Preakness Stakes 2015 Odds: American Pharoah Sits as Betting Favorite

The top three finishers in the Kentucky Derby will be back at it on Saturday afternoon as the top three favorites at the sportsbooks to win the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course, led by Derby winner American Pharoah with 2-3 odds.

American Pharoah will be looking to take the first two jewels to get a shot at becoming the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.

The Bob Baffert-trained bay colt will have the advantage of jockey Victor Espinoza on his side. Espinoza rode California Chrome to consecutive wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes a year ago before finishing fourth in the Belmont Stakes to fall just short of sweeping the three Triple Crown races.

California Chrome was favored to win all three of those races, and American Pharoah is expected to follow suit on the odds; he is at 2-1 to win the Triple Crown at the sportsbooks, while wagering he doesn't win the Triple Crown is available at 1-3 odds.

Horse bettors also have the opportunity to wager against American Pharoah winning the Preakness Stakes by taking the rest of the field at plus-110 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

However, before any additional Triple Crown hype continues, American Pharoah will have to beat two other top contenders on Saturday afternoon that nearly beat him in the Kentucky Derby.

Firing Line (17-4 odds to win the Preakness) figures to have the best shot at ending the Triple Crown talk after finishing second at Churchill Downs. Baffert’s third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, Dortmund (9-2), is also one of the betting favorites for the Preakness Stakes despite the fact that he is coming off the first loss of his career.

Danzig Moon (14-1) leads the rest of the betting field for Saturday and placed fifth two weeks ago at the Kentucky Derby. Another horse that did not race at Churchill Downs but has identical odds to Danzig Moon is Divining Rod (14-1), and he's followed by Preakness betting longshots Mr Z (40-1), Bodhisattva (50-1), and Tale of Verve (50-1).