Despite the one-time relocation to Laurel Park, an on-track crowd limited to 4,800, and the absence of the Kentucky Derby winner for the second consecutive year, pari-mutuel wagering on the 2026 Preakness day program was the third-highest in history, with the Thoroughbred industry's official database, Equibase, reporting a total of $106,982,107 bet on the 14 races from Laurel, Md., on May 16.
That's down 2.8 percent from 2025, when $110,043,794 was wagered on the 14-race card at Pimlico, which had an on-track crowd of 52,574. The all-time record was established in 2021 when $112,504,509 was bet on Preakness day at the Baltimore track.
This year's Preakness card had 122 starters, an average of 8.71 per race, and the Preakness itself had 14 starters compared to nine in 2025. Last year's 14 races had an average of 7.79 runners per race. Win, place and show wagering on this year's Preakness race totaled $25,663,916, compared to $27,454,145 in 2025. The Preakness was won by Napoleon Solo, the fourth betting choice at 7.90-to-1. Ridden by Paco Lopez for trainer Chad Summers and owner Al Gold, the son of Liam's Map paid $17.80 to win. The betting favorite, locally trained Taj Mahal, finished 10th after being sent off at odds of 4.70-to-1.
The Triple Crown's middle jewel is scheduled to return next year to Pimlico, which is undergoing extensive renovation including a new grandstand. Laurel Park, located roughly halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., is expected to be a year-round training center for Maryland horse racing. The state of Maryland is in the process of purchasing Laurel Park from Belinda Stronach's 1/ST Racing, which also sold Pimlico to the state and is exiting Maryland, 24 years after her father, Frank Stronach, bought majority interest in the Maryland Jockey Club and the two operating tracks. The elder Stronach bought the remaining interest in the tracks in 2011.
The agreement to sell Pimlico to the state included a clause allowing 1/ST Racing to conduct Black-Eyed Susan and Preakness day in 2025 and 2026 before turning it over to the new Maryland Jockey Club, a non-profit association that will lease Pimlico from the state of Maryland. 1/ST retained intellectual property rights to the two races and is to receive yearly compensation in excess of $5 million, but recently said it was selling those rights for $85 million to Churchill Downs, Inc. A 2024 law reportedly gives the state of Maryland the option to match the Churchill Downs offer.
Black-Eyed Susan day wagering declined by 16.6 percent from $28,536,520 to $23,790,408. Both days were scheduled to run 14 races, but the finale in 2025 was cancelled after heavy rains pummeled the track. Average field size, down from 9.31 in 2025 to 7.64 in 2026, likely contributed to the drop in wagering this year on Black-Eyed Susan day.
Combined wagering on Black-Eyed Susan and Preakness days was $130,772,515, down 5.6 percent from $138,580,314 in 2025. By comparison, $429 million was bet on Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby days this year to lead U.S. racing by a wide margin. The two-day Breeders' Cup World Championships handled $180 million in 2025 and the Friday and Saturday programs of the New York Racing Association's Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga in 2025 had $142 million bet (two races on the Belmont Stakes card were cancelled and run the following day because of soggy turf course conditions).
This story was originally published by Paulick Report on May 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
