Journalism profile: 2025 Preakness Stakes odds, post position, history and more to know
Get caught up with Journalism's past performances, jockey, trainer and full analysis heading into the second leg of the Triple Crown
The clear favorite in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, Journalism was valiant but vanquished. He ran a winning race, but the late runner was outrun by Sovereignty fair and square. As the Triple Crown travels to Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes, Sovereignty is a no-show for the middle jewel, with his connections deciding to point to the Belmont Stakes instead. That leaves Journalism as the clear favorite to leave with the laurels. Will he do it this time?
2 Journalism (8-5)
- Trainer Michael McCarthy
- Jockey Umberto Rispoli
- Last race 2nd in the Kentucky Derby by 1½ lengths
- Career record 6 starts: 4 wins, 1 second, 1 third
- Career earnings $1,638,880
- Best career Beyer Speed Figure 108 (2025 San Felipe Stakes)
- Sire Curlin
Below, we'll dig further into Journalism as part of our series profiling all the horses competing in the 150th Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 17. We'll look back into his past performances, what questions need to be answered Saturday and analyze how the post draw affects his chances.
Preakness Stakes profiles 1 Goal Oriented | 2 Journalism | 3 American Promise | 4 Heart of Honor | 5 Pay Billy | 6 River Thames | 7 Sandman | 8 Clever Again | 9 Gosger
Preakness Stakes picks Michelle Yu | Gene Menez | Jody Demling | Jeff Hochman
What to know about Journalism
Sometimes you're just second best. That was the case in the Kentucky Derby for Journalism, who left the starting gate in Louisville on May 3 as the 7-2 favorite at FanDuel Racing, TwinSpires and 1/ST BET, enjoyed a relatively clean trip and ran a bang-up race, only to be outslugged by Sovereignty down the stretch.
Despite the loss, the fact remains that the race for champion 3-year-old honors features Sovereignty and Journalism and then everyone else. Journalism still has three performances—the San Felipe Stakes, the Santa Anita Derby and Kentucky Derby—that are arguably better than any one race run by his rivals in the Preakness.
On class alone, he towers over this Preakness field. Only Sandman, who won the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, has won so much as a Grade 2 race, and he needed a major pace setup to earn that victory.
The big unknown for Journalism is the quick, two-week turnaround. Will he be able to run his best race—or one close to it—with the short rest? Horses today aren't trained to run two weeks after their previous race, which is why the connections of Sovereignty are bypassing the Preakness. To start his career Journalism ran on three weeks' rest and won, but that victory came over a maiden special field.
Trainer Michael McCarthy won the Preakness in 2021 with Rombauer so he knows what it takes to prevail at Pimlico. If he didn't think Journalism was set to run a big race, he wouldn't be in it.
Post draw analysis
With Journalism's midpack running style and a nine-horse field, the post position draw wasn't crucial, and the No. 2 post will do just fine. From there, jockey Umberto Rispoli should be able to save ground around the first turn. Expect Rispoli to make his move around horses in the far turn and take aim at the leaders down the stretch. He was made the 8-5 morning-line favorite, but with his edge over this field, a price closer to even money seems more realistic.
