Taj Mahal is a front-runner. He leaves from the inside post in Saturday’s $2 million Preakness Stakes (G1). He’s unbeaten in three career starts – all at Laurel Park, where the middle jewel of the Triple Crown is being run for the first time.
He’s trained by Maryland’s leading conditioner, Brittany Russell, ridden by her husband, Sheldon Russell, and was 5-1 on the morning line.
And for your dramatic storyline, Russell is seeking to become the first female trainer to win in the Preakness two weeks after Cherie DeVaux became the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby (G1) with Golden Tempo.
A beautiful setup. Easy money, right?
Not quite. A field of 14 3-year-olds is set to run (post time 7:01 p.m. ET, NBC Sports), the first time the Preakness has a full field in 15 years, when Shackleford edged Derby winner Animal Kingdom by a half-length.
This time, though, there’s no Triple Crown possibility since Golden Tempo is not running, leaving perhaps the most wide-open field in the history of the race.
Iron Honor, who skipped the Derby, was made the 9-2 favorite early in the week, with three co-second choices: Taj Mahal, Incredibolt, and Chip Honcho. Taj Mahal and Chip Honcho also missed the Derby, and Incredibolt ran sixth at Churchill Downs.
Two other Derby runners – winless Ocelli (third at 70-1 odds) and Robusta (14th at 70-1 odds) -- return for the Preakness as well as Great White, the huge gray gelding who was scratched moments before the race after flipping as he was about to be loaded into the starting gate.
| 2026 Preakness Stakes Odds and Post Positions | ||
| PP | Horse / Jockey | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taj MahalSheldon Russell | 5/1 |
| 2 | OcelliTyler Gaffalione | 6/1 |
| 3 | CrupperJunior Alvarado | 30/1 |
| 4 | RobustaRafael Bejarano | 30/1 |
| 5 | TalkinIrad Ortiz Jr. | 20/1 |
| 6 | Chip HonchoJose Ortiz | 5/1 |
| 7 | The Hell We DidLuis Saez | 15/1 |
| 8 | Bull by the HornsMicah Husbands | 30/1 |
| 9 | Iron HonorFlavien Prat | 9/2 |
| 10 | Napoleon SoloPaco Lopez | 8/1 |
| 11 | Corona de OroJohn Velazquez | 30/1 |
| 12 | IncrediboltJaime Torres | 5/1 |
| 13 | Great WhiteAlex Achard | 15/1 |
| 14 | Pretty Boy MiahRicardo Santana Jr. | 15/1 |
Last Updated on 05/11/2026
By Friday night, Taj Mahal was the co-favorite with Incredibolt at 5-1.
The big question as the huge field breaks from the starting gate is whether Taj Mahal has a quick enough start to hold his position on or near the lead for 1 3/16 miles?
“We anticipate he’s going to be forward as long as he breaks well,” Brittany Russell said. “Sheldon’s going to be smart. If something tries to go with him and be silly, I hope Taj cooperates and can settle in for Sheldon.
“We don’t have to be on the front end. We want Taj to be comfortable. We just want him to be comfortable with that first part, so hopefully he’s not over-running.”
What unfolds will be exciting, Derby winner or not. Most of the 4,800 racing fans at Laurel will be rooting for Taj Mahal and hoping they can hit big on an exacta, trifecta, or superfecta that includes the right longshots.
This will be far from a one-horse race. What it lacks in graded stakes winners it makes up for with intrigue. There is no standout in the field.
Napoleon Solo is the lone Grade 1 winner in the race, having won the Champagne Stakes at Aqueduct on Oct. 4 for trainer Chad Summers. He’s lost both starts this year by 14 ½ lengths.
Iron Honor for trainer Chad Brown and Incredibolt for trainer Riley Mott also have graded stakes wins – Iron Honor won the Gotham Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct on Feb. 28, Incredibolt the Street Sense Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs on Oct. 26.
The rest of the field? Not so inspiring, but bettors don’t care. They’ve spent two weeks poring through stats, watching replays, and devising methods to come up with a big score in a most unpredictable race.
Brown chose to pass on the Derby with Iron Honor, saying the timing just wasn’t right.
“It’s not clear that the absolute best horses ran in the Derby,’’ Brown said. “There are some really top horses that did, but not everyone can time that right and make the Derby, so who knows?
“Maybe there’s another star who’s going to emerge from this race, and perhaps we’re going to be looking back at the Preakness in a few months and say, ‘Wow, this was the start of this particular horse’s campaign that ended up being one of the top horses.’
“It’s just not clear yet until we run the race.”
If you’re going to class, Napoleon Solo is the lone Grade 1 winner. Yes, he was fifth in both the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and Wood Memorial (G2), but Summers says fans will see his colt at his best.
“This will be his best race of the year,” Summers said. “Where that puts us, we’re going to find out. We're excited. We feel like he's a lot better than his two fifth-place finishes have shown.
“I'll take the brunt of the criticism. That's fine. You know, the trainer gets too much credit, too much blame. We feel like he's back to the old Napoleon. It took us a little while to get here, but we're expecting to see the best Napoleon we've seen to date.”
As for Chip Honcho, who also bypassed the Derby to get ready for the Preakness, a strong start is a must, but he needs to show he has a winning gear in the stretch. He’ll have jockey Jose Ortiz, who won the Derby with Golden Tempo, aboard.
Asmussen, a two-time Preakness winner, thinks the racing surface at Laurel could be the difference.
“I think the surface is the variable that’s going to change the race so much,” Asmussen said. “You see a lot of the horses come in here and struggle over the surface with how much material is on it. I think they’re going to lack a consistency of form with the horses that have not run over the surface or ever been here.”
Sounds like the edge goes to Taj Mahal.
Trainer Riley Mott took his father, Hall of Famer Bill Mott, to heart and entered Incredibolt about an hour before the deadline. Analyzing the race, the younger Mott said, “On paper, it looks like there is plenty of speed. I could see him potentially in the second or third flights, and hoping he gets into a good rhythm no matter where he’s at. And then get a clear run at it from the three-eighths pole.”
Longshots do win. While the Preakness doesn’t produce monster shockers like the Derby, this 151st edition just might.
In 1975, Master Derby pulled off the biggest Preakness upset at 23-1. Corona de Oro and Bull by the Horns could go off at higher odds.
Corona de Oro was the fourth also-eligible for the Derby, but the one that didn’t move into the field. He ran third in the Lexington Stakes (G3) on April 11 and comes into the Preakness under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez.
“He's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve, Johnny,” trainer Dallas Stewart said. “He wouldn't have won all those races if he didn't know how to dictate pace.”
Bull by the Horns, one of only four horses who come into the Preakness off a victory, is trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., who is having a great 2026 with the likes of White Abarrio, Skippylongstocking, and Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) winner My Miss Mo.
Bull by the Horns won the Rushaway Stakes at Turfway Park on March 21, and if the pace is too fast, this guy could be a factor with a closing rush.
Richard Rosenblatt is an award-winning journalist and former Associated Press Horse Racing Editor. Currently, he serves as the news editor at US Racing, overseeing exclusive content from contributors worldwide.
