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)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Marines were seen standing guard outside a federal building in Los Angeles on Friday as they started operations after protests erupted last week over immigration raids.

Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, commander of Task Force 51 who is overseeing the 4,700 troops deployed by President Donald Trump, said the Marines finished training on civil disturbance and are starting their operations by replacing National Guard troops.

The National Guard soldiers can then be assigned to protect more law enforcement agents on raids, Sherman said. About 200 Marines out of the 700 deployed to the protests are in the city, Sherman said. They have all undergone civil disturbance training.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After a week of protests over federal immigration raids, about 200 Marines have moved into Los Angeles and will protect federal property and personnel, a military commander said Friday.

Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, commander of Task Force 51 who is overseeing the 4,700 troops deployed, said that the Marines have finished training on civil disturbance and the first batch moved to a federal building west of downtown Los Angeles where they will start their operations at noon local time.

The development comes a day after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked a federal judge’s order that had directed President Donald Trump to return control of National Guard troops to California, shortly after a federal judge had ruled the Guard deployment was illegal and both violated the Tenth Amendment and exceeded Trump’s statutory authority.

Some 2,000 National Guard troops have been in the city since last week when immigration raids set off protests. Some have provided protection to immigration agents making arrests. Another 2,000 Guard members were notified of deployment earlier this week.

The 200 Marines will be replacing soldiers protecting the federal building, which will allow more of National Guard members to be assigned to protecting federal agents on their operations, Sherman said.

None of the military troops will be detaining anyone, he added.

“I would like to emphasize that the soldiers will not participate in law enforcement activities. Rather, they’ll be focused on protecting federal law enforcement personnel,” Sherman said.

Roughly 500 National Guard members have been used to provide security on immigration raids after undergoing expanded instruction, legal training and rehearsals with the agents doing the enforcement before they go on those missions.

It's unclear if the Marines will eventually provide security on raids. A total of 700 Marines have been trained to work in LA.

The movement of Marines into LA comes as a curfew has been in place in downtown and protests have ended after a few hours with arrests this week largely for failure to disperse. On the third night of the 8 p.m. curfew, officers with the Department of Homeland Security deployed flash bangs to disperse a crowd that had gathered near the jail, sending protesters sprinting away.

As with the past two nights, the hourslong demonstrations remained peaceful and upbeat, drawing a few hundred attendees who marched through downtown chanting, dancing and poking fun at the Trump administration’s characterization of the city as a “war zone.”

The protests began Friday after federal immigration raids arrested dozens of workers in Los Angeles. Protesters blocked a major freeway and set cars on fire over the weekend, and police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.

Elsewhere, demonstrations have picked up across the U.S., emerging in more than a dozen major cities. Some have led to clashes with police and hundreds have been arrested.

The movement of Marines into LA also comes ahead of demonstrations expected over the weekend in cities across the United States, and the possibility that Trump could send troops to other states for immigration enforcement as governors weigh what to do.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called the troop deployment a “serious breach of state sovereignty” and a power grab by Trump, and he has gone to court to stop it. The president has cited a legal provision that allows him to mobilize federal service members when there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”

Under the Posse Comitatus Act, active-duty forces are prohibited by law from conducting law enforcement.

Sherman said the U.S. Marine Corps is responsible for guarding U.S. embassies overseas so they are well-trained on how to defend a federal building.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has put 5,000 National Guard members on standby in cities where demonstrations are planned. In other Republican-controlled states, governors have not said when or how they may deploy troops.

A group of Democratic governors earlier signed a statement this week calling Trump’s deployments “an alarming abuse of power.”

In Los Angeles, troops work in shifts and the public is likely to only see a few hundred out, Sherman said.

The Trump administration has argued the troops are necessary to protect federal officers and quell unrest.

So far, the protests have been centered mostly in downtown near City Hall and a federal detention center where some immigrants are being held. Much of the sprawling city has been spared from the protests.

There have been about 500 arrests since Saturday, the vast majority of which were for failing to leave the area at the request of law enforcement, according to the police department.

There have been a handful of more serious charges, including for assault against officers and for possession of a Molotov cocktail and a gun. Nine officers have been hurt, mostly with minor injuries.

Taxin reported from Santa Ana, California. Baldor contributed from Washington.

Protesters are loaded onto Los Angeles Police Department buses during a protest on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., is pushed out of the room as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds a news conference regarding the recent protests in Los Angeles on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Los Angeles Metro police on horseback disperse protesters on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A man shouts into a megaphone outside City Hall during protests over federal immigration enforcement raids on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Police confront a protesters outside City Hall during protests over federal immigration enforcement raids on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)