Today was the day for War of Will!
The 2019 Preakness Stakes featured an interesting storyline with the Kentucky Derby carrying into Baltimore. War of Will has won the 2019 Preakness Stakes finishing 1 and 1/4 lengths ahead of the field. Everfast came in second and Owendale finished third to round out the win, place and show.
War of Will was able to overcome the No. 1 post draw to join American Pharoah as the only other horse to win out of the position over the last two decades, per ESPN. War of Will rode the rail the entire race and ended up victorious, unlike at Churchill Downs. It marks the first Preakness win for trainer Mark Casse.
Kentucky Derby Winner Country House & Maximum Security Did Not Race in the Preakness Stakes
Kentucky Derby winner Country House did not run at the Preakness thus eliminating any chance of a repeat Triple Crown. Maximum Security was also not in the Preakness field as owners continue to fight the disqualification ruling. Bob Baffert had a chance to make history with his eighth Preakness victory, but the trainer viewed the race as wide open. Baffert did not believe Improbable was a heavy favorite heading into the race.
“This horse has run some big races, hasn’t run a bad one, always shows up,” Baffert told Philly.com. “That’s what I like about that horse … It’s still a pretty even bunch. As we saw in the Derby, they’re all right there. That’s why there was so much traffic. They all have the same style, so you still have to get lucky.”
Improbable finished outside the top five at No. 6. There was a total of 13 horses competing at the Preakness Stakes.
War of Will was behind Improbable in the odds heading into the race. The horse was looking to bounce back after getting cut off at the Kentucky Derby and creates an interesting storyline heading into the Belmont. As analyst Mike Tirico pointed out, a War of Will win at the Belmont could restart the debate as to whether the horse would have won at the Kentucky Derby if he was not cut off by Maximum Security.
Here is a look at the Preakness results and betting payouts, per NBC Sports.
Preakness Stakes Results 2019
The number listed to the right of the horse’s name is their post position.
| POSITION | HORSE |
| 1. | War of Will (1) |
| 2. | Everfast (10) |
| 3. | Owendale (5) |
| 4. | Warrior’s Charge (3) |
| 5. | Laughing Fox (11) |
| 6. | Improbable (4) |
| 7. | Win Win Win (13) |
| 8. | Bourbon War (2) |
| 9. | Signalman (8) |
| 10. | Anothertwistafate (12) |
| 11. | Alwaysmining (7) |
| 12. | Market King (6) |
| DNF | Bodexpress (9) |
Preakness Betting Payouts: Win, Place & Show
The following data is courtesy of NBC and is based on a $2 bet. The numbers to the left of the horse are its post position.
| HORSE | WIN | PLACE | SHOW |
| 1. War of Will | $14.20 | $7.40 | $5.40 |
| 10 Everfast | $32.00 | $14.40 | |
| 5 Owendale | $6.00 |
Preakness Betting Payouts: Exacta, Trifecta & Superfecta
| $2 EXACTA | $1 TRIFECTA | $1 SUPERFECTA |
| 1-10 | 1-10-5 | 1-10-5-3 |
| $947.00 | $4,699.80 | $51,924.00 |
Preakness Odds 2019
| POST | HORSE | JOCKEY |
| 1. | War of Will | Tyler Gaffalione |
| 2. | Bourbon War | Irad Ortiz Jr. |
| 3. | Warrior’s Charge | Javier Castellano |
| 4. | Improbable | Mike Smith |
| 5. | Owendale | Florent Geroux |
| 6. | Market King | Jon Court |
| 7. | Alwaysmining | Daniel Centeno |
| 8. | Signalman | Brian Hernandez Jr. |
| 9. | Bodexpress | John Velazquez |
| 10. | Everfast | Joel Rosario |
| 11. | Laughing Fox | Ricardo Santana Jr. |
| 12. | Anothertwistafate | Jose Ortiz |
| 13. | Win Win Win | Julian Pimentel |