No attendance is no problem for bettors
While the general public is not permitted to attend Saturday’s 145th Preakness Stakes because of the coronavirus pandemic, local horse racing enthusiasts can still place wagers on their favorite horses to help maximize the enjoyment of one of Baltimore’s most prolific annual sporting events.
“There’s two ways you can do it and the first is going to an [off-track betting facility]. There’s a number of OTB’s all over Maryland, so they’re pretty convenient and it gives you a pretty good opportunity to wager that way,” said Frank Vespe, publisher of The Racing Biz and president of the Maryland Racing Media Association.
“The other thing is betting on horse racing online is legal [and there’s] a number of companies that provide legal online horse race betting, so you can actually do that from the comfort of your own home.”
Last year’s Preakness Day had a record handle with $99-plus million wagered on the 14-race card.
Off-track options
For bettors looking to get out of the house, the Maryland Jockey Club offers eight OTB locations to place wagers, including seven in Maryland.
Baltimore-area locations include The Horseshoe Casino and Nick’s Grandstand Grill & Crabhouse, located inside the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.
Other OTB sites in the state include: Greenmount Station in Hampstead; Hollywood Casino in Perryville; Gboone’s Events Center in Boonsboro; MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill; and Long Shot’s, which is located in the Clarion Inn Event Center in Frederick. In Virginia, bettors can go to Riverboat Restaurant in Colonial Beach.
Online options
For those who plan to watch the day of racing at home, several online betting services are available.
The Maryland Jockey Club offers Xpressbet and other popular options include TVG, Twin Spires, DraftKings, FanDuel and BetAmerica.
“A lot of it comes down to personal preference — they all provide basically the same service,” Vespe said. “But in terms of betting the Preakness, everybody is going to let you bet the Preakness. You can just Google ‘online horserace betting’ and the first few that come up will be fine.”
Creating an account
First-time users must be 18 years of age or older, and signing up takes minutes.
Most servers request your name, address, email, phone number, date of birth and the last four numbers of your social security before you can create a user name and password for your account. A deposit fund into your account is required and most services provide bonus money as an incentive to sign up.