Grade 3 Gotham winner Iron Honor will compete without blinkers for the first time in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16. Post positions will be drawn on Monday, May 11, for the middle leg of the Triple Crown.
“We're trying to get the horse to relax and not be maybe so aggressive early,” trainer Chad Brown said about the equipment change. “And I'm hoping that there is some pace in the race where you can sit back just a little bit and track horses.”
A son of 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, Iron Honor rated near the lead for his victory on debut and in the one-mile Gotham at Aqueduct. He used the same tactics when finishing seventh after a rough trip in the G2 Wood Memorial under jockey Manuel Franco.
“In his last race, [he] got bothered in the first turn from a bad post (13) and started pulling down the backside, and just never really relaxed,” Brown said during a National Thoroughbred Racing Association teleconference on May 8. “So we took the blinkers off the horse. We gave him a chance to get over that experience, and he seems to be in a good place right now, training just the way we want him.”
Iron Honor earned enough points to compete in the Kentucky Derby, but Brown opted to point the colt to the Preakness after a four-furlong work in :49.00 on April 18 at Belmont Park. Brown’s two Preakness winners – Cloud Computing [2017] and Early Voting [2022] – also qualified for the Kentucky Derby but skipped the race in order to run in Maryland.
Iron Honor is owned in partnership by St. Elias Stable, William H. Lawrence, and Glassman Racing. St. Elias Stable co-bred and owns this year’s Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, who has opted to skip the Preakness.
Foaled on May 1 in Kentucky, Iron Honor was bred by Mike Freeny and Pat Freeny. He is out of the winning Blame mare Orencia. Iron Honor was purchased for $475,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by agent Monique Delk.
This story was originally published by Paulick Report on May 8, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
