2022 Preakness Stakes Exacta and Trifecta Picks and Predictions

Though 80-1 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike bypassed the Preakness and will go straight to the Belmont, the race will still draw a field of nine of the top three-year-olds in the country. Epicenter and Simplification, two of the top four finishers in the Kentucky Derby, are moving on to Baltimore, and so is Secret Oath, winner of the Kentucky Oaks (G1). As always, there is a promising cast of new shooters as well, led by Wood Memorial (G2) second-place finisher Early Voting and supplemental entrant Creative Minister, who posted an impressive allowance victory on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

You can join in on the action and bet on which horse will win the Preakness Stakes at FanDuel Racing. Bet the Preakness Stakes with FanDuel Racing and get a $50 deposit match on your deposit!

Types of Exotic Bets for the Preakness Stakes:

• EXACTA: You pick who you think will finish 1st and 2nd in order
• TRIFECTA: You pick who you think will finish 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in order
• SUPERFECTA: You pick who you think will finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in order.

You can BOX these bets, meaning the horses can finish in any order. However, this makes your bet more expensive as you are placing multiple bets in one.

You can also make a WHEEL or KEY bet where you have one horse selected to win, and multiple to come in second or third. You'd use this when you're sure of the winner, but not as confident about everyone else.

Top Preakness Stakes Horse Picks

Picking the right horse in the Preakness Stakes requires considering a full range of things about the horses. Those include their prep race form, their pedigree for the 1 3/16-mile distance, their running styles, and how their trainers and jockeys have done in the Preakness in the past. With these ideas in mind, here are the key contenders for the 2022 Preakness Stakes.

1. Epicenter

Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Jockey: Joel Rosario

2. Secret Oath

Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas
Jockey: Luis Saez

3. Simplification

Trainer: Antonio Sano
Jockey: John Velazquez

4. Creative Minister

Trainer: Ken McPeek
Jockey: Brian Hernandez, Jr.

Preakness Exotic Bet Pick Tips

There is a field of nine drawn into the Preakness. Tactical speed is typically good to have, though closers are not out of the question if the pace is fast enough. Remember, Rombauer rallied from well off the pace to win the race in 2021. It is likely that a horse coming in from off the pace will win the Preakness, as the field contains several horses who do their best work on the lead: Early Voting, Armagnac, and Fenwick.

Among those speed horses, Early Voting has the most proven class. However, it is not a good sign that, after a contested pace in the Wood, he was flattening out at the end of a mile and an eighth and now has to go a sixteenth of a mile longer than that. At a short price, that makes it worth looking elsewhere, and considering horses who do not need to be on or so close to the front end to run a winning race.

These are the key contenders to include in your exacta, trifecta, and superfecta bets for the 2022 Preakness Stakes:

Contenders to Consider in Exactas, Trifectas, and Superfectas

• Epicenter: Though Epicenter will be the favorite in the Preakness Stakes, he looks like the real deal. The clear leader of the three-year-old class was run down late in the Kentucky Derby, but that day he sat closer to a nuclear pace than Rich Strike did, he moved earlier, and he still stayed on to hold second over good closers like Zandon and Simplification. This time he cuts back in trip, and the pace in front of him will be contested but not sprinter-fast as it was in the Derby. Epicenter is already a winner at a mile and three-sixteenths, the distance of the Preakness. He can stalk the pace or even sit closer to midpack and still run a winning race. And, his trainer Steve Asmussen is proven in the Preakness. He won in 2007 with Curlin, who had hit the board in the Derby two weeks before. He also won in 2009 with Rachel Alexandra, who won the Kentucky Oaks two weeks before.

• Secret Oath: In modern times, when a trainer thinks enough of a horse who ran well in the Kentucky Oaks to try the Preakness, those fillies run well. Furthermore, D. Wayne Lukas knows a lot about winning the Preakness: he has won it six times already, most recently in 2013 with Oxbow. Secret Oath’s running style should suit the Preakness well, since she can sit midpack or a little further back and then rally into the contested pace. Though she was defeated against males two starts ago in the Arkansas Derby, it was still a competitive effort, and she could get a better result with a cleaner trip.

• Simplification: This colt was the most consistent of the Florida horses through the Kentucky Derby trail, and has never run a poor effort on the dirt. Winner of the Fountain of Youth (G2), he ran well in all of Gulfstream’s points races and then rallied for fourth in the Kentucky Derby. The slight cutback in trip should help Simplification, given his previous efforts and his pedigree. Furthermore, he is a versatile horse who can run a strong race from anywhere in the pack, from the front end all the way back toward the rear. It gives him options to carve out a good trip despite the rail draw.

• Creative Minister: This horse does not have the experience of the rest of the field, as he jumps straight into the Preakness off of an impressive allowance-level win in the Kentucky Derby undercard. However, his connections have enough confidence in his form to front the $150,000 to supplement him into the race, and supplemented horses have shown some success in the Preakness Stakes. Trainer Ken McPeek is also a plus, as he won the Preakness Stakes two years ago with his filly Swiss Skydiver. In terms of pace, Creative Minister is an off-pace type who has been able to win with either a very fast pace in front of him or a more moderate one. On pedigree, his dam is a full sister to miler Tapizar, though the Creative Cause on top bodes well for him to stretch out to this kind of trip. All things considered, though a victory may be a lot to ask for this developing colt, he is in the right form and the right barn to find the frame.

With this analysis in mind, continuing to get information about the horses racing in the Preakness is your best friend. Keep an eye on horse racing news leading into the Preakness, and try to get a look at both the Preakness Stakes odds and the horses in the paddock as they get ready for the race. This will help you make the most profitable betting decisions!