2025 Preakness Stakes: Journalism wins with dramatic come-from-behind finish

An emotional Michael McCarthy says the Preakness Stakes shows the testament that Journalism possesses and “couldn’t be prouder” of his win in the 150th running of the event while thinking of his family.

Full race, via NBC Sports.

What a remarkable run to fall behind entering the final curve, jostle with another horse in the final straight, only to outrun Gosger at the post. What a run.

Steve Kornacki looks back at how previous Kentucky Derby favorites that lost performed at the Preakness Stakes, specifically analyzing the similarities between 2022 Derby favorite Epicenter and 2025 favorite Journalism.

The horses are making their way to the starting gate for the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore.

We're moments away.

Steve Kornacki details the wildest moments in the history of the Preakness Stakes, including a controversial race in 1981, a foggy day in 2018 and a fan jumping onto the racetrack and trying to throw a punch in 1999.

Eight horses trained by Bob Baffert have won the Preakness Stakes, making him the all-time winningest trainer in the race's history. Today he is attempting to claim win No. 9 with Goal Oriented.

There is a chance Baffert's record will be matched today, however. D. Wayne Lukas has won the Preakness seven times — his first victory came in 1980, and as most recent was last year — and will saddle American Promise today.

Check out the full race here.

Nick Luck shares some tea with Preakness attendees, where the party started early on the InField.

Without question the most international horse in the field. Heart of Honor’s parents are from Kentucky and Chile. He was trained outside of London, sold in France, and earned his stripes racing in Dubai.

Mike Tirico, Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss discuss the Triple Crown schedule and the ways to help stakeholders be more interested in bringing horses to all three events.

Drew Dinsick shares the horses he's eyeing ahead of the 150th Preakness Stakes, explaining why he likes Goal Oriented to win the race and Heart of Honor as an exotic play.

Tim Layden looks back at the storied history of the Preakness while looking forward to a new chapter with the upcoming demolition of Pimlico Race Course.

Todd Pletcher trained and Bobby Flay owned Crudo runs away with the Sir Barton Stakes, winning by eight lengths at Pimlico Race Course.

The Triple Crown schedule has been the subject of debate and some of horse racing’s most visible trainers give their thoughts on if change is needed

This is the last Preakness Stakes run at Pimlico Race Course before renovations begin at the track that will push the race to a nearby racetrack, Laurel Park, for what is expected to be the next two years.

When Pimlico reopens, it will feature a smaller main grandstand. The infield, which in recent years has hosted musical acts in part to cater to a younger crowd, will continue to host fans.

“It’s been a historic building but it’s time,” Bill Knauf, the president and general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club, told the racing outlet Bloodhorse this week. “Everybody agrees with that. It’s had a great run but it has run its course."

Influencer Griffin Johnson is hooked on horse racing and he’s hoping to bring some of his millions of followers along for the ride on star-backed Sandman.

With Kentucky Derby winner, Sovereignty, opting out of the Preakness Stakes, let's dive into the history of horses skipping the event and how it was incentivized for participation.

Journalism, the beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby, is the morning line favorite again in the Preakness. He outran 17 of his 18 rivals in the Derby, only finishing behind Sovereignty. On Saturday Journalism will face a field that is much smaller (eight horses) and full of question marks. 

The question for bettors, though, is what constitutes value with him. He’s listed at 8-5 in the morning line, which could be a steal on a horse of his caliber. But will those odds actually hold up or will the public all be thinking the same thing? The lower the odds, the greater the incentive to look elsewhere, especially when you consider the history of horses in this same spot: Nine beaten Derby favorites this century have turned around and contested the Preakness, but only two of them won. 

The overmatched horses seem to be Heart of Honor and Pay Billy. Heart of Honor was second in Dubai to Japan’s Admire Daytona, who finished last in Louisville. Pay Billy has done well in small stakes races on the Maryland circuit, but he’s never faced horses of this caliber.

Many fans will dismiss him, as he only has two prior starts going into this race. Sometimes, however, a trainer will learn more about a horse from two races than some others would out of six or seven.

The first start for Goal Oriented was an easy 6-furlong maiden win on April 6th of this year, which seems awfully late for a horse of this caliber. Then he ran in an allowance race on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. When I did my handicapping for the day, I told a few close friends that he was my best bet of the day, and that he was 4-1 on the morning line. As things turned out, I wasn’t the only “genius” in the crowd, as he was bet down to 6/5 favoritism, and he ran like it, dominating the race on the front end. It was an awesome effort for only the second race of his career.

One thing that I probably have in common with Bob Baffert right now is that we don’t know how high the ceiling might be for Goal Oriented.

Sandman endured a couple of bumping incidents in the Kentucky Derby and was forced to go 9-wide in the stretch, resulting in a seventh-place finish. Trainer Mark Casse is a very smart horseman, and if he’s coming back on short rest, I would tend to trust his judgment.

Casse says the horse has been training well, and the race evidently did not take too much out of him. I would not be surprised to see Journalism and Sandman go to the post as the favorite and second choice once again.

Bob Baffert will send out Goal Oriented this weekend. With just two career starts, neither in a stakes race, this is not your typical Baffert entry. There is clear upside potential, however.

Goal Oriented won both races he’s run in and does have early speed, which can be beneficial in the Preakness. But this is a big step up in terms of competition level, and with such a thin resume the unknowns are plentiful. And with Baffert’s name attached, he’s likely to get a good amount of betting attention, driving down his price. None of Baffert’s wins in this race have been with a horse like this — but maybe that’s just a reflection of how confident he is in this one?

The jockey who rode Sovereignty to victory at the Kentucky Derby last week has been fined over $60,000 for striking the horse with his riding crop too many times during the race, according to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

Junior Alvarado was found to have struck the horse with his riding crop “more than the permitted amount” during last week’s race, violating the authority’s rules, it said in a statement Saturday.

A penalty was imposed against Alvarado on Friday for committing the Class 3 violation and he was hit with a fine equating to 10% of his $310,000 winnings, the statement said. The fine was then doubled “pursuant to an escalating penalty structure for repeat riding crop violations within the previous 180 days,” resulting in a $62,000 fine, according to HISA.

Clever Again is trained by the man who has won more races than anyone in North American history. Steve Asmussen may be 0-for-28 in the Kentucky Derby, but his two wins in the Preakness include the stirring win of Rachel Alexandra in 2009, where she beat the boys just 15 days after winning the Kentucky Oaks.

Clever Again is a $500,000 yearling purchase who has done little wrong in his three-race career. He started his career with a second-place finish in a 4 ½-furlong maiden race at Keeneland, showing that he would appreciate more distance. Then, he posted consecutive wins in two-turn races. Both wins were at Oaklawn Park, with the first in a maiden race and the second coming in the Hot Springs Stakes. He’s lightly raced but could step up to the level of his competition here.

When he finished second in the Derby, Journalism did himself proud. He never had raced on a wet track, and his average field size in his previous races was six horses. Nevertheless, he was a constant factor throughout the race, and was denied victory by the fast-closing Sovereignty, who benefitted from a fast pace and the fact that he seemed to like the wet track.

Journalism should be a deserving favorite in the Preakness, as he was in Louisville.

Back in March, he ran against Sovereignty in a stakes race and lost by just a neck. He could be sitting in a good position on Saturday too, just off the speediest horses and poised to take over late. Somehow, his trainer, Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, is 0-for-10 in this race, although he’s often bypassed it with his top horses. The more money that Journalism, Sandman and Goal Oriented take, the more Clever Again and River Thames could emerge as value plays.

The Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty won’t run in the Preakness Stakes on May 17, forgoing the chance to win a Triple Crown.

“We received a call today from trainer Bill Mott that Sovereignty will not be competing in the Preakness,” Mike Rogers, executive vice president of 1/ST, said in a statement Tuesday. “Bill informed us they would point toward the Belmont Stakes. We extend our congratulations to the connections of Sovereignty and respect their decision.”

Sovereignty, whose odds closed at 7-1, won the 151st Kentucky Derby by 1 1/2 lengths on Saturday, running by favorite Journalism down the homestretch. The Derby win was the second for Mott, who also won via disqualification in 2019 with Country House.

After the Derby, Michael Banahan, the director of USA bloodstock for Sovereignty owner Godolphin, said Mott would ultimately decide if the horse would be fit enough to race in the Preakness.