2025 Preakness Exacta and Trifecta Picks

Key Takeaways:

• Out of the Preakness’s 9 contenders, Journalism is the favored one after his Derby performance.
• For exacta and trifecta bets, Journalism is a key horse, along with long shots like American Promise and Gosger.
• Exacta and trifecta betting strategies include straight, boxed, key, and key box formats, and exotic bets can yield higher payouts.

The second jewel of the Triple Crown, the 150th Preakness Stakes, happens Saturday, May 17, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Nine of the best three-year-olds in the country will line up for their share of a $2 million purse, as well as a place in horse racing history.

Though Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty is training up to the Belmont Stakes instead of coming from Churchill Downs to Pimlico on two weeks’ rest, the second leg of the Triple Crown features the top two betting choices from the Run for the Roses: Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner and Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism and Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Sandman. The race also features some exciting new faces, including River Thames, Clever Again, and Goal Oriented.

In addition to being an exciting day for the owners and connections of the runners, the Preakness is an exciting opportunity for bettors as well. Betting on the Preakness is the best way to be part of the action, so read on to find out how!

Get ready to bet on the Preakness Stakes winner with FanDuel Racing. Explore the exciting 2025 Preakness promos available on FDR. Stay updated on the Preakness Stakes Odds as we approach the “Middle Jewel” of the American Triple Crown!

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How to Bet Exactas and Trifectas

You may be familiar with straight bets such as win wagers, but the best way to make big money betting the Preakness is by playing exotics. Before you start your Preakness Stakes betting, it is a good idea to learn what exactas and trifectas are, what strategies exist for betting them, and the costs and benefits of those strategies.

What are Exactas and Trifectas?

The classic win bet is just that: the bet cashes if your horse wins. Exactas and trifectas are just an extension of that: instead of betting on just the first horse to cross the wire, you are betting on the first few horses across the wire.

To cash an exacta, you need to have the first two finishers in the correct order. In a trifecta, you are betting on the first three horses to finish, in exact order. These are harder to get correct than just picking a winner. However, especially in races like the Kentucky Derby with huge fields, getting them correct can lead to a huge payout.

Horse Racing Exacta and Trifecta Betting Strategies

These are the basic strategies for playing exactas and trifectas.

Straight Exacta or Trifecta: One Combination

You can bet the exacta or trifecta straight, just one sequence or two or three horses. However, this is uncommon in practice. If you have a very strong opinion that one horse is likely to finish first and another horse is likely to finish second, a straight exacta can be the right move in a race. However, it is more common to bet multiple possible combinations, and the large payouts when a live long shot runs into the top two or three can make this a profitable strategy.

Boxed Exacta or Trifecta

The opposite of betting a single combination is by betting an exacta box or a trifecta box. In a box, you are taking a group of horses you think can finish in the top two or three and betting all possible combinations of groups of those horses finishing first or second for an exacta, or first, second, and third for a trifecta.

A box can make sense if you have a short list of horses you want to play, especially if most or all of them are long shots. But, the price escalates rapidly: for example, if you play a trifecta box, and you think there are seven horses with a chance at the top three, and you want to play every combination? There are seven possible horses who can win, then six possible horses behind each of those, then five possible horses who can be third behind those two. That’s seven times six times five—or, 210 combinations.

These are the common costs of exacta and trifecta boxes at the minimum bets offered by Pimlico Race Course:

Another issue with boxing exactas or trifectas is that they usually do not reflect your actual opinion on a race. A boxed bet suggests that you have a similar opinion on each horse’s chances to finish in the top two or three, since you put the same amount of money on each combination. However, if you have a horse or two who you think are more likely to finish high, or even finish in a particular spot, you are essentially wasting money by betting just as much on extremely unlikely combinations as you are on the ones that involve the horse or horses you think will run well.

Using a Key Horse in Exactas and Trifectas

You can cover multiple combinations while focusing on stronger opinions by using a key horse. A key horse is just like it sounds: they are a single horse who forms the key to your bet, and you are leaning on them to finish in a certain position.

One way of using a key horse is by betting for a horse to finish in a particular position in your exacta or trifecta. This is most often done by keying a horse to win (“keying on top”), though you can also key a horse in second or third. For example, if a horse finishes second often, keying a horse in second in exactas and trifectas can be just the right move.

Then, you just play the other horses you think can finish in the exacta or trifecta in the other spots where you do not have your key horse. You have fewer winning combinations since the key horse has to finish in the spot where you placed them, but also, you are putting your money on your opinion about that one horse.

Finally, a good middle ground between a key and a box can be a wager sometimes called a “key box.” In an exacta key box, you are wagering on a situation that has your keyed horse finishing either first or second, with any of your other horses of interest in the other spot: it’s basically two separate key bets, one keying them in first and one keying them in second. The trifecta key box works similarly, except it’s like three key bets at once: one keying them in first, one keying them in second, and one keying the horse third.

This can be a useful exacta or trifecta wager structure when you bet the Preakness Stakes. Though the smaller field means that the race is typically a little less chaotic than the Kentucky Derby, plenty can happen with even an eight-horse field, or nine, or ten, common Preakness field sizes. Even the best horse on the day can finish second or third due to trip trouble, and in such a large field the risk versus reward ratio often merits the cost of covering situations in which your key horse finishes anywhere in the exacta or trifecta.

2025 Preakness Stakes Field

You know the details about how to construct and bet exactas and trifectas. Let’s put that to work to make some money in the 150th edition of the Preakness Stakes

This is the official field of nine entered in the second jewel of the Triple Crown, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line Preakness Stakes odds for each horse:

Preakness Stakes betting opens Friday, May 16, so make sure to track the odds on FanDuel Racing. This can help you get an idea of which horses may be an overlay or underlay come post time, and help you find as much value as possible in the betting pools.

2025 Preakness Stakes Contenders

Consider these top contenders when making your wagers for the 2025 Preakness Stakes.

Exacta and Trifecta Key

Sometimes the favorite looks like the goods, and Journalism looks like exactly that kind of horse in the 2025 Preakness. Coming off a second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, the Michael McCarthy-trained son of Curlin has never run a bad race. He just keeps facing every challenge thrown at him and looking good while doing it.

Journalism has tactical speed, as well as adaptability—he showed the latter in both his troubled Santa Anita Derby as well as the chaotic Kentucky Derby. However, the fact that he only has to face eight others in the Preakness means there is a bit less chance for chaos than last time. From a pace perspective, it should not be as hot as the Kentucky Derby was, either; there just isn’t the bumper crop of one-way speed. That means Umberto Rispoli has a good chance of getting Journalism in range, asking for a rally, and seeing out the trip.

The wet weather is not a concern either. Not only is he nicely bred for an off track, being by Curlin out of Uncle Mo, but he showed in the Kentucky Derby that he can still run a good race in wet conditions. With consistency, solid distance pedigree, tactical speed, and wet-track abilities, Journalism is the total package as the key horse.

More Exacta and Trifecta Horses

When keying the favorite, it makes sense to keep things fairly narrow around them, as well as prioritize using a live long shot around that favorite.

The most interesting long shot in the Preakness Stakes is Gosger, one of the joint longest shots on the morning line at 20-1. That price seems a little optimistic, especially as he is one of only three graded-stakes winners in the field: it’s just him, Journalism, and the pace-disadvantaged closer Sandman. But he should probably go off a longer price than everyone except Pay Billy and maybe Heart of Honor. And there’s a lot to like. He has tactical speed from an outside gate under an aggressive rider in Luis Saez. He has a fantastic off-track pedigree. And, he has a fantastic distance pedigree, being by Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist out of a Tapit half to Derby winner I’ll Have Another. Given that he is lightly enough raced to move forward, the price will be right in the exotics to bet he will move forward and take advantage of all those positives.

Another price horse to lean on in exotics is American Promise. He comes from the barn of D. Wayne Lukas, who won the 2024 Preakness Stakes with Seize the Grey … as well as six other editions of the Preakness before that. In short, Lukas knows this race well. Though he finished only 16th in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, he was close to a nuclear pace, made an early move, and backed out of it. This time around, there isn’t an overwhelming amount of one-way speed -- in fact, the only horse who hasn’t proven yet that he can win without leading at every call is Clever Again. So, a stalking trip could work out better. A drawback is that he has been hit-or-miss over sloppy tracks -- but the price will be right on this son of Justify, and if he runs back to his Virginia Derby, he fits.

Even though he is taking a significant step up in class, don’t sell Clever Again short -- after all, it can’t be a coincidence that Jose Ortiz sticks with him instead of decamping to Grade 1 winner Sandman. Coming off a win in an ungraded dirt mile at Oaklawn, Clever Again faces top company for the first time in this. But, in both of his victories at Oaklawn, he bounced to the lead and took the field on a merry chase. It’s no guarantee that he’ll be able to do this in the Preakness -- but he is the only horse who hasn’t come from at least a little off the pace to win, meaning he will almost certainly be ready to take advantage if other jockeys get timid or if the track is speed-favoring. The near miss on debut after a protracted duel suggests he can run well if he is made to fight, another point in his favor. And, though he hasn’t raced past 1 1/16 miles, he has the best distance pedigree in the bunch: he’s by American Pharoah out of Flattering, a group-level winner at 1 ½ miles and a full sister to Epsom Oaks (G1) winner Love.

2025 Preakness Stakes Exacta and Trifecta Bets

Here are the recommendations for exacta and trifecta bets for the 2025 Preakness Stakes:

• Preakness Stakes exacta bet: Key box #2 Journalism with #3 American Promise, #9 Gosger
• Preakness Stakes trifecta bet: Key box #2 Journalism with #3 American Promise, #8 Clever Again, #9 Gosger

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