Preakness Stakes 2019 Results: War Of Will Pulls Away For Big Win
The Preakness Stakes 2019 results are in, and War of Will won going away.
The horse that came in with 6-1 odds built a lead and extended through the finish to win the second jewel in the Triple Crown. Everfast finished second at 25-1 odds, while the 7-1 Owendale came in third. The favorite in the race, Improbable, came in sixth.
The full results from the 2019 Preakness Stakes, including payouts, can be found at Horse Racing Nation.
The Preakness also had a bit of a frightening moment at the beginning as Bodexpress appeared to be caught on the gate and bucked his rider, running the entire race near the back of the pack and even toward the middle without a jockey. There was a brief review to see if there was a gate malfunction that could have led to a refund for those wagering on the horse, but it was determined to be an accident.
The 2019 Preakness Stakes kicked off with less hype than in previous years due to the absence of Kentucky Derby winner Country House. It was actually frontrunner Maximum Security who crossed the finish line first in the Kentucky Derby, but was disqualified in a first-ever decision that came after a wait of nearly 20 minutes while race officials studied replay.
As Fox News reported, Country House was not slated to run in the Preakness Stakes due to what trainer Bill Mott called medical reasons. That makes it the first time since 1996 that the winner of the Kentucky Derby did not compete in the Preakness, leaving no chance of a horse matching the feat most recently accomplished by Justify in 2018: the Triple Crown.
As the Courier Journal noted, there was still plenty of intrigue for the 2019 Preakness Stakes, including whether there could be redemption for War of Will, one of the horses impeded by Maximum Security down the stretch in the move that saw the horse disqualified.
“We’ll never know what would have happened otherwise, but of the horses most affected, War of Will did appear to have the most energy left in him as the horses neared the stretch. If War of Will wins the Preakness, those thoughts of a potential Derby run deterred would be validated,” the report noted.
You can’t make this stuff up, 2 races in a row screwed up ? #Preakness pic.twitter.com/jqP9uPlM9V
— ????.•?. (@AtOm_twelve) May 18, 2019
Going into the 2019 Preakness Stakes, Improbable was the favorite at 3-1 odds, jumping from 5-2 odds in the morning of the race. Improbable came into the Kentucky Derby among the favorites as well, but crossed the finish line fifth and jumped up to fourth place after Maximum Security was disqualified.
The lower odds were good news for many looking to wager on the race, as past runnings of the Preakness Stakes had a far-and-away favorite in the Kentucky Derby winner.
The results were also marked by a bit of tragedy from earlier in the weekend. On Friday, 3-year-old filly Congrats Gal died after crossing the finish line. As the Baltimore Sun reported, it was the first death on Preakness weekend since two horses died on Preakness day in 2016
“Congrats Gal suffered sudden death after the eighth race today,” Preakness officials said in a statement after the incident. “The incident occurred after the wire. Commission veterinarians attended to the horse immediately. Our thoughts go out to all of the owners, trainers and connections of Congrats Gal.”
Horse dies at Pimlico day before Preakness race https://t.co/XJZ7rQEWbB pic.twitter.com/8qYmgTiiys
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 18, 2019
