At 5-1 odds, Early Voting powered through near-record heat to win the 147th Preakness Stakes. Jose Ortiz was the winning jockey, while Chad Brown was the winning trainer. The temperature at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course was just around 90 degrees during the race, making Saturday’s race one of the warmest in Preakness history.

Early Voting defeated hard-charging favourite Epicenter to win the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, confirming the decision to forego the Kentucky Derby in favour of the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Early Voting trailed the leaders throughout the most of the race before taking the lead in the final bend. He won by 1 1/4 lengths over Epicenter, who finished second in the Derby.

The Preakness was held without Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, whose owner chose extended rest over a chance at the Triple Crown.

Early Voting, who started at 5-1, handed Chad Brown his second Preakness win. Klaravich Stables, which won the race with Cloud Computing in 2017, also owns him.

Runner-up in the Kentucky Derby Epicenter finished second, while Creative Minister finished third after being given 10-1 odds.

At the start, Epicenter was the 7-5 favourite, followed by Early Voting at 5-1 and Secret Oath at 9-2. Armagnac was the field’s longshot at 18-1. Fenwick, the longshot at the outset of the day, finished last.

Also read: Preakness Stakes 2022: Racing odds, picks for second jewel of Triple Crown

Jose Ortiz, the jockey, won the Preakness for the first time. In four prior races, he had never finished higher than fourth.

Early Voting finished first out of nine horses, including filly Secret Oath and three who returned from the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago. Early Voting, a Gun Runner son, won for the third time in four races to claim the $900,000 winner’s share of the $1.65 million payout.

Also read: All about Preakness Stakes, the middle derby in Triple Crown

This week, assistant trainer Baldo Hernandez remarked, “He got the time off. He’s in good shape.”

He was in excellent enough shape to deal with some inclement weather. The 147th Preakness Stakes was held in near-record heat, with temperatures reaching into the 90s.

Also read: Preakness Derby 2022: List of horses

The Preakness is the middle leg of the Triple Crown, however, there was no Triple Crown winner this year since owner Richard Dawson and trainer Eric Reed decided not to run longshot Derby winner Rich Strike in Saturday’s race.

The Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown, will be raced on June 11.