Preakness Stakes, Black-Eyed Susan: No shortage of betting opportunities

BALTIMORE - Pimlico Race Course will have a deep and diverse wagering menu for its Friday and Saturday cards that are topped by the respective Black-Eyed Susan and Preakness. Advance wagering on the Preakness will open Friday.

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Other wagers for Friday include the new Pimlico Special-Preakness Double, linking the Friday and Saturday stakes in an offering that replaces the Black-Eyed Susan-Preakness Double. It is a $1 minimum bet.

There also will be a $250,000-guaranteed late pick four on races 9-12, with the sequence encompassing the Black-Eyed Susan, which goes as the 10th, and the Pimlico Special. The pick four has a 50-cent minimum.

The Jockey Challenge Wager also is available Friday, with horseplayers able to make win and exacta bets on the eight riders competing in the four-race series that comprises the second, third, fifth and seventh races.

Saturday’s menu is led by a pair of pick fours that have sizeable gross pool guarantees. The early pick four that runs on races 5-8 has a $350,000 guarantee, with three of the races in the sequence being stakes. The late pick four on races 9-12 has a $1.5 million guarantee, with the all-stakes sequence culminating with the Preakness.

Pimlico also will add a super high five to the lineup for both Friday and Saturday.

The stakes action from Pimlico will feature extensive onsite television coverage by NBC and the NBC Sports Network.

NBC Sports Network on Friday will broadcast the Black-Eyed Susan from 4-5 p.m. Eastern. Its coverage resumes Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in a Preakness preview that runs up until the 4:30 p.m. start of NBC’s broadcast of the second leg of the Triple Crown. Following the NBC program, a post-Preakness show will air on NBC Sports Network, from 6:30 to 7 p.m.