Pimlico to offer Preakness Future Bet

The owner of Pimlico Race Course plans to offer as many as 40 horses in a parimutuel future bet for the track’s Preakness Stakes this year, the acting president and general manager of the track said Thursday.

The Preakness Future Bet will open April 28 and close about 6 p.m. Eastern on May 6, about a half-hour prior to the scheduled post time of the Kentucky Derby, according to Mike Rogers, who oversees racing at Pimlico for the track’s parent company, 1/ST Racing. It will be the first parimutuel future bet offered on the Preakness.

“Obviously, we’re modeling this on the Derby future bet, and we thought this could be pretty cool,” Rogers said. “We’ll see what kind of excitement it generates.”

The maximum number of horses that can be offered will be 40, Rogers said, and officials at 1/ST are currently considering whether to cap the field at 30 or 40 entries. Whatever the size of the field, one entry will be “all others,” covering the individual horses not offered in the pool, Rogers said.

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Churchill Downs has been offering parimutuel future bets on the Kentucky Derby for 25 years. Those pools include 39 horses and an “all others” entry.

Takeout for the Preakness future wager will be 18 percent, which is the takeout for win wagers at Pimlico. The minimum bet will be $2.

Pimlico received approval to offer the wager from the Maryland Racing Commission on Wednesday. Rogers said that the track hopes to announce the final format and the field within the next several weeks.

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