the race and hopefully make some money.
Andy Serling is the Senior Racing Analyst for the New York Racing Association (NYRA) and appears regularly on America's Day at the Races/Saratoga Live on FOX Sports. He also analyzes the races daily on Talking Horses on the NYRA simulcast network among other duties covering Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct. In his slightly more respectable days, he traded options on the now-defunct American Stock Exchange. Follow him on Twitter @andyserling.
