Preakness 2019: Post-Kentucky Derby Odds and Preview

It would be hard for the second leg of the Triple Crown to deliver as many unexpected twists as the Kentucky Derby.

However, the Preakness Stakes is expected to have a wide-open field similar to Saturday's race at Churchill Downs.

Kentucky Derby winner Country House will be one of the top horses entered into the Preakness Stakes, but there is no guarantee he will be the favorite for the May 18 race at Pimlico Race Course.

Preakness Odds

Country House's early Preakness odds are still favorable for bettors at +650 (bet $100 to win $650), according to Bovada (h/t The Number 55).

Maximum Security, who was disqualified from the winning position at the Kentucky Derby, sits at +165 to win the Preakness Stakes.

In the coming days, we will have a better idea of which horses will compete. For now, most of the attention is centered on Country House and Maximum Security.

Preview

Country House and Maximum Security will be linked forever because of the decision to disqualify Maximum Security from his Kentucky Derby win.

We know for sure that Country House's Triple Crown bid will be in play on Saturday, and it is likely Maximum Security receives another shot to win a high-profile race.

A few other horses could make the jump from Churchill Downs to Pimlico, including Code of Honor, who ended up second in the finishing order after the disqualification.

Tacitus, who shares the same trainer as Country House, William I. Mott, could be in the mix as well after taking third in the Kentucky Derby.

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Some more horses might follow Country House to Pimlico, but a few factors will be involved in the decision-making process.

Trainers could decide to run their horses again in a short span strictly based off performance or some could be taken out of the field to rest up for the Belmont Stakes.

There will also be some new names when it is finalized during the week of the May 18 race.

Anothertwistafate and Alwaysmining are the two non-Kentucky Derby horses worth keeping an eye on in the buildup to the Preakness. 

Those horses will try to become the fifth horse in the past 35 years to win the Preakness after not competing in the Kentucky Derby.

Cloud Computing achieved that feat in 2017, and Rachel Alexandra in 2009 was the last horse to do it before that.

One horse we know will not compete in the Preakness is Omaha Beach, who was scratched from the Kentucky Derby with an entrapped epiglottis.

According to Jason Frakes of the Courier-Journal, Omaha Beach will not run in either the Preakness or Belmont Stakes.