Sportsbook.com Preakness Stakes Betting Odds

Preakness: What can Brown do for you?

The Preakness Stakes is scheduled for a Post Time of 6 pm ET this Saturday and all anyone is talking about is Big Brown.



Big Brown is a 2:7 favorite in the early odds after winning the Kentucky Derby by 4 ¾ lengths. He’s also trying to become the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to win the Triple Crown. His odds for that feat here at Sportsbook.com are Even.

Sportsbook.com is also getting you pumped for Saturday by offering a $10,000.00 Preakness Challenge. Simply place a bet on Saturday’s race and then register for our challenge by picking the correct order of the Top 4 finishing horses.

Big Brown has gotten so popular in the last two weeks that he even signed a marketing deal with shipping giant UPS, as their slogan is ‘What can Brown do for you?’

There are two main reasons why Big Brown is such a heavy favorite. The first is he has proven to be a dominant horse, albeit in limited action. Big Brown won his first three races by a combined 29 lengths, and he won the Derby despite being in the 20th post on the outside, the first horse to do so since 1929.

The second factor favoring Big Brown is a lack of competition. Harlem Rocker was the second favorite at 4:1 before becoming the latest contender to drop out.

There was a chance that Big Brown would be the only horse from the Derby to run in the Preakness. However, Gayego has just been added to the field. He was the 17th place finisher in the Derby.

Big Brown’s trainer, Richard Dutrow is anticipating a Preakness win and he is happy about the suspect competition.

"With the horses coming into the Preakness, I'm feeling I have the best horse in the race," Dutrow said. "I'm glad to see the competition that's in there. It's not like it's coming up a stellar-packed field. Anyone can see that. "If our horse can get over the two-week thing, he'll be tough to beat."

The field at the Preakness is at 13 horses, down from 20 in the Derby. The current second favorite at Sportsbook.com is Behindatthebar at 8:1 odds. He may not be attracting the attention of the racing world, but trainer Todd Pletcher cautions not to dismiss him.

"I thought he worked well," Pletcher said. "It's the first time we've worked him on a traditional dirt track, and he seemed to handle it real well. He came out of it well, so he's ready to go.”

Besides Behindatthebar, also keep an eye on Hey Byrn (15:1), Yankee Bravo (18:1), Icabad Crane (25:1), Kentucky Bear (25:1), Racecar Rhapsody (25:1), Riley Tucker (25:1), Stevil (25:1), and Tres Borrachos (25:1).