On May 16, the 140th edition of the Preakness Stakes will be staged with Kentucky Derby winner American Pharoah looking to keep his Triple Crown dreams alive. Although American Pharoah is a heavy favorite to dominate the field at Pimlico on Saturday, some experts are not ready to discount other horses from upsetting the Derby winner. Below, we’ve listed some of the horses with longer odds that experts believe are worth betting on.
The Preakness Stakes is just around the corner. For more coverage of the second leg of the Triple Crown, check out our complete Preakness Stakes preview as well as the experts’ picks for the Preakness.
[sc:MultiSportArticles ]
Experts’ sleeper picks for the 2015 Preakness Stakes
Bleacher Report
Experts
Sleeper Picks
Nate Loop
Divine Rod, Competitive Edge
Sean O’Donnell
Competitive Edge
[sc:horses240banner ]Nate Loop of Bleacher Report has his eyes on two new shooters as potential sleeper picks in the upcoming Preakness Stakes. One is Divining Rod, while the other is Competitive Edge. Divining Rod is considered as one of the best three-year olds competing this year.
Divining Rod, priced +1,200 to win the 2015 Preakness Stakes, finished first in his most recent race, the Grade 3 Coolmore Lexington Stakes on May 11. In three races this year, Divining Rod has yet to finish off the boards, finishing third in Grade 2 stakes Tampa Bay Derby (March 7) and second in Grade 3 stakes Sam F. Davis (January 31).
Competitive Edge (+1,500), meanwhile, enters Saturday’s race on the strength of back-to-back first place finishes in the Grade 3 stakes Pat Day Mile and in the Tamarac. Competitive Edge’s victory in the Pat Day Mile has also caught the attention of another Bleacher Report writer in Sean O’Donnell. Donnell believes that if Competitive Edge can handle the 1 3/16 mile-long track at the Pimlico Race Course, then he’ll be a huge threat to favorite American Pharoah.
The New York Times
Expert
Sleeper Pick
Victor Mather
Materiality
The Preakness Stakes madness has also engulfed even the venerable publication that is The New York Times. In an article posted on the publication’s website on Tuesday, Victor Mather ranks some of the Preakness Stakes’ participants from “contender to pretender”. Among the horses on his list is Materiality, who finished sixth in the recent Kentucky Derby.
It was a disappointing finish for Materiality, as he hadn’t finished lower than first place in all of his three previous races. That being said, Mather notes that outpouring of attention towards the favorites for Saturday’s race only makes Materiality a tasty sleeper pick at +1,500 odds.
IB Times
Expert
Sleeper Pick
Greg Price
Competitive Edge
Last but not the least we have Greg Price of IB Times (International Business Times), another New York-based publication. Like Loop of Bleacher Report, Price cites some of the non-Kentucky Derby racerswho might make noise in the Preakness Stakes like Competitive Edge, Divining Rod, Bodhisattva, Grand Bili and Tale of Verve.
Of them all, it’s Competitive Edge (+1,500) whom Price thinks has the best chance of thwarting American Pharoah’s bid to win back-to-back Triple Crown races. Price makes an excellent point about Competitive Edge’s likelihood of doing just that, saying that the Todd Pletcher-trained horse is well rested than American Pharoah. Competitive Edge did not race in the Kentucky Derby, and instead competed in Grade 3 stakes Pat Day Mile, wherein he finished first.
When you’re ready to bet on the Preakness Stakes, create a free betting account at Top Bet and get the freshest odds and lines for this grand event.
