Preakness Stakes 2025 odds, picks: Sovereignty, Clever Again, Journalism predictions by horse racing expert

After failing to become the first trainer to win seven Kentucky Derby races, Bob Baffert is focused on expanding a record he already has at the Preakness Stakes 2025. The 72-year-old trainer will be represented in the 2025 Preakness Stakes field on Saturday. Goal Oriented has won his first two races, but this will be his first graded stakes competition, so how should Baffert factor into your 2025 Preakness Stakes bets for Saturday, May 17? Journalism is the 6-5 favorite in the latest 2025 Preakness Stakes odds. Sovereignty, the Kentucky Derby winner, will not run in the second leg of the Triple Crown. Before making any 2025 Preakness Stakes picks, be sure to see the horse racing predictions and 2025 Preakness Stakes futures bets from SportsLine’s elite horse racing expert Jody Demling, considering his domination of Triple Crown races.

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 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.

Now, with the 2025 Preakness Stakes post positions almost set and 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 predictions, expert analysis

Will Sovereignty run in the Preakness Stakes 2025? No, Sovereignty won’t run at Pimlico in the Preakness 2025. Sired by Into Mischief out of the Bernardini mare Crowned, Sovereignty captured graded-stakes wins in the Street Sense Stakes and Fountain of Youth Stakes before finishing second to Tappan Street in the Florida Derby. With Tappan Street out because of an injury, he went off as the second favorite (5-1) at Churchill Downs.

Sovereignty was squeezed inside out of the gates but jockey Junior Alvarado got him settled in along the rail. He was 13 1/2 lengths off the pace set by Citizen Bull in the backstretch, where he and Journalism began moving up through the field. The pair swung wide around the final turn and dueled down the homestretch, but Sovereignty pulled away in the final furlong for a 1 1/2-length win.

Demling just revealed his 2025 Preakness Stakes projections for Journalism, the Kentucky Derby favorite who finished a hard-fought second in the first leg of the Triple Crown. Journalism has four victories over six career races and has never finished worse than third. He’s coming off finishing second at the Kentucky Derby, where he was the favorite, and with Sovereignty sitting out the Preakness Stakes, it’s no surprise Journalism will take off as the favorite again in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

The favorite has failed to win any of the last six Preakness Stakes races though. And no favorite besides a Kentucky Derby winner has won the Preakness Stakes in more than 10 years. Journalism is a strong horse and a worthy favorite, but he will be battling a pair of tough Baffert horses at a track the trainer knows very well. In comparison, Michael W. McCarthy, Journalism’s trainer, only has one Preakness Stakes victory, coming via Rombauer in 2021. See which other 2025 Preakness Stakes horses to avoid at SportsLine.

One surprise: Demling is high on Clever Again, even though he’s an 8-1 longshot for anyone taking advantage of Preakness Stakes promo codes. Sire American Pharoah is the only horse in history to win the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the same season and he’s also been successful as a stud, as he’s fathered a handful of G1 winners and even had two of his offspring in the 2025 Kentucky Derby.

Clever Again debuted at Keeneland in a 4 1/2-furlong spring last April but didn’t race again until February of this year at Oaklawn Park. However, he showcased some impressive speed in a win at the Hot Springs Stakes (LS) in March over a field that included Del Mar Futurity (G1) winner Gaming. Trainer Steve Asmussen is a two-time Preakness Stakes winner with Curlin (2007) and Rachel Alexandra (2009), and he noted that he’s a physically capable horse that is extremely manageable. See which horses to back at SportsLine now.

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, over at SportsLine.

Which horse wins the Preakness Stakes 2025, and which huge 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 in correct order at the Kentucky Derby and nailed the last two Preakness trifectas.