2018 Preakness Stakes Odds: Justify Favored To Win, Continue Triple Crown Pursuit
Jockey Mike Smith will be aiming to ride Justify to a fifth straight career victory Saturday when the three-year-old horse leaves the post as a heavy -225 favorite on the Preakness Stakes odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Justify stormed to victory by 2.5 lengths over second-place finisher Good Magic two weeks ago at the Kentucky Derby to remain undefeated through four career races ahead of the 143rd running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Bob Baffert-trained colt also dominated the field in a decisive victory at last month’s Santa Anita Derby, and has now emerged as a +150 bet to become the first horse to claim all three jewels in the Triple Crown since another Baffert-trained colt, American Pharoah, accomplished the feat in 2015.
Good Magic remains Justify’s closest competition on the odds to win the Preakness Stakes at +325. With a pedigree that includes the legendary sire Danzig, and 1964 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Northern Dancer, Good Magic has finished strong in six previous races, including wins at the Blue Grass Stakes and last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Two horses that did not compete in the Kentucky Derby sit in the middle of the pack, with Quip at +1400 and Diamond King at +2000, while Bravazo travels to Pimlico as a +1800 wager after a sixth-place finish on the muddy track at Churchill Downs.
Diamond King picked up his fourth career win four weeks ago in the Federico Tesio, but finished well back in 14th place at last fall’s Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes in his only other race longer than a mile.
Following a second-place finish at last month’s Arkansas Derby, Quip qualified to race in the Kentucky Derby before being withdrawn by trainer Rodolphe Brisset. Also a progeny of Danzig, Quip has tallied three career victories, including his most recent winning run two months again in the Tampa Bay Derby.
An eighth-place finisher at this year’s Kentucky Derby, Lone Sailor searches for his first stakes race victory this weekend as a +2000 wager. Further down the Preakness Stakes odds, Tenfold is pegged at +3300, ahead of Sporting Chance as the +4000 longshot.
