Journalism opens as the 8-5 morning line favorite for the 150th Preakness Stakes

HALETHORPE, Md. (AP) — Beaten by Sovereignty down the stretch in the slop in the Kentucky Derby, Journalism is favored to get the job done in the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes.

Journalism opened as the 8-5 morning line favorite when post positions were drawn Monday night for the middle leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. There were no arguments on that coming from two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert.

“He should be the favorite," said Baffert, who has won the Preakness a record eight times and is saddling No. 1 Goal Oriented looking for a ninth. "Watching him run and chasing him, he ran a great Derby. ... He is a really good horse and ran a big race in the Derby. Usually a horse with a good Derby form will run well in the Preakness.

Journalism, trained by Michael McCarthy, is again set to be ridden by jockey Umberto Rispoli and leave the starting gate from the No. 2 post. Post time is set for 7:01 p.m. EDT on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.

No. 7 Sandman is the 4-1 second choice in the field of nine, which does not include Sovereignty after his owners and trainer decided not to run the Derby winner two weeks after his triumph at Churchill Downs. The Preakness goes on without a true shot at a Triple Crown winner for a fifth time in seven years since Justify swept all three races in 2018.

Fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas can tie Baffert if he wins the Preakness back to back, this time with American Promise a year after Seize the Grey ended Mystik Dan's Triple Crown bid. American Promise drew the No. 3 post and opened at odds of 15-1.

Goal Oriented is 6-1 for Baffert.

“The 1 hole is not as bad here as it would be in the Derby," said Baffert, who reminisced about American Pharoah also drawing the rail a decade ago. “Once you draw it, you can’t think about it. That’s it. That’s a (jockey Flavien) Prat problem.”

There are three Derby horses running in the $2 million Preakness in Baltimore: Journalism, American Promise and Sandman, the latter of whom will be ridden by John Velazquez for trainer Mark Casse. Sandman finished seventh in the Derby.

“We wanted a better trip out of him,” shareholder Griffin Johnson said at the draw at Guinness Open Gate Brewery just outside Baltimore. “With the talent that he has, he had the potential to run a little bit better. The mud wasn’t great, and we just are going to do our best coming up.”

New to the Triple Crown trail, along with Goal Oriented, are No. 4 Heart of Honor (12-1), No. 5 Pay Billy (20-1), No. 6 River Thames (9-2), No. 8 Clever Again (5-1) and No. 9 Gosger (20-1). River Thames is the latest chance for Todd Pletcher to win the Preakness for the first time in his Hall of Fame training career.

AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing

Kentucky Derby entrant American Promise works out at Churchill Downs Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby entrant Sandman works out at Churchill Downs Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby entrant Journalism gets a bath after a workout at Churchill Downs Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby entrant Journalism gets a bath after a work out at Churchill Downs Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby entrant Journalism works out at Churchill Downs Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

BOSTON (AP) — Victor Wembanyama scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half, including a game-sealing jumper with 19.2 seconds left, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Boston Celtics 100-95 on Saturday night.

De’Aaron Fox also finished with 21 points for the Spurs and Keldon Johnson added 18 points and 10 rebounds. San Antonio won its second straight after losing two in a row.

Derrick White led Boston with 29 points and Jaylen Brown had 27. The Celtics lost for just the third time in 12 games.

The game was tied at 84 before Baylor Scheierman’s corner 3-pointer pushed Boston ahead with just under seven minutes left. White followed with a driving basket before the Spurs went on a 9-2 spree, taking a 93-91 lead on Johnson’s 3-pointer with 2:14 left.

After Brown’s layup tied it, Wembanyama’s fadeaway jumper pushed San Antonio back in front with 1:33 to go.

Brown was then stripped of the ball near midcourt by Fox, and Julian Champagnie converted a putback of his own miss to make it 97-93 with 41 seconds left.

Wembanyama’s left-wing jumper made it 99-95.

Playing his third straight game after missing a pair with a sore knee, Wembanyama didn’t score his first points until hitting a 3 from the top midway into the second quarter.

But he got going in the second half, scoring nine consecutive points for San Antonio midway into the third quarter, bringing the Spurs back from a nine-point deficit to tie it on his three-point play.

CAVALIERS 146, TIMBERWOLVES 134

CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers took control in the second half for a victory over Minnesota on that snapped the Timberwolves’ four-game winning streak.

Mitchell also had four 3-pointers as the Cavaliers had five players score at least 20 points. Evan Mobley had 24 points, Jaylon Tyson scored 23 off the bench and Darius Garland added 22.

Sam Merrill had 20 points and set a franchise record with at least five 3-pointers in four straight games.

The 146 points are the fourth most the Cavaliers have scored in a regulation game. They scored 148 in a 33-point victory over Washington on Nov. 7.

PACERS 123, HEAT 99

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Andrew Nembhard had 29 points and nine assists, Aaron Nesmith added 12 points and nine rebounds before an early exit and Indiana routed Miami.

Indiana matched its longest winning streak of the season with a rare second straight victory, this time taking the easy route. The Pacers never trailed and held a double-digit lead for most of the game. The Pacers made 17 3-pointers, one short of their season high, with Nembhard matching his season best with four.

Backup Micah Potter made four 3s and finished with 14 points. Jarace Walker had 13 points.

Tyler Herro had 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists on a night Miami shot just 39.1% from the field. Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 16 points, and Bam Adebayo had 13 points and nine rebounds. Miami has lost three of its last four and missed its first 11 3s on Saturday.

The game tipped less than 24 hours after another Miami-Indiana contest was set up in college football’s national championship game. And just like Friday night’s Hoosiers victory over Oregon, the Pacers wasted no time setting the tone — or running out to a big lead.

They used first-quarter runs of 12-2 and 9-0 to build an early 28-12 cushion. Miami trailed 36-18 entering the second quarter.

CLIPPERS 98, PISTONS 92

DETROIT (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points and John Collins added 25 as Los Angeles rallied to beat short-handed Detroit.

The Clippers trailed by 19 points in the first half and 14 in the fourth quarter before finishing the game on a 28-8 run. Detroit turned the ball over 12 times in the quarter.

James Harden added 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Los Angeles, which has won nine of 11.

The Pistons played without Cade Cunningham (wrist), Isaiah Stewart (illness), Tobias Harris (hip) and Jalen Duren (ankle). That left Detroit without its top three scorers, three of their top four rebounders and their top three shot blockers. Cunningham also has 321 assists — the only player who entered Saturday’s action with more than 100.

Duncan Robinson scored 20 points, but took just one shot in the second half. Ron Holland II scored 16 and Tolu Smith added nine points and a career-high 14 rebounds.

BULLS 125, MAVERICKS 107

CHICAGO (AP) — Coby White scored 22 points, Ayo Dosunmu had 20 and Chicago beat Dallas to snap a three-game losing streak.

The Bulls put seven players in double figures, outscored the Mavericks 38-8 in fast-break points and never trailed. Nikola Vucevic and Matas Buzelis each added 15 points as Chicago shot 51.5% from the field.

The Mavericks began the game without the injured Anthony Davis and lost coach Jason Kidd midway through the first quarter of it after he was ejected for arguing with referee Scott Foster.

Ryan Nembhard had 16 points and six assists for the Mavericks. Rookie star Cooper Flagg finished with just 11 points and one rebound, shooting 4 for 13.

Dallas lost its second straight after winning two in a row. Davis sustained ligament damage in his left hand in the Mavericks’ loss to Utah on Thursday.

HORNETS 150, JAZZ 95

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Brandon Miller scored 18 points, LaMelo Ball had 17 and Charlotte built a 47-point lead in the first half of a rout against Utah.

The Hornets bounced back from a pair of frustrating losses in a big way, having fallen to Toronto by one point and Indiana by two in their last two games. Charlotte pounded the NBA champion Thunder by 27 in Oklahoma City before those defeats, previously the Hornets’ largest victory of the season.

Tre Mann led the Hornets with 20 points in 12 minutes off the bench. Miles Bridges and Collin Sexton each scored 15 in a game Charlotte led by 57 in the second half.

Ryan Kalbrenner and Grant Williams returned from injuries for Charlotte, which outscored Utah by 45 points behind the 3-point line in the first half. The Hornets were 16 for 36 while the Jazz hit one of their 12 attempts.

Brice Sensabaugh scored 26 points for the Jazz, who rested leading scorer Lauri Markkanen and were without injured starting center Jusuf Nurkic.

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) grabs a defensive rebound against San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)