Following a disappointing performance in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct, trainer Chad Brown took his colt Iron Honor out of the Kentucky Derby and instead targeted the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes.
The hope was that the extra time would help the talented son of Nyquist out of the mare Orencia find the form he showed earlier in the year in the Grade 3 Gotham, a Derby prep he won by a length.
In a 14-horse field that’s without the top two Derby finishers and a Bob Baffert trainee who was expected to be a top contender, Iron Honor is now seen as the favorite — well, something of a favorite. He drew the No. 9 post and was assigned morning-line odds of 9-2, demonstrating that the 151st Preakness is up for the taking and it’s anyone’s guess who might jump up and grab it.
Hometown colt Taj Mahal, trained by three-time Maryland trainer of the year Brittany Russell and ridden by her husband Sheldon, drew the rail and received odds of 5-1. He’ll certainly be the sentimental favorite among the 4,800 fans at Laurel Park, where he’s a perfect 3-for-3 in his career, including a dominant 8 1/34-length win last time out in the Federico Tesio Stakes.
This is his first foray into graded-stakes territory, and with his front-running style, getting to the lead early in such a crowded group could prove to be a challenge.
“We’ll just have to see how it unfolds,” Brittany Russell said. “I mean, he’s a good gate horse, he has speed, so that will help us.”
He could also benefit from a home-field advantage.
“Look, it’s a good race and it’s going to be the toughest test he’s had,” Russell said. “So we’re very level-headed about the whole experience. But the horse is doing good, he’s at his home racetrack. I’m hoping it plays in our favor.”
Next to him in the gate will be Ocelli, the third-place finisher in the Derby who received odds of 6-1. Like winner Golden Tempo and runner-up Renegade, the closer benefited from a hot pace early on in the Derby and was able to move past tiring horses in the stretch run.
But the colt has yet to win a race in seven tries.
Another Derby runner, sixth-place Incredibolt, jumped into the field late for trainer Riley Mott. He will run out of the No. 12 post with odds of 5-1. His best showing this year came in the Mid-Atlantic when he won the Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs by 4 lengths.
Chip Honcho, another horse who was also pulled from the Derby field to focus on the Preakness, drew the No. 6 post and is also right there at 5-1. Trainer Steve Asmussen ran the colt in three Derby prep races at Fair Grounds in Louisiana this year but fell short of the winner’s circle, finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes, second in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes and fifth in the Louisiana Derby.
The only other horse to receive single-digit odds is Napoleon Solo, the winner of last year’s Grade 1 Champagne Stakes for 2-year-olds, who has yet to find his form at age 3. He’s in the No. 10 spot with 8-1 odds.
Next are three runners at 15-1: No. 7 The Hell We Did, No. 13 Great White (who was scratched from the Derby after he flipped over before loading into the starting gate) and No. 14 Pretty Boy Miah.
Talkin, who was runner-up to Napoleon Solo in the Champagne and has similarly struggled to put it all together in 2026, will break from post No. 5 at 20-1.
Rounding out the field are four horses at 30-1: No. 3 Crupper, No. 4 Robusta (14th in the Derby), No. 11 Corona de Oro and No. 8 Bull by the Horns.
Post time is Saturday at 7:01 p.m. The race is being held this year at Laurel Park, between Baltimore and Washington while construction of a new Pimlico Race Course is underway.
The race is expected to return to Northwest Baltimore in 2027 with temporary seating in place. A new grandstand is scheduled to be open for the following year.
The 14 entrants represent the largest field since 2011, when Shackleford beat Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom and 12 other runners with a final time of 1:56.47.
Here’s the full field:
No. 1 Taj Mahal, trainer Brittany Russell, jockey Sheldon Russell, 5-1
No. 2 Ocelli, trainer D. Whitworth Beckman, jockey Tyler Gaffalione, 6-1
No. 3 Crupper, trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel, jockey Junior Alvarado, 30-1
No. 4 Robusta, trainer Doug O’Neill, jockey Rafael Bejarano, 30-1
No. 5 Talkin, trainer Danny Gargan, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., 20-1
No. 6 Chip Honcho, trainer Steven Asmussen, jockey Jose Ortiz, 5-1
No. 7 The Hell We Did, trainer Todd Fincher, jockey Luis Saez, 15-1
No. 8 Bull by the Horns, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., jockey Micah Husbands, 30-1
No. 9 Iron Honor, trainer Chad Brown, jockey Flavien Prat, 9-2
No. 10 Napoleon Solo, trainer Chad Summers, jockey Paco Lopez, 8-1
No. 11 Corona de Oro, trainer Dallas Stewart, jockey John Velazquez, 30-1
No. 12 Incredibolt, trainer Riley Mott, jockey Jaime Torres, 5-1
No. 13 Great White, trainer John Ennis, jockey Alex Achard, 15-1
No. 14 Pretty Boy Miah, trainer Jeremiah Englehart, jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., 15-1
Banner sports columnist Kyle Goon contributed reporting to this story.
Comments
Welcome to The Banner's subscriber-only commenting community. Please review our community guidelines.