2023 Preakness Stakes results, winner: National Treasure wins, ending Mage's Triple Crown hopes

Bob Baffert has now won a record eight times in the Preakness Stakes

Bob Baffert has returned from suspension in style, as his horse National Treasure held off a surging Blazing Sevens to win the 2023 Preakness Stakes. By virtue of his victory, his eighth in the Preakness, Baffert is the race's winningest trainer, surpassing a record previously held by Robert Wyndham Walden. Baffert now has 17 Triple Crown wins as well, extending his own record. 

National Treasure took a sizable lead early, holding it for much of the race until Blazing Sevens blew through the pack to get neck-and-neck with Baffert's colt down the stretch. But while it looked as if it were headed to a photo finish, National Treasure pulled ahead just enough near the end to secure a clear victory. 

While Baffert is no stranger to winning at Pimlico Race Course, this was the first career Preakness victory for jockey John Velazquez. The Hall of Fame jockey now has six Triple Crown wins under his belt, as he won the Kentucky Derby three times and the Belmont Stakes twice. 

The 2023 Preakness Stakes marked Baffert's first Triple Crown race in two years, as he received a series of suspensions after one of his horses, Medina Spirit, tested positive for an anti-inflammatory drug after winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Medina Spirit died that December following a workout at Santa Anita racetrack in Southern California. 

The day wasn't all bright for Baffert despite National Treasure's win, however. Hours before the Preakness Stakes, one of Baffert's horses, Havnameltdown, suffered a left front ankle injury during an undercard race and was euthanized on the track. Havnameltdown's jockey, Luis Saez sustained a minor leg injury in the incident as he was flung off his horse. 

"We've been totally wiped out after [Havnameltdown] got hurt, so the emotions of this game, there's so many responsibilities a trainer has: employees, horses, jockeys, safety," A visibly emotional Baffert said after National Treasure's win. "And then, to win this -- losing that horse really hurt, but I'm happy for [Velazquez]. He got the win. I have a great team, I got my boy with me. 

"I'm sorry, but it's been a very emotional day." 

Havnameltdown's death comes after two horses were injured and later euthanized in undercard races before the Kentucky Derby, raising significant questions about the safety of horse racing. 

2023 Preakness Stakes results, payouts

1 - National Treasure WIN: $7.80 PLACE: $4.00 SHOW: $2.60
3 - Blazing Sevens PLACE: $5.00 SHOW: $2.80
7 - Mage SHOW: $2.40

$2.00 Exacta 1-3 $31.80
$1.00 Trifecta 1-3-7 $24.20
$1.00 Superfecta 1-3-7-5 $72.40  

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Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has delivered the "Riders Up" call, and we're now 10 minutes away from post time. 

We have a slight change in the odds as the Preakness Stakes is only a half hour away: Chase the Chaos and Red Route One both moved to 8-1 and 7-1, respectively. 

We're just over an hour from post time at Pimlico Race Course. Time to see if Kentucky Derby winner Mage can fend off a challenge from the Bob Baffert-trained National Treasure, the new favorite, and Chase the Chaos, the horse with the second best odds. 

Blazing Sevens is 4-1 in the Preakness Stakes, and his trainer Chad Brown helped Early Voting win it last year. Brown is hoping to become the first trainer to go back-to-back in the Preakness Stakes since Bob Baffert (2001-2002). 

Kentucky Derby winner Mage (2-1) will be the only horse to run the first two legs of the Triple Crown, the first time that's happened in 75 years. Mage is aiming to become the 14th Triple Crown winner and the first since Justify in 2018. Here's the full list of Triple Crown winners: 

• Sir Barton (1919)
• Gallant Fox (1930)
• Omaha (1935)
• War Admiral (1937)
• Whirlaway (1941)
• Count Fleet (1943)
• Assault (1946)
• Citation (1948)
• Secretariat (1973)
• Seattle Slew (1977)
• Affirmed (1978)
• American Pharaoh (2015)
• Justify (2018)

With less than three hours until the starting gate opens in the 2023 Preakness Stakes, the betting public seems lukewarm on Kentucky Derby winner Mage. A resounding winner of the first leg of the Triple Crown two weeks ago, Mage is just a 2-1 favorite in the latest Preakness Stakes odds. Those odds have actually risen from his 8-5 morning-line price, which was set before the connections of First Mission (who was 5-2 on the morning line) scratched the horse from the race on Friday. On the other end of the odds board, no horse in the seven-horse field is longer than 8-1. Chase the Chaos, who originally was 50-1, has been bet down to 7-1.  

X-rays have come back clean for Luis Saez, who took a hard fall and injured his leg in an undercard race earlier today, according to NBC Sports. Saez's horse, Havnameltdown, was euthanized on the track after suffering an ankle injury. 

Mage overcame a slow start to win the Kentucky Derby, but the horse can't afford to break slow today. Pimlico Race Course is the shortest Triple Crown race at 1 3/16 miles, and with only an eight-horse field a strong start will be critical to a victory. 

Two weeks after two horses were injured on the Kentucky Derby undercard and had to be euthanized, the undercard to the Preakness Stakes was marred by another equine death. Havnameltdown, the favorite in the Chick Lang Stakes, went down around the far turn of the race and suffered a left front ankle injury, Dr. Scott Hay, the on-call veterinarian, told NBC. Though the horse got back up, he suffered a left front ankle injury and had to be euthanized on the track, Hay said. Jockey Luis Saez, who was thrown from the horse during the spill but was shown moving on the track, was taken off on a backboard and placed in an ambulance.   

The post positions for the 2023 Preakness Stakes are locked in, with the Bob Baffert-trained National Treasure at No. 1 with Chase the Chaos and Mage at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. First Mission will not take part in today's race after suffering a hind leg injury yesterday. Here's a complete look at the post positions along with the horses' odds. 

• No. 1 post: National Treasure, 5-2
  
• No. 2 post: Chase the Chaos, 9-1
  
• No. 3 post: Mage, 8-5
  
• No. 4 post: Coffeewithchris, 10-1
  
• No. 5 post: Red Route One, 7-1
  
• No. 6 post: Perform, 8-1
  
• No. 7 post: Blazing Sevens, 9-2
  
• No. 8 post: First Mission 5-2

Jockey Luis Saez, who was flung off of Havnameltdown during an undercard race at Pimlico Race Course, has leg pain but is going to be OK, his agent told NBC Sports. Havnameltdown, however, suffered an ankle injury and was euthanized on the track. This comes after two horses were euthanized after suffering injuries during the undercard to the Kentucky Derby, raising significant questions about safety. 

A series of suspensions have made it two years since the controversial horse trainer Bob Baffert took part in a Triple Crown race, but he's making his return today at Pimlico Race Course. Baffert is the trainer of National Treasure, a chestnut colt that currently has the second best odds at 4/1. With seven Preakness wins under his belt, an eighth victory today would make Baffert the all-time leader in the race. 

Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness Stakes favorite Mage will try to add the second leg of the Triple Crown, and he's already experienced an eventful week. According to a tweet this morning from majority owner Ramiro Restrepo, the colt bumped his forehead in his stall on Thursday, which required treatment from the Maryland state veterinarian. Restrepo said the colt did not miss any training and is "ready to race" on Saturday. Mage was installed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite on Monday, but early wagering on the race shows him at 2-1. Post time for the $1.65 million Preakness is 7:01 p.m. ET.