2026 Preakness Stakes Preview
The second leg of the Triple Crown heads northeast to Maryland for the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park. Once again, this year's race has a little less drama as Golden Tempo elected not to race and set its eyes on the Belmont Stakes next month.
14 horses will run a slightly shorter distance than the Kentucky Derby at 1 3/16 miles (9.5 furlongs). Let's take a look at the horses and break down the race, set for Saturday at 7:01 p.m. EST
Cash in on the best sportsbook promos for Saturday's Triple Crown action, such as the DraftKings promo code or FanDuel promo code.
Preakness Stakes Horses & Odds
| Horse | Starts, W-P-S | ML Odds | Jockey | Trainer |
| 1. Taj Mahal | 3: 3-0-0 | 5-1 | Sheldon Russell | Brittany Russell |
| 2. Ocelli | 7: 0-1-4 | 6-1 | Tyler Gaffalione | D. Whitworth Beckman |
| 3. Crupper | 6: 2-0-3 | 30-1 | Junior Alvarado | Donnie Von Hemel |
| 4. Robusta | 6: 1-1-0 | 30-1 | Rafael Bejarano | Doug O'Neill |
| 5. Talkin | 5: 1-1-1 | 20-1 | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | Danny Gargan |
| 6. Chip Honcho | 6: 2-2-0 | 5-1 | Jose Ortiz | Steven Asmussen |
| 7. The Hell We Did | 4: 2-2-0 | 15-1 | Luis Saez | Todd Fincher |
| 8. Bull by the Horns | 5: 2-0-2 | 30-1 | Micah Husbands | Saffie Joseph, Jr. |
| 9. Iron Honor | 3, 2-0-0 | 9-2 | Flavien Prat | Chad Brown |
| 10. Napoleon Solo | 4: 2-0-0 | 8-1 | Paco Lopez | Chad Summers |
| 11. Corona de Oro | 5: 1-1-2 | 30-1 | John Velazquez | Dallas Stewart |
| 12. Incredibolt | 6: 3-0-0 | 5-1 | Jaime Torres | Riley Mott |
| 13. Great White | 4: 2-0-0 | 15-1 | Alex Achard | John Ennis |
| 14. Pretty Boy Miah | 4: 2-1-0 | 15-1 | Ricardo Santana, Jr. | Jeremiah Englehart |
Preakness Results
2025: Journalism (Even money)
2024: Seize the Grey (9-1)
2023: National Treasure (5-2)
2022: Early Voting (5-1)
2021: Rombauer (11-1)
Due to renovations at Pimlico, this year's race will be held at Laurel Park before moving back to Pimlico in 2027. Last year, Journalism got up late to win by a half-length as the overwhelming favorite, but we've seen a couple of surprise winners over the last five years. With that said, we've gone over 15 years without a winner higher than 15-1 odds. Could that change with the field being the largest in over a decade with 14 horses?
Of the recent winners on the list, Journalism is the only one that raced in the Kentucky Derby, while Seize the Grey raced at Churchill on Derby Day. The other three opted for over a month-long layoff. Incredbolt, Ocelli and Robusta are the three horses that raced in the Kentucky Derby, while Taj Mahal, Crupper and Pretty Boy Miah are the three other horses that have less than a month layoff between races. It's no secret that short layoffs at long distances against elite competition is no easy task.
Check the best sports betting apps to find out how to bet on the Preakness Stakes if you're in an eligible state.
Preakness Favorites
Iron Honor enters as the morning-line favorite, and it's not often that the most likely horse to win not only didn't race in the Kentucky Derby, but also finished seventh in his last start. After impressively breaking his maiden, he was stretched out to a mile and won the Grade 3 Gotham by a length as the overwhelming favorite before fading to finish off the board in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial. The connections here are good as well as jockey Flavien Prat won in 2021 and trainer Chad Brown is a two-time Preakness winner.
We then have three different horses at 5-1 morning line odds: Taj Mahal, Chip Honcho and Incredibolt. The latter was the lone horse of the three to run in the Kentucky Derby, so if bettors are drawn to class, Incredibolt is a candidate to get bet down. He ran sixth there and overall has been hit-or-miss with three wins and three finishes off the board. He does have a Grade 3 win to his name as well.
Early Speed
Taj Mahal has won all three of his races and is a candidate to grab the lead after going gate-to-wire to win the $150k Federico Tesio Stakes by a massive eight lengths at this track. The question mark on him is that he's never run in a graded race, yet a lone a Grade 1, so will he be able to elevate against better competition?
The other horse most likely to go towards the early lead is Napoleon Solo, who has cooled off since winning the Grade 1 Champagne last October, with back-to-back fifth place finishes in Grade 2 races. He held the lead last time out at the Wood Memorial through the three-quarter pole before weakening in the stretch to lose by three lengths.
Closers
After seeing what Golden Tempo was able to do coming from way behind to win the Kentucky Derby (who was my first horse listed in the longshots section), it's easy to be drawn to those with late speed. Ocelli is in that mix of horses with single-digit odds after finishing third in the Run for the Roses two weeks ago. He was at the back of the pack for most of the race as well before surging late to finish third at 70-1 odds.
Bull by the Horns also has notable closing speed after most recently winning the $250k Rushaway Stakes in which he was dead last through the three-quarter mile pole. At 30-1 morning-line odds, he isn't getting much respect as he ran in an allowance race earlier this year and was seventh in the his lone graded race (Fountain of Youth in February). But if the pace is fast, you never know what can happen.
How To Bet On The Preakness
Win Bet: This is the most common horse racing bet. You're wagering on a horse strictly to win. Second or dead last both pays zero. Bet on as many horses to win as you like!
Place Bet: Betting on a horse to place means you'll win if the horse(s) you bet on finishes first or second, giving you a better chance of cashing a ticket.
Show Bet: If you bet on a horse to show, you'll win if your horse finishes in the top three. Best saved for horses with longer odds.
Across the Board: If you bet on a horse across the board, you're betting them to win, place and show. If your horse wins, you cash all three! A $2 across the board bet will cost $6. My dad's favorite bet!
Exacta: An exacta wager is betting on the two horses that come in first and second. You can bet on multiple horses to finish first and multiple to finish second to give yourself more chances. Often times, handicappers will do an exacta box with several horses in which they'll win no matter which of their horses comes in first or second. A $1 exacta wager tends to be the most common.
Trifecta: Selecting the top-3 finishers is called a trifecta, and often comes with a big payout due to the degree of difficulty - especially in a 20 horse race. Just like the exacta, you can box the trifecta, although the additional combinations make a lot of bettors choose $.50 trifecta wager.
Superfecta: If you really like to gamble, the superfecta pays out for correctly picking the top-4 finishers in order. Don't be afraid to throw some longshots in your selections, as you'll often see a 50-1 shot or longer sneak into the top-4. A $.10 superfecta wager allows for a wealth of combinations.
Daily Double: If you like to have action on multiple races, the Daily Double pays out for correctly picking horses in two consecutive races. Feel free to pick multiple horses in each race to give yourself more combinations, albeit at a higher cost. You can pair the Kentucky Derby Daily Double with the race before or the race after.
Preakness Predictions
Maybe I'm just a sucker, but I think Corona de Oro is getting overlooked here at morning-line odds of 30-1. Sure, taking four races to break your maiden in this type of field will do that, but he followed that win up with a third at the Grade 3 Lexington showing that he can compete against elite competition. Assuming he doesn't drop lower than 20-1, the value is too good here to pass up. If you're looking for someone with better odds and less question marks, I think Taj Mahal will be up for the challenge against this level.
My Bets
Win: 11
Exacta: 1,7/1,6,7,11,12,14 ($1 exacta wheel would cost $10)
Trifecta: 12/1,6,7,11/1,5,6,7,11,14 ($.50 trifecta wheel would cost $10)
