Champion Forte Favored In Inaugural 2023 Preakness Stakes Future Wager

           Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable’s multiple Grade 1-winning champion Forte, riding a five-race win streak, has been installed as the 4-1 favorite to open the Maryland Jockey Club’s inaugural Preakness Future Wager.

            For the first time, the MJC is offering advance wagering on the 148^th Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, to be run May 20 at historic Pimlico Race Course. The future wager will get under way at noon Friday, April 28, and close at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 6, approximately one hour before the running of the Kentucky Derby (G1).

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            There is a $2 minimum in the Preakness Future Wager, with an 18 percent takeout.

            MJC linemaker Keith Feustle compiled a list of 28 individual horses for the Preakness Future Wager, a new and exciting opportunity for fans to select the horse they like or think will win the Preakness, which this year celebrates the 50^thanniversary of Secretariat’s record-setting victory. A 29^th field entry of “all other 3-year-olds” opens as third choice in the new wager at odds of 8-1.

            The Preakness Future Wager was unanimously approved by the Maryland Racing Commission at its April 4 meeting. Similar to that of future wagers for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks (G1), bettors are not refunded if their selection does not run in the Preakness, which is limited to a maximum of 14 starters.

            Forte was the juvenile male champion of 2022 that has won six of seven career starts, four of them in Grade 1 stakes – the Hopeful, Breeders’ Futurity and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at 2 and Florida Derby April 1 at Gulfstream Park in his most recent start.

            Tops on the leaderboard with 190 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby and the expected race favorite, Forte won Gulfstream’s Fountain of Youth (G2) March 4 in his 3-year-old debut. He is one of three horses trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher available as individual interests in the Preakness Future Wager, along with Blue Grass (G1) and Tampa Bay Derby (G3) winner Tapit Trice, second choice at 6-1, and undefeated Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Kingsbarns, rated at 15-1.

            A career winner of 5,528 races and a North American record of more than $458 million in purse earnings, Pletcher earned a record eighth Eclipse Award as champion trainer in 2022. He has won the Derby twice and Belmont Stakes (G1) four times, but is still seeking his first win in the Preakness. He has started 10 horses in eight Preaknesses dating back to Impeachment’s third in 2000, his best finish.

           Here is the full list of wagering options available for the 2023 Preakness Stakes Future Wager:

            Trainer Brad Cox is most represented with six horses – Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Angel of Empire (12-1); Champagne (G1) and Blue Grass runner-up Verifying (15-1); Lexington (G3) winner First Mission (15-1); Withers (G3) winner Hit Show (30-1), second in the Wood Memorial (G2); Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) and Lecomte (G3) winner Instant Coffee (50-1); and Jace’s Road (60-1), third in the Louisiana Derby.

            Included among the individual horses are two that have already earned an automatic berth in the Preakness by their victories in qualifying races – Red Route One (50-1), winner of the April 22 Bath House Row at Oaklawn Park; and Chase the Chaos (99-1), winner of the Feb. 11 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields.

            Red Route One and Disarm, second in the Louisiana Derby and third in the Lexington, are both trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, who won the Preakness with Curlin in 2007 and filly Rachel Alexandra in 2009. Both Curlin and Rachel Alexandra would go on to be named Horse of the Year and earn induction into the Hall of Fame.

            Other Preakness-winning trainers represented with individual horses in the Preakness Future Wager are Dale Romans (Shackleford, 2011) with Cyclone Mischief (50-1), third in the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby; Chad Brown (Early Voting, 2022; Cloud Computing, 2017) with 2022 Champagne winner Blazing Sevens (50-1); and Ken McPeek (filly Swiss Skydiver, 2020) with Sun Thunder (60-1), most recently fourth in the Blue Grass.

            Also among the individual horses are the Japanese trio of UAE Derby (G2) winner Derma Sotogake (10-1), Santa Anita Derby (G1) runner-up Mandarin Hero (20-1) and Continuar (70-1), third in the UAE Derby. Neither Derma Sotogake nor Continuar have raced in North America.

            Betting interests for the Preakness Future Wager will be available on the official website of the Preakness, www.preakness.com, as well as in daily racing programs at racetracks and at participating off-track betting facilities. Final odds and probable payoffs will be posted on the Preakness website following the conclusion of wagering.

            First run in 1873, the Preakness is the second oldest of the Triple Crown races, predating the Derby by two years. The Belmont Stakes had its first running in 1867.