2016 Preakness Stakes Exotic Betting Picks

If you don’t play the horses on a regular basis, you may believe that there are only a few different horse racing betting options on the race. That is actually not the case, as beside the standard win, place, and show bets, there are what are defined as exotics. These bets generally require you to place a ticket that puts your selections in a specific order of finishing. While exotic bets are a good deal more challenging than a win bet, they also come with the bonus of having some potentially very large payouts. In this article, I’ll give you a quick overview of each of the exotic bets, as well as some selections that I might be playing when the 141st running of the Preakness Stakes takes place at Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore on Saturday, May 21.

A Closer Look At The 2016 Preakness Stakes Exotic Betting Picks

Preakness Exacta and Quinella Picks

Both the exacta and quinella wagers require you to predict the 1st and 2nd place finishers in the race that you are betting on, but how they work is a little different. With the exacta, you need to select 2 horses and predict the exact order of finish. The quinella allows you to pick the same two horses, and you win as long as they both finish in the top 2, regardless of who wins. Since there are two ways to win with a quinella as opposed to the single option with an exacta, the payouts are a little lower. On Saturday, I will most likely be going with Nyquist to win and Exaggerator to finish second, just as they did in the Kentucky Derby. My pick may shift depending on the draw or post position, as well as the weather on the day. The trifecta bet is a little trickier, because it requires you to predict the exact order of finish of the top 3 horses. You can increase your chances by boxing more than 3 horses, which is something we have discussed in another post, but it will cost you a good deal more. You can put on a straight trifecta ticket for just a single dollar, so you can always try a few different permutations without having to break the bank. For the third place finish in the Preakness, I am looking at Stradivari or up Runner. The former has a chance to deliver a bit of an upset here, but I’ll talk about that in an upcoming Preakness long shots post.

Preakness Superfecta Picks

Obviously the toughest of the lot, as this wager requires you to predict the top 4 order of finish. When I play the superfecta, I generally look for a horse at longer odds that might get up into the money. There are a number of horses that fit that bill in the Preakness, which means you can have some fun with this bet. I generally play 2 or 3 $1 superfecta wagers, mixing up the order a little and trying different horses in an effort to crack the code. This is another bet that you can have some fun with, as it almost feels like picking a lottery ticket with that many numbers. The payouts here can be amazing if you cash a winning ticket.