Preakness Stakes Predictions: Expert Picks and Horse Odds

Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby on May 7. He was supposed to run in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, but his owner wants him to skip it and run at the Belmont Stake on June 11. Secret Oath, winner of the Oaks, will take on the boys, including the Derby runner-up Epicenter.

The Preakness Stakes starts on CNBC at 2 p.m. Eastern time and moves to NBC at 4 p.,m., and is streamed on NBCSports.com.

Joe Drape's picks for Preakness Stakes are Secret Oath, Epicenter and Early Voting.

Jose Ortiz will ride Early Voting instead of the colt that finished fourth in the Derby. The horse has won six of eight races at Pimlico.

Drape has shown improvement in each of his three starts. Hoppert's first race was in March. His owners paid a $150,000 supplemental fee to make him eligible for the last two Triple Crown races.

Drape is the favorite to win the Preakness Stakes. Fenwick is a son of the 2007 Preaks winner Curlin. Hoppert is an 11th-place finisher at the Blue Grass Stake.

Secret Oath is the favorite to win the Preakness Stakes. The Kentucky Oaks winner has a good chance.

The second-place finisher in the Wood Memorial bypassed the Derby to point toward the Preakness. Chad Brown used the same playbook with Cloud Computing, the 2017 Preaks winner.

Happy Jack is a son of Oxbow who won the race in 2013. He was a handful to load into the Derby gate and caused mayhem early in the run. Hoppert thinks he will not be able to help his horse.

7. Armagnac is trained by Tim Yakteen and ridden by Irad Ortiz.

Drape was going to be the post-time favorite even if Rich Strike came. Epicenter ran big in the Derby.

Hoppert predicts that the winner of the Preakness Stakes will be a horse that came close in the Derby.

Drape finished third in the Wood Memorial. Hoppert is the most experienced in this race, but he has won only two races.