The only spot I was hoping not to be was the rail
At Laurel Park in Maryland — a temporary home while Baltimore's storied Pimlico undergoes renewal — the 2026 Preakness Stakes gathered its largest field in fifteen years, fourteen thoroughbreds chasing the middle jewel of racing's Triple Crown. No horse arrived carrying the weight of a sweep, as Derby winner Golden Tempo sat out the second leg, leaving the race open and uncertain. Into that uncertainty stepped not only Iron Honor as the morning-line favorite, but also a quiet piece of history: a woman trainer saddling a Preakness contender for the first time in seven years, two weeks after another woman trained the Derby winner for the first time ever.
- With fourteen horses entering the gate — the most since 2011 — no single contender commanded the field, spreading the tension across four horses clustered within a half-point of each other at the top of the odds board.
- The absence of Derby winner Golden Tempo, skipping the Preakness for the third time in five years, stripped the race of a Triple Crown narrative and replaced it with something rarer: genuine, wide-open competition.
- Trainer Russell made quiet history by saddling Taj Mahal, an undefeated horse at his home track of Laurel Park, becoming only the 17th woman ever to train a Preakness contender — a milestone arriving just two weeks after Cherie DeVaux broke the Derby barrier.
- The race itself unfolded at a temporary venue, Pimlico's redevelopment casting a shadow of transition over the proceedings, with the promise that the storied Baltimore track would reclaim the race next year.
- From the rail to the far post, the field ranged from seasoned contenders with Triple Crown pedigree to longshots at 30-1, each carrying the compressed hopes of trainers, jockeys, and owners into 1 3/16 miles of Maryland afternoon.
The 2026 Preakness Stakes arrived with an unusual fullness — fourteen horses, the largest field the race had seen since 2011, competing at Laurel Park while Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course sits mid-renovation. With no Triple Crown on the line — Derby winner Golden Tempo skipping the second leg for the third time in five years — the race belonged to no single story, which made it richer for the telling.
Iron Honor, a bay colt trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Flavien Prat, entered as the morning-line favorite at 9-2 odds. He had bypassed the Derby entirely, his most recent start a seventh-place finish in the Wood Memorial. Brown, chasing his third Preakness title, had won the race in 2017 and 2022. Three horses — Taj Mahal, Chip Honcho, and Incredibolt — each carried 5-1 odds, making the top of the field unusually crowded and the outcome genuinely uncertain.
The most quietly significant presence in the paddock belonged to trainer Russell, who saddled Taj Mahal and became the first woman to train a Preakness contender since 2019. She was the 17th woman overall to do so — a number that speaks to how slowly that particular door has opened. The timing carried weight: just two weeks earlier, Cherie DeVaux had become the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner. Russell's husband, jockey Sheldon Russell, rode Taj Mahal, who arrived undefeated in three starts at Laurel Park. When the post-position draw placed them at the rail, Russell accepted the challenge without complaint.
Chip Honcho, trained by Steve Asmussen and ridden by Jose Ortiz — who had just won the Derby aboard Golden Tempo — had skipped the Derby after a fifth-place finish in the Louisiana Derby. Incredibolt, trained by first-time Preakness conditioner Riley Mott and ridden by Jaime Torres, had finished sixth in the Derby but won the Virginia Derby in March. Ocelli, at 6-1, had finished third in the Derby and carried Tyler Gaffalione into his fourth Preakness appearance.
The field bottomed out at four horses given 30-1 odds, and the race stretched across a competitive, uncertain afternoon — one that felt less like a coronation and more like a genuine contest, held in a temporary place, at a moment when the sport's old boundaries were quietly, persistently shifting.
The Preakness Stakes on Saturday drew its largest field in fifteen years—fourteen horses competing for the middle jewel of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown. The race, held at Laurel Park in Maryland while Baltimore's historic Pimlico undergoes redevelopment, featured a competitive morning-line favorite in Iron Honor, a bay colt carrying 9-2 odds after winning the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct in February. Three other horses—Taj Mahal, Chip Honcho, and Incredibolt—came in at 5-1 odds each, making for an unusually deep and uncertain field.
Iron Honor, trained by Chad Brown, had not run in the Kentucky Derby but finished seventh in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct last month, behind fellow Preakness contenders Ocelli and Napoleon Solo. Jockey Flavien Prat, a 33-year-old who had ridden Iron Honor, was making his fourth Preakness appearance. Brown was chasing his third Preakness victory, having won with two previous horses in 2022 and 2017. The race itself was 1 3/16 miles, with post time set for approximately 7:01 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday.
Taj Mahal, the horse carrying 5-1 odds from post position one, arrived at the Preakness undefeated in three starts at his home track of Laurel Park, including victories in February's Miracle Wood Stakes and last month's Federico Tesio Stakes. His trainer, Russell, made history as the first woman to saddle a Preakness contender since 2019, when Kelly Rubley trained Alwaysmining. Russell became the 17th woman overall to train a horse in the race. The timing was notable: just two weeks earlier, Cherie DeVaux had become the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner with Golden Tempo. Russell's husband, Sheldon Russell, a 38-year-old jockey, had ridden Taj Mahal in all three of his victories and was aboard for the Preakness. When asked about drawing the rail position after the post-position draw, Russell said she had hoped to avoid it, but accepted the challenge with equanimity.
The closest a woman trainer had come to winning the Preakness was in 2002, when Nancy Alberts' Magic Weisner finished second, three-quarters of a length behind the winner. None of the fourteen horses in this year's race had a chance to sweep the Triple Crown, as Derby winner Golden Tempo was not competing in the Preakness—marking the third time in five years that the Derby victor skipped the second leg of the series.
Chip Honcho, another 5-1 shot, had skipped the Derby entirely after finishing fifth in March's Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds in New Orleans. The dark bay colt had shown promise at Fair Grounds, winning the Gun Runner Stakes in December and finishing second at the Risen Star Stakes in February. Jose Ortiz, who had ridden Golden Tempo to his Derby victory, was aboard Chip Honcho for the Preakness. This was Ortiz's seventh Preakness ride; he had won in 2022 with Early Voting. Chip Honcho was the eighteenth Preakness contender trained by Steve Asmussen, who was seeking his third victory in the race after winning in 2009 and 2007.
Incredibolt, the third horse at 5-1 odds, had finished sixth in the Derby behind third-place finisher Ocelli. The dark bay colt had won the Virginia Derby in March, beating Ocelli, and had also won October's Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs. Jockey Jaime Torres, a 27-year-old who had ridden Incredibolt throughout his career, was seeking his second Preakness win after riding Seize the Grey to victory in 2024. Incredibolt was the first Preakness horse trained by Riley Mott, whose father Bill Mott had run two horses in the race previously.
Ocelli, given 6-1 odds, had finished third in the Derby and won the Virginia Derby before that, with Incredibolt taking that race. Tyler Gaffalione, a 31-year-old jockey, was aboard Ocelli for the Preakness—his fourth appearance in the race. The last time fourteen horses ran in the Preakness was in 2011, when one horse beat Derby winner Animal Kingdom by half a length. The field this year ranged from Iron Honor and the three 5-1 shots down to four horses at 30-1 odds: Bull by the Horns, Corona de Oro, Crupper, and Robusta.
Notable Quotes
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.— Trainer Russell, after the post-position draw
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that this is the largest field in fifteen years?
A bigger field means more uncertainty, more variables. The favorite has less room to dominate. It's a test of adaptability—can a horse navigate traffic, find racing room, stay focused? It also suggests the race is genuinely competitive rather than predictable.
What's the significance of a woman trainer being in the race?
It's still rare enough to be historic. Russell is only the seventeenth woman to saddle a Preakness horse ever. Two weeks before this, another woman trained the Derby winner for the first time. These aren't just symbolic moments—they're breaking open doors that were closed. The closest a woman had come to winning the Preakness was second place in 2002.
Does Taj Mahal have an advantage being undefeated?
Undefeated records can cut both ways. It means the horse is proven, confident, hasn't tasted defeat. But it also means every competitor will be studying him, preparing for him. And he's drawing the rail—the inside post—which sounds good until you realize it can box a horse in early. Russell herself said it was the one spot she didn't want.
Why did Golden Tempo skip this race?
That's become a pattern. Three times in five years now, the Derby winner hasn't shown up for the Preakness. It might be injury, it might be strategy—trainers sometimes decide their horse isn't suited to this particular distance or track. It means nobody in this field can win the Triple Crown.
What does Iron Honor's seventh-place finish in the Wood Memorial tell us?
He didn't run in the Derby at all, so the Wood was his main prep race. Finishing seventh there, behind two horses he's now facing again, suggests he's not the dominant favorite some might expect at 9-2. He's the favorite because he won the Gotham, but the Wood Memorial exposed some vulnerability.