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Preakness 2017: Expert picks, how to bet on the race, horse racing terms

Preakness 2017: Expert picks, how to bet on the race, horse racing terms

After the Kentucky Derby, horse racing is back on the American sports radar, at least until the Preakness Stakes.

Then, it could go one of two ways: Always Dreaming either wins the Preakness and takes his a Triple Crown quest into the Belmont, or he loses the Preakness and horse racing slinks back into obscurity.

The good news is that betting on horse racing is legal across the United States, unlike betting on other sports, so you won't have a problem getting picks down online.

A parimutuel system is used in horse racing, which is different from betting on a basketball or football game against a point spread in Las Vegas. Bettors aren't wagering against the bookie or house, but against each other, and the house takes a cut. So these numbers could change plenty between now and Preakness post time (7:35 p.m. ET) on May 20. It also means odds aren't fixed at the time of the bet.

MORE: 2017 Preakness odds, field


How to bet on horse racing


If you're betting at a window, whether it be at Pimlico or your local track simulcasting the Preakness, say the name of the track, the number race you're betting, how much you want to wager, the type of wager and the numbers (post positions) of the horses you're including in your bet. Twinspires.com is the official betting site of the Kentucky Derby, so it's a great place to start.

MORE: The Preakness infield is a day-drinking debacle


Horse racing wager types


There are tons of different ways to bet on a horse race, but here are some of the most common and ones you'll likely hear about come Preakness time on Saturday.

— Win, place, show, or first, second and third. When you bet on the winner, you simply get the horse at its odds and if it wins, you cash that amount. So $10 on a horse at 12-to-1 nets you $120. If you bet on a horse to "place," or come in second, the payout is less, and same goes for "show."

You can make an "across the board" wager on a horse — a bet on that horse to win, place and show. If the horse wins, you collect all three; if second, two ways; and if third, one way, losing the win and place bets.

— Exacta, trifecta, superfecta. These wagers force a player to pick the exact finishing order of the top two, three or four horses, respectively. The payouts are multiplied the more horses you put in these bets.

You can also "box" an exacta, trifecta or superfecta, which means you bet on all the possible combinations. So if I bet a trifecta box on Always Dreaming, Classic Empire and Irish War Cry in the Preakness, I'd actually be making six bets because I'm taking all six possible combinations.

— Pick three (or four, or five, or six). This involves picking the winners of several different races at a track on a given day. It often pays out the entire pool.


Preakness odds



Horse

Always Dreaming

4/5

Classic Empire

3/1

Lookin at Lee

10/1

Cloud Computing

12/1

Gunnevera

15/1

Conquest Mo Money

15/1

Hence

20/1

Multiplier

30/1

Term of Art

30/1

Senior Investment

30/1

(as of May 17)


MORE:
Must-see photos of Triple Crown winners


Preakness picks


Sporting News will make picks for the 2017 Preakness before the race on Saturday, May 20.