The 147th running of the Preakness Stakes is set for Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. And this year’s edition has a filly challenging the colts in the second leg of the Triple Crown.
Secret Oath is ready to run after winning the Kentucky Oaks on May 6 at Churchill Downs. A day later, longshot Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike shocked the racing world with a late rally to pass runner-up Epicenter.
Rich Strike is out of the Preakness and skipping the race to prepare for the Belmont Stakes. But Epicenter is in, and he’s the morning-line favorite to win the Preakness. The field may look diluted and not as strong, but the filly Secret Oath is one to watch as a top challenger in the 1 3/16-mile race.
Preakness Field and Odds
The morning-line odds for the Preakness are pari-mutuel odds. They will be adjusted based on the amount of money bet on the horses in the pari-mutuel pools from race tracks across the country and online betting platforms like TVG.
- No. 1 — Simplification (6-1)
- No. 2 — Creative Minister (10-1)
- No. 3 — Fenwick (50-1)
- No. 4 — Secret Oath (9-2)
- No. 5 — Early Voting (7-2)
- No. 6 — Happy Jack (30-1)
- No. 7 — Armagnac (12-1)
- No. 8 — Epicenter (6-5)
- No. 9 — Skippylongstocking (20-1)
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Secret Oath Primed for Preakness
Secret Oath was so strong down the stretch in winning the Kentucky Oaks, and she’s won 3-of-4 starts as a 3-year-old this year. The fine filly took a shot against the boys in the Arkansas Derby but did not run her best race.
Remember, Secret Oath was the 6/5 favorite in the Arkansas Derby. A video review of the race shows she was bothered and squeezed at the start and shuffled back to sit last of nine runners leaving the backstretch with all nine horses bunched within five lengths of the leader.
Secret Oath went six-wide into the far turn and was really moving and gaining ground up to third, and then second. She would chase the eventual winner Cyberknife to the finish before flattening out. She was caught late by Barber Road to finish third.
Jockey Luis Contreras was replaced after that race. Leading jockey Luis Saez rode Secret Oath beautifully to an impressive win in the Kentucky Oaks at value odds of 9/2 for legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Secret Oath ran her fastest race, posting a Beyer Speed Figure of 94 in the Oaks.
“The Coach” has trained other fillies up to Triple Crown races, including Winning Colors, who won the 1988 Kentucky Derby. He’s won the Preakness six times and goes for a record-tying seventh win with this sensational filly Secret Oath. Saez will be riding her again.
The balanced speed and pair of strong triple-digit BRIS Late Pace Speed Rating figures shown by Secret Oath in winning the Honeybee and Kentucky Oaks make her fit well in this Preakness field.
In fact, when winning the Honeybee at Oaklawn Park, Secret Oath ran considerably faster internal fractions. She finished a full second faster (5-6 lengths) than the winner Un Ojo in the Rebel Stakes that day in February at Oaklawn. Barber Road finished a half-length back, so that tells us Secret Oath at her best is considerably faster, despite finishing just behind him in the Arkansas Derby.
Longshot Preakness Winners
Secret Oath is not a big longshot in the Preakness at 9/2 odds. But she is the third betting choice at competitive odds. Combined with a weaker field this year, and Secret Oath has every chance to beat the boys and win if she runs another strong race.
In the last 11 runnings of the Preakness Stakes, five horses have won at double-digit odds. That includes the last two editions with Rombauer (11-1) and another filly, Swiss Skydiver (11-1). In fact, Swiss Skydiver beat the strong Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness favorite Authentic, who went on to win the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
If there is enough pace up front in the Preakness with horses to challenge Epicenter on the front end, Secret Oath should be running strong down the stretch again with a solid chance to win and become the seventh filly to win the Preakness Stakes.
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