Despite trading paint with Goal Oriented at the top of the stretch, even-money favorite Journalism won the 150th Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

With Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty skipping the Run for the Black-Eyed Susans, the Triple Crown was not in play, and for the seventh straight year, the Preakness Stakes had a different winner than the Kentucky Derby.

Journalism had been the betting favorite for the Kentucky Derby, too, but finished 1.5 lengths behind Sovereignty.

To win the Preakness Stakes, Journalism had to overcome contact as Goal Oriented and Clever Again squeezed the top of the stretch. The colt bounced off to run down Gosger, a 15-1 long shot that had taken the lead from Clever Again six furlongs into the 9.5-furlong race.

Clever Again had set the pace from the gate until Gosger went past on the outside.

Journalism paid $4.00 to win, $2.80 to place and $2.40 to show.

Gosger paid $9.00 to place and $5.40 to show.

Sandman paid $3.60 to show.

The $2 exacta paid $33.80.

The $1 trifecta paid $73.50.

The $1 superfecta, with fourth-place finisher Goal Oriented joining the top three, paid $303.40.

Journalism’s victory was worth $1.2 million of the $2 million purse. The colt followed his father to victory in the Preakness Stakes. Curlin won the race in 2007.

Journalism had gone to the Kentucky Derby as the champion of the Santa Anita Derby and has five victories, one second and one third in seven races.

Trainer Michael McCarthy has his second Preakness Stakes winner, after saddling Rombauer in 2021. For jockey Umberto Rispoli, the Preakness Stakes was his first.

The final leg of the Triple Crown trail, the 157th Belmont Stakes, will be contested on June 7 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The race is being contested at Saratoga due to renovations at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

The 2026 Preakness Stakes will be run at Laurel Park in Baltimore while Pimlico Race Course is being renovated.

The order of finish for the 150th Preakness Stakes was:

1. Journalism

2. Gosger

3. Sandman

4. Goal Oriented

5. Heart of Honor

6. River Thames

7. Pay Billy

8. American Promise

9. Clever Again

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.