The new Maryland Jockey Club is proud to host the Preakness Preview Day Handicapping Challenge, a one-day on-site and online handicapping contest taking place on Saturday, April 19 at Laurel Park or through Xpressbet and TVG/4NJBETS.

The $500 contest ($250 entry fee, $250 bankroll) offers Win, Place, Show, Exacta, and/or Daily Double wagering on the entire card of live races at Laurel Park. Contestants must play a minimum of five (5) contest races with a $50 minimum bet per race.

Based on 120 entries, the total prize pool is $25,000, including one (1) full seat to the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge ($10,000 value) and two (2) National Handicapping Championship Prize Packs ($5,350 value, including $400 flight voucher and hotel stay).

In addition, the top five finishers split $9,300 in cash with $4,650 to the winner, $1,860 to the runner-up, $1,395 to the third-place entrant, $930 to fourth, and $465 to the fifth-place finisher.

All entry fees are returned as prizes. The prizes listed are approximations and the exact prizes will be determined by the final number of participants.

After the contest, the Top Three (3) finishers, in order of finish, will select their seat (BCBC or NHC). In addition to seat selection and cash, the winner of the Preakness Preview Handicapping Challenge will receive two (2) Reserved Seat tickets to the 2025 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on Saturday, May 17.

Contest players at Laurel Park can register only via walk-up registration on Saturday, April 19, from 11 am to 1 pm. The registration table is located on the first floor of the Clubhouse. Cash-only transactions will be accepted. The $500 contest buy-in is non-refundable, and the contest entry includes a live program. Contestants are assigned a betting card pre-loaded with a $250 bankroll for play at any self-service wagering machines at Laurel Park using the card’s PIN.

All TVG/4NJBETS online players must pre-register with Brian Skirka ([email protected]) before 3 pm ET on Friday, April 18.  All Xpressbet online players may pre-register with Brian Skirka or directly through Xpressbet until the first post time on Saturday, April 19. All online players must declare their tournament ADW (Xpressbet, TVG, or 4NJBETS) at registration time. Players must have an existing ADW account to participate in the Preakness Preview Day Handicapping Challenge. Each online player will be assigned a temporary online handicapping contest account through Xpressbet, TVG, or 4NJBETS. Players will be provided login credentials to access their accounts. Those online accounts will be pre-loaded with the $250 bankroll. All contest wagers are placed through a temporary contest account. It is a player’s responsibility to distinguish between contest and personal accounts. After the contest, the remaining contest bankroll is transferred to the player’s personal account.

There will be four stakes races worth $500,000 in purse money at Laurel Park on Preakness Preview Day, highlighted by the $150,000 Federico Tesio for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles and the $150,000 Weber City Miss for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles.

The Tesio winner receives an automatic berth into the Grade 1, $2,000,000 Preakness Stakes on May 17, while the Weber City Miss winner receives an automatic entry into the Grade 2, $300,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on Preakness Eve.

Complete rules for the Preakness Preview Day Handicapping Challenge are available here.