Preakness Stakes 2026 Key Facts: Horses, Odds, and Contenders for Race Today

The Preakness leaves Pimlico for the first time in 118 years, the Kentucky Derby winner stays home, and a 14-horse field has no clear star. Here are the facts that matter before you bet the 151st running.

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Preakness 2026: What You Need to Know, Key Facts

The 151st Preakness Stakes runs tonight at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. Post time is approximately 7:01 p.m. ET. NBC and Peacock coverage begins at 4 p.m. ET. The Black-Eyed Susan Stakes ran last night.

The race is 1 3/16 miles on dirt, the same distance the Preakness has always been run, with a $2 million purse and $1.2 million to the winner. Fourteen horses are entered, which is the biggest Preakness field in 15 years.

It is not at Pimlico, and that is a big deal

For the first time in 118 years, the Preakness is not being run at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Pimlico is in the middle of a $400 million demolition and rebuild and is expected to reopen in 2027. The race has been moved 20 miles south to Laurel Park as a one-year detour.

The last time the Preakness was held away from Pimlico, the year was 1908 and the venue was Gravesend Race Track in Brooklyn. Laurel Park did not yet exist; it would not open until 1911.

This is not a cosmetic change. Pimlico is a one-mile oval with tight turns. Laurel is a 1 1/8-mile oval that is 25 feet wider and has a longer stretch. The classic Pimlico post-position data, including the famous “Post 6” advantage that has produced 17 Preakness winners, does not transfer cleanly to Laurel’s geometry. Handicappers are essentially working with a new track.

Attendance is capped at 4,800 and the race is sold out. There is no infield access this year, which Maryland Jockey Club officials attribute to ground that is “kind of a pond.” Last year’s Preakness Saturday at Pimlico drew more than 46,000.

There is no Kentucky Derby winner in the field

Golden Tempo, who won the 152nd Kentucky Derby on May 2 at 23-1 odds, will skip the Preakness and target the Belmont Stakes on June 6 at Saratoga. Trainer Cherie DeVaux, the first woman ever to train a Kentucky Derby winner, said the colt needed more recovery time after his stretch run from last to first.

This is the third time in five years a Derby winner has bypassed the Preakness, after Rich Strike in 2022 and Sovereignty in 2025. Only three horses from the Kentucky Derby field are running tonight: Ocelli (3rd), Incredibolt (6th) and Robusta (14th).

The favorite is barely a favorite

Iron Honor, trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Flavien Prat, is the 9-2 morning-line favorite from post 9. Behind him sits a logjam: Taj Mahal, Chip Honcho and Incredibolt are all 5-1, and Ocelli is 6-1.

The wider context is what makes that number worth knowing. No Preakness favorite has gone to the starting gate at odds of 9-2 or longer since at least 1940. That is a closing-odds stat, not a morning-line stat, so the record could survive tonight if Iron Honor gets bet down. But the field is genuinely as wide open as it has been in 86 years.

Chad Brown has won the Preakness twice. Both times, he used the same playbook he is using with Iron Honor: a lightly-raced colt who lost the Wood Memorial in April, skipped the Kentucky Derby, and arrived in Maryland with six weeks of rest. He won with Cloud Computing in 2017 and Early Voting in 2022. He is going for the hat trick.

3 storylines that could make history tonight

Ocelli would be the first maiden to win the Preakness in 138 years

Ocelli has never won a race. He is 0-1-4 in seven career starts. He also nearly won the Kentucky Derby at 70-1, leading at the sixteenth pole before Golden Tempo and Renegade caught him in the final strides. He finished third by a length.

If he wins tonight, he will be the first maiden to win the Preakness since Refund in 1888. That is a 138-year first. Only six maidens have ever won the race, all before 1900. He cost his ownership group $12,000 as a yearling. He has earned $609,800 without a victory.

Brittany Russell could complete a women’s Triple Crown sweep

Two weeks ago, Cherie DeVaux became the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner. In 2023, Jena Antonucci became the first woman to train a Belmont Stakes winner, with Arcangelo. Brittany Russell, Maryland’s leading trainer for three straight years, saddles undefeated Taj Mahal tonight. If he wins, three different women will have trained the winner of each Triple Crown leg in a three-year span.

Russell would also be the first woman ever to win the Preakness. Sixteen women have saddled Preakness runners before her, none won, and the closest finish was Nancy Alberts’ Magic Weisner, beaten three-quarters of a length by War Emblem in 2002.

Russell’s husband, Sheldon Russell, rides Taj Mahal. It is his fourth Preakness mount and her first as a trainer. His best previous finish: fifth on Chase the Chaos in 2023.

John Velazquez could become the oldest jockey to ever win the Preakness

Hall of Famer John Velazquez is 54. He has the mount on 30-1 Corona de Oro for trainer Dallas Stewart. If they pull the upset, Velazquez surpasses Mike Smith as the oldest jockey ever to win the race. Velazquez won his first Preakness in 2023 aboard National Treasure after running second three times.

Taj Mahal is the local horse with a complication

Taj Mahal is 3-for-3 in his career. All three of those wins came at Laurel Park. He is the only horse in the field who has ever raced over the surface that will host the Preakness. His most recent win, the Federico Tesio Stakes on April 18, was by 8 1/4 lengths.

His complication: he drew post 1, the rail. Brittany Russell said after the draw, “You know it’s funny. I said to myself, the only spot I was hoping not to be was the rail. It’s OK. It’s all good.” CBS Sports called him “undoubtedly the biggest loser of the post draw.”

A speed horse breaking from the rail in a 14-horse field with multiple speeds outside him is a recipe for a contested early pace, which historically hurts front-runners over 1 3/16 miles. The Federico Tesio has only produced one Preakness winner in history: Deputed Testamony in 1983.

Bonus fact: Taj Mahal and morning-line favorite Iron Honor are half-brothers, both sired by 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. Their other half-brother angle: Iron Honor is owned in part by St. Elias Stable, which also co-bred Golden Tempo, the Derby winner who is not here.

Preakness Full Field at a Glace

Morning-line odds in parentheses. Listed by post position.

Two stats that should affect your ticket

No Maryland-based horse has won the Preakness since Spectacular Bid in 1979. That is a 47-year drought. Taj Mahal is the only Maryland-based horse with a real shot to end it, and he drew the worst post he could have drawn.

Seven of the 14 horses in the field cost less than $200,000 as yearlings. Ocelli, the cheapest in the field at $12,000, has the highest career earnings of any horse running tonight. The most expensive horse is Iron Honor at $475,000. This is a budget field, and that is part of why the morning-line odds are so flat across the top.

What to actually take away

Three things matter more than the rest. First: the field has no anchor, which means the public money will spread, which means longshots are mathematically more attractive than they look. Second: Pimlico history does not apply at Laurel. The post-position trends, the closing-bias trends, the speed-figure benchmarks: all of it has to be rebuilt. Third: this race comes down to pace. Multiple speed horses, a short run to the first turn, and a longer-than-Pimlico stretch favor the horses who can sit just behind the leaders and wait.

The favorite at 9-2 is Iron Honor. The home horse is Taj Mahal. The story is Ocelli. The history is Brittany Russell. Pick your reason, then check the odds closer to post. They will move.

Preakness Frequently Asked Questions

When is the 2026 Preakness Stakes?

Tonight, Saturday, May 16, 2026, with post time at approximately 7:01 p.m. ET. NBC and Peacock carry the broadcast, with coverage starting at 4 p.m. ET on NBC.

Where is the 2026 Preakness being held?

Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland, about 20 miles south of Pimlico. This is the first time the race has been held outside Pimlico since 1908. Pimlico is in the middle of a $400 million renovation and is scheduled to host the Preakness again in 2027.

Is Golden Tempo running in the Preakness?

No. The Kentucky Derby winner is skipping the race to point toward the Belmont Stakes. Trainer Cherie DeVaux, who became the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner, cited the need for additional rest. He is the third Derby winner in five years to bypass the Preakness.

Who is the favorite for the 2026 Preakness?

Iron Honor is the morning line favorite at 9-2, the highest morning line for a Preakness favorite since at least 1940. Three horses (Taj Mahal, Chip Honcho, and Incredibolt) are co-second choices at 5-1.

How many horses are in the 2026 Preakness?

A full field of 14, which is the Preakness maximum. Only three of those horses also ran in the Kentucky Derby: Ocelli, Incredibolt, and Robusta.

Could Brittany Russell make history with Taj Mahal?

Yes. If Taj Mahal wins tonight, Russell becomes the first woman to train a Preakness winner. Combined with Cherie DeVaux's Kentucky Derby win and Jena Antonucci's 2023 Belmont, three different women would have trained a winner in each of the three Triple Crown races within the same window.

Could Ocelli become the first maiden Preakness winner since 1888?

That is the historical hook tonight. Ocelli is 0-for-7 lifetime but finished third in the Kentucky Derby at 70-1. The last maiden to win the Preakness was Refund in 1888, a gap of 138 years.

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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.