Preakness Longshot Picks: Dark Horse Bets for the 2026 Preakness Stakes

The 2026 Preakness Stakes happens Saturday, May 16. A wide-open field of 14 three-year-olds, including Kentucky Derby contenders and up-and-comers, will go 1 3/16 miles on the dirt. At stake are $2 million, the blanket of black-eyed susans, and a place in horse racing history.

For one year only, the race will move away from its usual home of Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, because the track is being rebuilt. The 151st Preakness Stakes will instead be run at the other major track in Maryland, Laurel Park.

The race is wide open. A few days after Golden Tempo shocked the horse racing world with his 23-1 longshot victory at Churchill Downs, trainer Cherie DeVaux decided to point the Kentucky Derby winner toward the Belmont Stakes for his next start, just like Bill Mott did with Sovereignty last year. Pat Day Mile (G2) winner Crude Velocity and Arkansas Derby (G1) runner-up Silent Tactic were also taken out of Preakness contention in the days leading up to the race.

Even with those defections, plenty of connections decided to take their shot in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. With the addition of Incredibolt to the field just hours before Monday’s post position draw, the Preakness attracted a full field of 14, the maximum allowed to run. Trainer Chad Brown’s Iron Honor is the morning-line favorite at 9-2, but five horses in the field were assigned odds between 9-2 and 6-1, meaning the top of the market will be tight.

Make sure to check out FanDuel Research’s best bets to get to know the best horses in that echelon of the market. However, these are the dark horse picks – the best double-digit longshots to include on your exotic tickets. Even though Preakness history shows a lot of shorter-priced horses winning? Longshots often find the exacta or trifecta, and sometimes do even find the top spot. Especially in a full field, it’s worth thinking about which longshots can boost those payouts.

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Dark Horse Picks and Long Shot Bets for the Preakness

These are the best Preakness Stakes longshots to play in Saturday’s second jewel of the Triple Crown:

The Hell We Did (15-1 ML)

The Hell We Did started his career in Oklahoma and New Mexico for trainer Todd Fincher. Though New Mexico in particular can be a racing island, Todd Fincher has no qualms about traveling with a horse who fits elsewhere, and that’s what he did with The Hell We Did last month in the Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland. It was a lot of firsts for The Hell We Did – not just his first trip to Kentucky, but his first graded-stakes race and his first two-turn try. He wasn’t disgraced: he pressed the pace, battled, and just proved second best on the day.

But, there are multiple reasons he can move forward from this effort. He has had five weeks to bounce back from that race, now he’s third off the layoff, and Fincher is incredible third off the lay: wins 33% of the time, hits the board 63% of the time over the last three years. The extra furlong is interesting, too – he’s an Authentic half to the biggest star Fincher has trained to date, Grade 1 winner Senor Buscador. He should appreciate the distance once he’s accustomed to two turns.

The biggest concern is pace: there is a lot of early speed in the Preakness, and he was right close to the early lead in the Lexington. However, that may just be a question of him getting keen in his first route race. Looking back to his three races before the Lexington, he never led before the stretch call. If he can tap back into that dimension – especially what he showed in his allowance win at Sunland two back, and then make a well-timed move under Luis Saez? The Hell We Did may be able to mow down the front-runners instead of being one.

Bull by the Horns (30-1 ML)

We’ll be frank: Bull by the Horns needs to improve significantly to win this. He needs to go faster than he ever has, and he needs to prove himself against graded-stakes horses. His first graded-stakes try, in the Fountain of Youth back in February, went about as well as his 88-1 odds implied it would: he settled toward the rear and finished seventh of nine.

However, he has been freshened up for almost two months leading into the Preakness, giving him some time to grow up. And, there are two major reasons to give Bull by the Horns a serious look…especially since he’ll be such a long price that you don’t need a long list of things to like in order to give him a shot at that price.

One is Bull by the Horns’ running style. The vast majority of horses in the Preakness want – or even need – to be up near the lead. Incredibolt is a closer, Ocelli is a closer…but who else has actually shown on the racetrack that they prefer to close in a two-turn race? Just Bull by the Horns. In his last race, he closed from last, battled down the lane, and won the Rushaway Stakes at Turfway by half a length. Though that was under John Velazquez, who rides Corona de Oro, he gets Micah Husbands in the irons. Though Husbands didn’t ride him that day, he won with Bull by the Horns with a midpack trip in his maiden-breaker at Gulfstream. He’ll understand the assignment.

Secondly, Saffie Joseph has been red-hot with his shippers in big races. He has won 12 graded-stakes races this year, including three Grade 1s, with some notable upset candidates. Claret Beret toppled Nitrogen in the Apple Blossom (G1). R Disaster upset the Derby City Distaff (G1) on Kentucky Derby day. Even In Our Time, who had mostly been going longer, successfully shortened up to win the Giant’s Causeway (G2) at Keeneland. Joseph is shipping well, taking shots when they’re warranted, and reaping the rewards. And, Bull by the Horns is the biggest shot yet…but when you’re one of a few closers in a race full of speed, surprises can happen.

Talkin (20-1 ML)

Talkin put himself on the radar on debut with a gritty neck win in a maiden sprint at Saratoga last summer. Though he hasn’t won since, his third-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) gives an indication that he’s rounding back into form just in time.

Though he was beaten 12 ¾ lengths in the Blue Grass – Further Ado was an 11-length winner, and his form suggests that he’s just a different horse at Keeneland than he is anywhere else. He was only 1 ¾ lengths out of second, and it was a move forward from his fifth-place finish behind The Puma in the Tampa Bay Derby. He’ll still need yet another step forward for the Preakness, but he’s working well into the race, and trainer Danny Gargan is strong with runners coming third off the layoff.

The stretch out to 1 3/16 miles is a positive as well. Being by Good Magic out of a Tiznow mare whose family skews toward route distances, there is reason to think that even though his only win so far came at one turn, he’ll grow into two-turn distances. He gets a jockey change to Irad Ortiz, too. And finally, even though he’s not a deep closer, he lacks the tendency that so many of his foes have to get embroiled in a pace battle. In a Preakness with such a pace-laden field, that counts for something.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.