Preakness Horse Race Trends 2025: Key Stats To Find Pimlico Winner

Use our 2025 Preakness Stakes horse race trends to help pinpoint the winner of the big May 17 Pimlico race – the middle leg of the Triple Crown series. These key stats will highlight the best horse profiles based on past winners, which you can then apply to the final runners.

Preakness Horse Racing Trends 2025 – Put History On Your Side

You can wager with the best Preakness Stakes betting sites armed with some of the leading trends and stats. These will allow you to put history on your side ahead of the 150th edition of the Pimlico race on Saturday, May 17.

These include, 11 of the last 13 winners finishing in the top 4 in their last race, while 54% of winners since 2012 also contested the Kentucky Derby.

Key Preakness Stakes Stats 2025

Preakness Stakes Trainer Stats

When is the Preakness Stakes 2025?

The 2025 Preakness Stakes will be run on Saturday, May 17 at Pimlico racetrack.

We’ve also got the complete Preakness Stakes schedule so you can look forward to all the other races at the two-day meeting.

📅Time/Date: 6:50pm (ET), Saturday May 17, 2025
🏇Racecourse: Pimlico, Baltimore, Maryland
💰 Purse: $2m
📺 TV: NBC Sports and Peacock
🎲 Preakness Odds 2025: Journalism 8-5 | Sandman 4-1 | River Thames 9-2

Preakness Horse Race Stats Analyzed

Let’s look at the key Preakness horse race trends in more detail below – including the best Preakness Stakes post positions to look for in recent editions.

Preakness Post Positions Between 4-7 Have The Best Records

12 months ago, we saw Seize The Grey win the Preakness Stakes from post position 5 and since 2013 all winners came from gate 9 or lower and 11 of the last 13 from berths 6 or less.

While horses from gate 5 have now also been placed in 9 of the last 13.

Since 2004 (last 21 editions) there have also been just one winner each from gates 2 and 3. Plus the same for stalls 8, 9, 12 and 13 – with none for post positions 10 and 11.

However, it’s worth noting that the Preakness Stakes can often have a lot less runners, than the Kentucky Derby so the higher post positions wouldn’t have had runners in some years.

For example, only last year in 2023 National Treasure only had to beat six other horses with seven in total going to post. While in 2024 Seize The Grey only had s1even to see off.

That said, it’s still worth highlighting that post positions 4, 5, 6 and 7 collectively have the best return in the Preakness Stakes since 2004.

This batch of four gates have seen a solid 12 wins in the last 21 runnings between them – which equates to a solid 57% return.

2025 Preakness Stakes Post Positions

Preakness Stakes Winners and Post Positions (Since 2004)

Are Gates 5 & 7 The Magic Preakness Numbers?

Following on from the key post position in the Preakness, it seems horses from gate 7 have had an advantage in recent times. Over the last 21 years, it’s gate 7 that has the jointmost wins with four.

The most recent Triple Crown winner, Justify (2018), jumped from this post. Lookin At Lucky (2010), Big Brown (2008) and Smarty Jones (2004) were the others from the ‘seventh heaven’ gate.

Preakness Stakes post position 5 is also worth a big mention with four wins now since 2011 too. The Chad Brown-trained Early Voting in 2022 came from gate 5, as did last year’s winner Seize The Grey. It’s also worth pointing out that horses from gate 5 have a top record of finishing in the first three places.

This year’s gate 7 horse is Sandman and Pay Billy has been handed stall 5.

Have ‘New Shooters’ In the Preakness Stakes On Your Side

Not that long ago it paid to have horses that had run in the Kentucky Derby in your corner. This was backed up with a massive 21 of the 22 Preakness Stakes winners between 1984 and 2005 having raced in the Run For The Roses a few weeks earlier.

However, this Preakness horse racing trend has shifted in more recent years. Since 2006, horses that missed the Churchill Downs race and coming to Pimlico fresher has picked up.

Bernardini (2006), Rachel Alexandra (2009), Cloud Computing (2017), Swiss Skydiver (2020), Rombauer (2021), Early Voting (2022) – plus the 2023 winner National Treasure all DIDN’T run in the Kentucky Derby.

This trend also continued in 2024 with Seize The Grey missing the Derby – with his last run being a win in the Pat Day Mile.

How Does The Preakness Stakes Favorite Fare?

Over the last 13 editions, we’ve seen three winning Preakness Stakes favorites. This works out at a 23% strike-rate.

Last year’s market leader Mystik Dan – that year’s Derby winner – was second.

We’ve also had 11 of the last 13 market leaders finish in the first 4 – so, even those favorites that don’t get their head in front, they are never far away.

While this year’s market leader is expected to be the recent Kentucky Derby second Journalism.

Who Are The Best Preakness Stakes Trainers?

With Bob Baffert mentioned in the previous section, now seems a good time to remind us that the hall-of-fame trainer has a top record in the Preakness Stakes, so anything he runs should be respected.

Baffert also has a brilliant record in the Preakness Stakes – winning the Black-Eyed Susan eight times and more than any other barn (see below).

His first Preakness Stakes winner came back in 1997 with the Gary Stevens-ridden Silver Charm. While his most recent was only last year in 2023 when National Treasure scrabbled home by a head.

Of the Bob Baffert haul, he’s also seen his Justify (2018) and American Pharoah (2015) go onto land the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown.

This year Baffert has just one Preakness Stakes 2025 runner – Goal Oriented.

Bob Baffert Preakness Stakes Wins

Veteran Trainer D. Wayne Lukas Has Seven Preakness Stakes Wins

Of the rest, it’s 89 year-old veteran handler D. Wayne Lukas that is also worthy of respect. The Wisconsin-born trainer has mopped up seven Preakness Stakes wins over the years, with the first coming way back in 1980 with Codex.

He added six more over the years, with his most recent being only last year in 2024 when Seize The Grey won for the Hall of Fame trainer.

This year D. Wayne Lukas runs American Promise.

D. Wayne Lukas Preakness Stakes Wins

Preakness Winners That Skipped The Derby

Next up is to look at the recent Preakness winners that missed the Kentucky Derby – as running in the first leg of the US Triple Crown isn’t always a good guide.

Backed up with ALL of the last Pimlico winners skipping the Derby.

Look For A Recent Run (In The Last 6 Weeks)

With a lot of Preakness Stakes runners over the years having contested the Kentucky Derby just a few weeks before then most will fit the bill here.

But it’s still a stat to look out for in case any runners bypassed Churchill Downs and also didn’t run recently. This is supported with ALL of the last 13 past Preakness Stakes winners having raced in the last 6 weeks.

ALL of the 2025 Preakness Stakes runners – barring Pay Billy (85 days) have been on the track in the last 57 days or less.

Are Wearing Blinders In The Preakness Stakes A Plus?

The Preakness horse race trends also suggest that wearing blinders isn’t always a plus. Of course, many horses act well in this form of headgear.

Keeping them focused on the job at hand, plus it also helps avoid the kickback for hold-up runners. However, the stats tell a slightly different story.

Since 2012 only California Chrome in 2014 and the 2023 winner National Treasure won wearing blinders. Meaning 85% of the last 13 winners DIDN’T need the headgear to win the Preakness Stakes.

2025 Preakness Stakes Blinders Runners

Preakness Stakes Betting Odds 2025

See the latest Preakness Stakes odds 2025, ahead of the May 17 renewal at Pimlico.

Recent Preakness Stakes Winners (Since 2012)

WATCH: Seize The Grey Winning The 2025 Preakness Stakes