2022 Preakness Stakes horses, contenders, odds, date: Expert who called Kentucky Derby double shares picks

The 2022 Preakness Stakes will take place on Saturday, May 21, and history could be made depending on the winning horse’s time. The last two Preakness races have seen both winners clock in at under one minute, 54 seconds at the distance of 1 3/16 miles. There have never been three straight Preakness races under 1:54.00 at this distance, which has been contested since 1925. The horses are clearly getting faster, as the last three years have seen the three fastest times since 2008. Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore will host the Preakness Stakes 2022, with Kentucky Derby runner-up Epicenter the 3-1 favorite. Other 2022 Preakness Stakes contenders include Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath (11-2) and Early Voting (6-1) in the latest 2022 Preakness Stakes odds. With so much to consider, you’ll want to see what SportsLine’s Jody Demling has to say before entering any 2022 Preakness Stakes picks or horse racing predictions of your own.

A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling has been on-point with his horse racing bets. In fact, this is the same handicapper who has called the Preakness winner nine times in the last 17 years. In the 2020 Preakness Stakes, Demling nailed the Swiss Skydiver-Authentic exacta. 

He hit the exacta in the Wood Memorial in April. Last year, he hit the exacta, trifecta and superfecta in the Belmont Stakes. He’s also hit the Derby-Oaks double at Churchill Downs 10 times in the last 14 years, including this year’s massive upset with Rich Strike. That means he held a ticket with the winners of both the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby all but four times in his last 14 tries.

In addition, at one point in 2020, he picked the winners of six straight races: the Saudi Cup, Gotham Stakes, Rebel Stakes, Louisiana Derby, Florida Derby and Belmont Stakes. Anyone who has followed him on these races is way up.

Now, with the 2022 Preakness Stakes coming up, Demling is sharing his picks and predictions over at SportsLine. Go here to see them.

Top 2022 Preakness Stakes predictions

One of Demling’s surprising 2022 Preakness Stakes picks: He is fading Secret Oath, saying one of the top favorites barely even cracks the top three. Two of the last three fillies to compete in the Preakness Stakes have won the race: Rachel Alexandra (2009) and Swiss Skydiver (2020). But just four of the first 52 fillies to run at Pimlico were successful, and thus, fillies have less than an 11 percent success rate in winning the Preakness.

Rachel Alexandra remains the only horse to win both the Kentucky Oaks and Preakness, which is what Secret Oath is trying to do. The two-week turnaround may be the horse’s biggest concern, as she’s never had fewer than four weeks off in between races. Her only other race against males came at the Arkansas Derby, when she had five weeks of rest and tired down the stretch, finishing third. With even less rest and against even better competition, there are horses with much better value for 2022 Preakness Stakes bets.

Another stunner: Demling is high on Simplification, even though he’s an 8-1 underdog. Simplification finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby, his worst finish since his first maiden special weight run last October.

Had Simplification done a better job of getting further inside the pack during the Kentucky Derby, he may have stood a better chance to win, and will give it another go in the Preakness Stakes 2022. The bay colt from Florida matched his previous best Speed Beyer Figure during the Derby (96), but finished with the highest Equibase Figure of his career at 101. 

How to make 2022 Preakness Stakes picks, bets

2022 Preakness Stakes horses, odds