Meet the Preakness Stakes horses that ran in the 2025 race

CBS News

18-05-2025

The Preakness Stakes had a field of nine horses that raced in Baltimore today for the 2025 running of the middle jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown.
Journalism, who was favored to win the Kentucky Derby earlier this month but came in second, was picked as the morning-line favorite for the 150th running of the Preakness at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course.
Journalism took home the win after trailing at sixth place for much of the race.
2025 Preakness Stakes horses and odds
For the Preakness, Journalism was given 8-5 odds following Monday's post-position draw at a Baltimore-area brewery. Here's a list of all the 3-year-old horses in the race in order by their number with their morning-line odds:
1. Goal Oriented, 6-1
2. Journalism, 8-5
3. American Promise, 15-1
4. Heart of Honor, 12-1
5. Pay Billy, 20-1
6. River Thames, 9-2
7. Sandman, 4-1
8. Clever Again, 5-1
9. Gosger, 20-1
Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty was missing from the starting gate for the Preakness, dashing any hopes this year for a horse to take the Triple Crown — the three-race series consisting of the Derby, the Preakness and next month's Belmont Stakes in New York.
Sovereignty's trainer told Preakness organizers the bay colt was skipping the Run for the Black-Eyed Susans to prepare for the Belmont. The Derby winner arrived last week at Saratoga Race Course, the temporary home of the Triple Crown's third race, while Belmont Park on New York's Long Island is undergoing a massive redevelopment.
Journalism finished the Derby 1 1/2 lengths behind Sovereignty and a neck in front of Baeza, who crossed the finish line third. The second-place result ended the colt's winning streak at four victories, the last three of which were graded-stakes races in California: the Santa Anita Derby in April, March's San Felipe Stakes and the Los Alamitos Futurity Stakes in December.
Jockey Umberto Rispoli was aboard Journalism for those three wins, for the Derby and for Preakness Stakes, which is his first win in the Triple Crown races. He is the first jockey from Italy to win one of them.
Journalism's trainer, Michael McCarthy, was overcome with emotion following his second Preakness victory. He choked up when told NBC Sports that the win was for Altadena, the California neighborhood ravaged by wildfires earlier this year.
Now he looks for a possible rematch with Sovereignty at the Belmont.
"I'd imagine, if he'd give a good account of himself here on Saturday," McCarthy said Wednesday, according to Preakness organizer 1/ST. "He had three races in seven weeks as a 2-year-old. It didn't seem to bother him. Three races in five weeks is a little bit different but he's a hardy horse. … It's in the back of our minds."
Preakness Stakes entry Journalism breezes during morning workouts at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, May 14, 2025.
Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Two other horses in the Preakness — Sandman and American Promise — also ran in the Derby. Sandman finished sixth in the Run for the Roses, and American Promise came in 16th in the 19-horse field.
For the Preakness, Sandman was given 4-1 odds in the morning line, the closest to Journalism. The gray colt won the Arkansas Derby in March after coming in third in February's Rebel Stakes and second in the Southwest Stakes in January.
Sandman was under jockey John Velazquez, who's ridden in the Preakness 13 times, most recently aboard National Treasure for his victory in 2023.
American Promise received 15-1 morning-line odds for Saturday's race. The chestnut colt has two wins this season, including the Virginia Derby in March, and finished fifth at the Risen Star Stakes in New Orleans in February.
Nik Juarez, who rode American Promise in the Derby, had the mount again for his first Preakness. But the colt's trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, is no stranger to the race, saddling a record 48 starters and winning seven times, most recently with Seize the Grey last year.
Preakness Stakes entry American Promise breezes during morning workouts at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, May 14, 2025.
Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
River Thames was given the third-best odds in the morning line with 9-2. The bay colt won two races this year, lost to Sovereignty by a neck at Florida's Fountain of Youth Stakes in March and finished third at last month's Blue Grass Stakes in Kentucky.
Irad Ortiz Jr. was aboard River Thames for the jockey's seventh mount at the Preakness. Ortiz is still looking for his first win at the race after coming in second twice, most recently with Blazing Sevens in 2023. The colt's trainer, Todd Pletcher, has saddled 10 horses at the Preakness and is still seeking his first win.
Clever Again, the son of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, received 5-1 odds in the morning line. The bay colt has won two races this year, including Arkansas' Hot Springs Stakes in March.
Jose Ortiz rode Clever Again in the Preakness, his first mount in the race since winning aboard Early Voting in 2022. With the colt, trainer Steve Asmussen is looking for his first Preakness win since filly Rachel Alexandra's victory in 2009.
Goal Oriented, with 6-1 morning-line odds, will give trainer Bob Baffert a shot at adding to his record eight Preakness victories. The dark bay colt has won two races this year, including one of the Derby's undercard races. Flavien Prat, who won the Preakness aboard Rombauer in 2021, will have the mount Saturday.
With 12-1 odds in the morning line, Heart of Honor tried but failed to make jockey Saffie Osborne the first woman to win a Triple Crown race since 1993, when Julie Krone won the Belmont aboard Colonial Affair. Based in the U.K., Heart of Honor has won two races this season in the United Arab Emirates and came in second at last month's UAE Derby.
Two horses, Gosger and Pay Billy, were given 20-1 morning-line odds in the Preakness. Gosger comes to Pimlico with two wins this year, including last month's Lexington Stakes in Kentucky. This season, Pay Billy has won four times at Maryland's Laurel Park.