The 151st running of the $2,000,000, Grade 1 Preakness Stakes drew a full field of 14 as the second leg of the Triple Crown will be held for the first time in history at Laurel Park in Maryland. The Preakness is contested at 1 3/16 miles, just two weeks following the Kentucky Derby and was run for the past 150 years at Pimlico. While this year’s field includes just three Kentucky Derby contenders, there have been nine winners of the Preakness since 1991, including five consecutive years from 2020 through 2024, that did not make a bid in the Run for the Roses. The 2026 Preakness field offers tremendous value for a highly competitive and lucrative wagering event.
Here’s a look at the field from the rail out:
Taj Mahal, an undefeated Nyquist colt, has won all three starts by a combined winning margin of 12 ¾ lengths and will be making his first appearance at the graded level. This will be trainer Brittany Russell’s first career start in the Preakness and jockey Sheldon Russell’s fourth Preakness mount. Ocelli, who finished third by a length in the Kentucky Derby, will be just the fifth maiden since 1980 to run in the Preakness and would be the first maiden since 1888 to win the second leg of the Triple Crown. The connect colt is trained by D. Whitworth Beckman and will have Tyler Gaffalione back aboard. Crupper earned his way into the race with a win in the Bathhouse Row Stakes at Oaklawn Park in April for trainer Donnie Von Hemel, who will be making his first start in the Preakness since 1995. The homebred Candy Ride colt for Robert Zoellner will have Junior Alvarado back aboard. Kentucky Derby contender Robusta will be making his fifth consecutive graded stakes appearance for trainer Doug O’Neill, who won the Preakness in 2012 with I’ll Have Another. Robusta, a Calumet Farm homebred by Accelerate, will have Rafael Bejarano in the irons for the first time. Talkin finished third in the G1 Blue Grass Stakes last time out on April 4 at Keeneland. Trainer Danny Gargan will be making his first Preakness start with the Good Magic colt and Irad Ortiz, Jr. will be aboard for the first time for his eighth career Preakness mount. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen withdrew Chip Honcho from the Derby to focus on the Preakness. The speedy Connect colt finished fifth last time out in the G2 Louisiana Derby on March 21 and will have a rider switch to Jose Ortiz. The Hell We Did started his career at Remington Park before making two starts in New Mexico at Zia Park and Sunland Park. Last time out, The Hell We Did finished runner-up in the G3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland with Luis Saez aboard, who retains the mount, and then shipped to Laurel Park, where he has made two recorded workouts since. This will be trainer Todd Fincher’s first career start in the Preakness.
Bull by the Horns won the Rushaway Stakes on the all-weather at Turfway Park in his most recent start on March 21 for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. Micah Husbands, who was aboard Bull by the Horns in his maiden win, will be reunited for the first time since their bid in the G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream in February. Iron Honor, the 9-2 morning line favorite,finished seventh in the G2 Wood Memorial in his most recent start for trainer Chad Brown, who has two career Preakness Stakes victories. Flavien Prat will be aboard for the first time. G1 Champagne Stakes winner Napoleon Solo seeks his first win at the age of three following fifth-place finishes in the Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial for trainer Chad Summers. Paco Lopez, who was aboard for the Wood, retains the mount. Corona de Oro finished third last time out in the Lexington Stakes and was scratched from the Kentucky Derby as an also eligible. The Dallas Stewart trainee will have Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez in the irons for the first time. G3 Street Sense Stakes and Virginia Derby winner Incredibolt finished sixth by four lengths in the Kentucky Derby for trainer Riley Mott. Regular rider Jaime Torres stays aboard as he seeks his second Preakness victory in just his second mount in the race. Great White was a late scratch at the gate in the Kentucky Derby for trainer John Ennis, who breezed Great White himself on May 9 ahead of his first Preakness start as a trainer. The 17.2-hand Volatile gelding won the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes on the all-weather at Turfway Park in February before making his first start on the dirt in the Blue Grass Stakes last time out. Pretty Boy Miah, who has won his last two starts by 10 ¼ lengths, rounds out the field for trainer Jeremiah Englehart’s first Preakness start. Ricardo Santana, Jr., who was aboard the Beau Liam gelding in his last last two starts, will be back aboard.
Analysis and Main Contenders:
While Ocelli is still a maiden, he leads this year's Preakness field by average stride length (25.06 ft.), fastest average final furlong time (13.12 seconds) and highest Equibase Speed Figure (99) achieved when looking at the field's GPS data in graded stakes races. At odds of 70-1, the Connect colt led in the Kentucky Derby inside the sixteenth pole and was narrowly passed by Golden Tempo and Renegade to finish third by just a length. Ocelli is just one of three horses in this field to come out of the Derby and the only one in here that hit the board. Since 1991 there have been 26 Preakness winners who made a bid in the Run for the Roses, with 17 of those finishing in the money in the Kentucky Derby. Of the 14 colts and geldings entered in this year’s Preakness, only three are true “closers” and Ocelli is one of them. The pace is projected to be incredibly fast, making a perfect scenario for Ocelli to sit behind a wall of speed to close and rally late like his performance in the Derby.
Ocelli will be making his sixth start at a different track and is seemingly unbothered by new surfaces. He started his career at Churchill in a dirt sprint as 2-year-old and followed that up with a second-place finish at Fair Grounds in December in his two-turn route debut. As a 3-year-old, he finished third in a maiden special weight back at Fair Grounds to Reagan’s Honor, who went on to beat older horses in a final time that was just 0.01 seconds off the track record in his next start. Ocelli shipped to Tampa Bay Downs in February for his stakes debut in the Sam F. Davis and finished sixth before shipping to Colonial Downs in March and again finished sixth in the Virginia Derby to fellow Derby and Preakness contender Incredibolt. Things changed for Ocelli when taking blinkers off in the Wood Memorial, where he rallied from 10th to third by 1 ¼ lengths, improving from an 85 ESF to an 87 ESF. He again improved in the Kentucky Derby, earning a 99 Equibase Speed Figure, which is the highest last out ESF of any horse in this field. Historically, over the past year horses in dirt route graded stakes races with this attribute win at 31 percent and finish 60 percent in the money.
Tyler Gaffalione will be back aboard, which is a considerable positive considering their clear affinity together in the Derby. It is also positive that Beckman has the confidence to run back Ocelli in just two weeks, a move that he rarely does. Over the last five years, Beckman has only made this move five times with a win and a second. Along with his outstanding GPS data, Ocelli is also ranked third by late pace with a 101.5 rating, which is 15.5 points higher than the morning line favorite Iron Honor for example. Despite Ocelli trying to do something no other horse has done since 1888; this colt has a perfect scenario to find the winner’s circle for the first time and break his maiden in the Preakness Stakes.
Chip Honcho is up against a tough pace scenario being a true front runner himself. However, the fact Steve Asmussen opted to skip the Derby to target the Preakness is a notable sign of confidence that this colt could find the winner’s circle. Chip Honcho, also a Connect colt, broke his maiden in his second career start as a 2-year-old going gate-to-wire on a muddy Churchill track in a one turn mile. He improved upon that performance in his stakes debut in the Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds in December, pressing the pace and going on to win by three quarters of a length, earning an 87 ESF. While this was Chip Honcho’s last career victory, he put on solid performances in his next two graded stakes starts. In his graded stakes debut in the G3 Lecomte, Chip Honcho finished fourth by just 1 ¾ lengths to eventual Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo after breaking slow from the gate. Chip Honcho made a career best performance in his next start in the G2 Risen Star, setting a brisk pace and digging in and finishing second by just a half-length to Paladin, and earned a 98 ESF in his first start at the 1 1/8-mile distance. In his most recent start in the G2 Louisiana Derby at this exact 1 3/16-mile distance, Chip Honcho regressed and finished a distant fifth, earning an 80 ESF.
If you cross his last race off, this colt has made good efforts in every race against tough company. His GPS data suggests he is much more talented than his PPs look on paper as Chip Honcho is ranked second to Ocelli by average stride length of 24.52 feet and average final furlong time of 13.42 seconds. Jose Ortiz will be reunited with Chip Honcho for the first time since their maiden win together at Churchill. Ortiz and Asmussen win at a tremendous 31 percent in stakes races together and finish 60 percent in the money from 89 starts over the last three years. While Chip Honcho faces a tough task in a race with an expected hot pace, this colt has a big opportunity to improve upon his last start and return to winning form, especially given his connections.
With a morning line of 20-1, Talkin provides a lot of value for a $600,000 yearling purchase making his fifth consecutive graded stakes appearance. Since 1991, there have been nine Preakness winners who did not run in the Kentucky Derby and five of those winners came out of the Blue Grass Stakes. While Talkin finished third in the Blue Grass last time out and was outshined by Further Ado, a horse who he beat on career debut, Talkin finished well and continued an upward trend from his bid in the G2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct in December. In his most recent breeze at Keeneland on May 9, Talkin worked a bullet four furlongs in :47.80 and was first of 104 horses that day, suggesting he could be in peak form going into the Preakness. A meaningful positive is Irad Ortiz, Jr. hopping aboard for the first time, one of the best dirt route riders in the country who wins at 26 percent in graded stakes races going nine furlongs or more on the dirt over the past year. Danny Gargan and Ortiz, Jr. have been able to find success together as well, winning at 27 percent in all races together over the last three years. While they only have one graded stake together over the past five years, it was a win with Champions Dream in the 2022 G3 Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct. Talkin is also a horse that will benefit from the hot pace, as he will sit behind the wall of horses going to the lead and pounce when the time is right. While it will be tough to find the winner’s circle, Talkin could provide a tremendous amount of value underneath and certainly has the capability of completing the trifecta or exacta.
The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures in similar races, is Taj Mahal (97), Crupper (91), The Hell We Did (95), Bull by the Horns (83), Iron Honor (91), Napoleon Solo (99), Corona de Oro (91), Incredibolt (95), Great White (91) and Pretty Boy Miah (96).
Win Contenders in Preference Order:
Ocelli
Chip Honcho
Talkin
Grade 1, $2 Million Preakness Stakes
May 16 – Laurel Park
Race 13 – Post Time 7:01 p.m. ET
3-Year-Olds – 1 3/16 Miles
NBC Sports 4-7:30 p.m. ET
This story was originally published by Paulick Report on May 14, 2026, where it first appeared in the Horseplayers section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
