Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit will race in Saturday’s Preakness and is listed as the morning line favorite. The Triple Crown hopeful failed a postrace drug test after the Derby, as betamethasone was found in his system. Horse racing officials decided that Medina Spirit will be allowed to race in the Preakness although trainer Bob Baffert will not be in attendance. Saturday’s Preakness Stakes on NBC has a post time of 6:50 p.m. Eastern Time. Let’s look at Preakness Stakes odds and Preakness Stakes picks.
2021 Preakness Stakes Betting Odds
Post, Horse, Trainer, Jockey, Morning-line Odds
1. Ram, D. Wayne Lukas, Ricardo Santana Jr., 30-1
2. Keepmeinmind, Robertino Diodoro, David Cohen, 15-1
3. Medina Spirit, Bob Baffert, John Velázquez, 9-5
4. Crowded Trade, Chad Brown, Javier Castellano, 7-1
5. Midnight Bourbon, Steve Asmussen, Irad Ortiz Jr., 5-1
6. Rombauer, Mike McCarthy, Flavien Prat, 12-1
7. France Go de Ina, Hideyuki Mori, Joel Rosario, 20-1
8. Unbridled Honor, Todd Pletcher, Luis Sáez, 15-1
9. Risk Taking, Chad Brown, José Ortiz, 15-1
10. Concert Tour, Bob Baffert, Mike Smith, 5-2
Favorite
Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby by a half length for trainer Bob Baffert who won his seventh Kentucky Derby. The horse was not considered a serious contender in the Derby, but he ran well and now is listed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite in Saturday’s Preakness. Medina Spirit has done nothing wrong in his career, never finishing worse than second. Saturday’s Preakness has a very weak field and only three runners from the Derby are entered. They are Medina Spirit, Midnight Bourbon and Keepmeinmind.
Top Contenders
Concert Tour won his first three races, but as the favorite in the Arkansas Stakes he was beaten by Super Stock and Caddo River. I am not really sure why they decided to keep this horse out of the Derby and point to the Preakness, but it could be that Concert Tour ends up as the favorite in the Preakness. Bob Baffert won’t be at the race, but it is hard to argue with his success in the Preakness, winning the race seven times. Mike Smith gets the mount on Saturday and there is every reason to think Concert Tour will be a major factor.
Midnight Bourbon was a major disappointment in the Derby, finishing sixth. The horse usually finds a way to finish in the money, but he has never really proven he has what it takes to win big races. I think the horse is overvalued, but he is trained by Steve Asmussen who won the Preakness in 2007 and 2009.
Crowded Trade finished second in the Gotham Stakes and he finished third in the Wood Memorial. The horse was pointed to the Preakness instead of the Derby and trainer Chad Brown won this race in 2017 with Cloud Computing. Crowded Trade also gets Javier Castellano in the irons and Castellano won the Preakness aboard Bernardini in 2006 and Cloud Computing in 2017.
Risk Taking was the favorite in the Wood, but never got going and finished seventh. If you think the horse could bounce back in this race then he may be worth taking at odds of 6-1. He is trained by Chad Brown.
I think you have to put Rombauer in the contender category as well. He was third behind Essential Quality and Highly Motivated in the Blue Grass Stakes. He seems primed for a big effort in this race and he gets Flavien Prat in the irons.
Longshots
Unbridled Honor is trained by Todd Pletcher, but the horse has never really shown much, winning just once in five starts. France Go De Ina comes in from Japan. The horse has races just once this year and finished sixth after a bad start in the UAE Derby. Keepmeinmind finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby and the horse has never proven he can beat top horses. His best effort may have been a second place finish to Essential Quality in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Ram is trained by D. Wayne Lukas and he is the son of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. The horse has just two wins in nine starts.
Preakness Stakes Picks
The Preakness Stakes is nothing like the Kentucky Derby, as the field is much smaller and longshots rarely win. In the last 20 years, 16 of the 20 winners came out of the Derby or the Oaks. I think this is a weird year, so I will be bucking a little bit of history.
Medina Spirit is a good horse and this field is weak, so he could win, but I can’t take him at odds so low. I know that Concert Tour will be a popular choice, and I will put him into some exotics, but I am not betting him to win at odds of 5-2. I am also not that thrilled about taking Midnight Bourbon at odds of 5-1, but at least he does fit into the history of the winning horse coming from the Derby. I think the value is on Crowded Trade at odds of 7-1. I will take him as my top choice, and also play Midnight Bourbon and then play a trifecta box with Medina Spirit, Crowded Trade, Midnight Bourbon, Concert Tour and Rombauer.
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