Trainer Danny Gargan played the waiting game approaching the 151st Preakness Stakes (G1) and ended up Monday morning with top jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. committing to ride Talkin Saturday at Laurel Park.
Ortiz became available when Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse decided not to enter John Oxley’s Silent Tactic in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
“Sometimes you’ve got to sit and be patient and let things unfold,” Gargan said. “I feel bad for Mark. We’re friends. Mark's a very good horse trainer. You never want anybody to miss the race.”
Gargan said that New York-based jockey Kendrick Carmouche was prepared to ride Talkin if Ortiz had not been free to take the mount. Oritz has won the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding jockey five times, and Gargan is pleased to have him on his Good Magic colt, who most recently finished a distant third in the April 4 Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland..
“I'm excited about it,” Gargan said. “He's won some of my big races. He's won the Jim Dandy for me [on Tax in 2019]. I think we're 24 percent or something lifetime together, 50 percent this year.”
Gargan said he doesn’t get to use Ortiz as often as he did in the past because Ortiz is in such great demand and rides at big meets across the country.
“Whenever you get Irad you feel like you can win,” Gargan said. “He rides with so much confidence.”
Gargan said that Talkin jogged Monday morning at Keeneland, his first day back to the track after breezing Saturday morning.
“He’s perfect. He looked like a million dollars,” Gargan said. “He's doing really good. He's eating good. He's healthy. I'm happy with him. He's sound. We've got him good. Now, it’s if he's good enough to win. We've done everything we can do. We've got the best jockey we could get. We just need some racing luck, and if he's good enough, he can get there.”
Talkin, co-owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Pine Racing Stables, Legendary Thoroughbreds, Belmar Racing and Breeding, LLC and R. A. Hill Stable, will ship from Kentucky to Laurel on Tuesday and will go to the track Wednesday morning.
The draw for post positions for the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown will be held at Laurel Park Monday at 5 p.m.
PREAKNESS STAKES UPDATE
SILENT TACTIC – John Oxley’s Silent Tactic, who had been widely viewed as one of the top contenders for Saturday’s 151st running of the $2 million Preakness Stakes (G1) at Laurel Park, has been ruled out of the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said Monday morning that a lingering issue with a foot bruise will keep the son of Tacitus from running in the Preakness.
“He galloped good this morning [at Churchill Downs] but it’s still not 100 percent,” Casse said from his base in Ocala, Fla. Monday. “I am not going to ship him all the way to Maryland. We are just going to back off him a little bit and try to get him ready for Saratoga.
Silent Tactic was scratched from the May 2 Kentucky Derby (G1) because of the bruise in his left front. Silent Tactic has a win and three seconds in four starts this year.
In his last race, he finished second in the Arkansas Derby (G1) March 28, beaten four lengths by Renegade, who was second in the Kentucky Derby (G1).
TAJ MAHAL – There won’t be a jockey in Saturday’s 151st Preakness Stakes (G1) that knows Laurel Park better than Sheldon Russell. The 38-year-old is based year-round in Maryland, where he was the state’s leading rider in 2011, with six riding titles at the home for this year’s Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
Russell is also no stranger to the Preakness. He’s had three previous starters, his most recent finish being his best when the Ed Moger Jr.-trained Chase the Chaos ran fifth behind National Treasure in 2023.
This year not only is his horse – Laurel-based Taj Mahal – projected to be one of the top choices in the Preakness, but the undefeated multiple-stakes winner is also trained by his wife, Brittany, Maryland’s leading trainer each of the last three years, making her Triple Crown race debut.
“I think this one will always be a little bit more special, being on one of Brittany’s horses and it being at a track where she started her career and a track where we race year-round,” he said. “The Preakness is always special, and this might be the last one at Laurel. It would be kind of cool if we were to win it.”
Taj Mahal went out at his usual time shortly after 6 a.m. Monday, jogging once and galloping once around the main track under regular exercise rider Alex Beitia with energy and enthusiasm that pleased his trainer.
“He was awesome,” Brittany Russell said.
Sheldon Russell has been aboard for each of Taj Mahal’s starts, all this year and all at Laurel. He debuted in a six-furlong maiden special weight, then returned 15 days later to win the one-mile Miracle Wood by a head. Last out he was a dominant 8 ¼-length front-running winner of the 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio, earning him an automatic Preakness berth.
In the race, Taj Mahal opened up by 10 lengths after a half mile before seeing his lead shrink to 2 ½ on the far turn, only to open up again approaching the stretch and draw clear with every stride through the stretch.
“It was huge. It was his first time going two turns, so it’s good that he got that experience into him. It’s the first time he ran around a bend. Maybe he took the bend a little too sharp and a little too quick. He probably thought he was turning for home, but once we got around the backside and he popped on to the right lead he came right back to me,” Russell said. “He caught me off guard a little bit there, but you can see once we got on the backside he chilled and he was very professional in waiting for the field to catch up.
“When I called on him he knew it was time to go. He was smart in the sense where he just probably ran a little too free, but smart horses and good horses get things done,” he added. “He’s done nothing wrong. This is what these good horses do. They keep getting better and better and they put in those performances and next thing you know, they win big races.”
Russell said being the most familiar with their surroundings is a plus for both horse and rider ahead of the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, being run at Laurel for the first time during the renovation of historic Pimlico Race Course.
“I think it’s a huge advantage. He trains here; he does all his works here. He hasn’t shipped to run. Every race he’s sort of learned and come through for us. Knock on wood, he’s training good, he’s feeling good. We’re all excited,” Russell said. “[For me], it’s just like the horse. It’s the track you’re most comfortable with.
“It’s the same as a jockey when you ship out of town to different racetracks. Yeah, you’re comfortable but you’re not home. Once we leave that paddock it would just be like a normal weekend, because this is where we race every weekend,” he added. “The same pony people we see every weekend, the same gate crew, so I’ll be at ease. And it’s a huge plus that I know the horse and I’ve been on him in all three of his starts. It’s not like I’m just jumping on him for a different trainer and meeting that horse for the first time. In that sense, we won’t have anything unexpected.”
Taj Mahal and Russell were able to overcome Post 10 in the Federico Tesio, which has had just one winner – Maryland-bred Deputed Testamony in 1983 – go on to annex the Preakness. Four other Tesio winners have hit the board in the Preakness: Oliver’s Twist was second in 1995 and Broad Brush (1986), Rock Point (1989) and Icabad Crane (2008) each ran third.
“Somebody asked me the other day would I rather draw inside or outside. Wherever we draw on Monday afternoon, we’ll have to make up a game plan from there, obviously see who’s going in the race and what running styles those horses have,” Russell said. “Good horses don’t make excuses. If it’s his day, I truly believe it’ll be his day no matter where he draws.”
OCELLI – Ashley Durr, Anthony Tate and Front Page Equestrian LLC’s Ocelli, who finished third in the May 2 Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs, arrived Monday morning at Laurel Park for a start in Saturday’s 151st Preakness Stakes (G1). Trainer Whit Beckman is scheduled to arrive later in the day.
CHIP HONCO – Leland Ackersley Racing LLC, James Sherwood, Jode Shupe and John Cilia’s Chip Honcho left Churchill Downs Monday morning bound for Laurel Park, where he will run in Saturday’s 151st Preakness Stakes (G1).
Steve Asmussen-trained Chip Honcho won the Fair Grounds’ Gun Runner Stakes, was fourth in the Lecomte (G3), a close second in the Risen Star (G2) and then a disappointing fifth in the Louisiana Derby (G2). That led Asmussen to skip the Derby to await the Preakness.
Jose Ortiz, who rode Chip Honcho in his maiden victory but opted to ride eventual Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Golden Tempo in the Fair Grounds’ series, will be back on the colt.
ROBUSTA – In his last two starts, Calumet Farm’s Robusta has been beaten by a combined 33 ½ lengths.
His trainer, Doug O’Neill, isn’t concentrating on the negative as he prepares to get the son of Accelerate ready for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes (G1) at Laurel Park.
“In the Santa Anita Derby, he stumbled really bad, and you can put a line through that,” O’Neill said by phone from his base in California. “In the Derby, he had a tough post [18] and that was a real challenge.”
Sent off as the second longest price (70.01-1) in the Derby, Robusta finished 14th, 17 ½ lengths behind Golden Tempo. In the seven-horse Santa Anita Derby, he was 8-1 and finished last, 16 lengths behind So Happy.
O’Neill, who won the 2012 Preakness with I’ll Have Another, would rather look at the past performances of two other of Robusta’s races. They are the San Felipe (G2) at Santa Anita March 2 where Robusta was second by a head to Potente and his maiden breaker on Jan. 9 where he went gate-to-wire to win by a half-length.
In the San Felipe, he was sent off at odds of 67-1; in the maiden win, he was 24-1.
Those are the only two times Robusta, a Calumet Farm homebred, has hit the board. But they were impressive enough that O’Neill is ready to try the Preakness.
“Those races kind of validated our belief that he was a special horse,” O’Neill said. “I do think he fits here. We are praying to the horse gods that we get one of those efforts in the Preakness.”
Robusta continued his pre-Preakness training at Keeneland on Monday and galloped. O’Neill said the colt is scheduled to van to Laurel on Tuesday with his assistant, Sabas Rivera. O’Neill said he is flying to Maryland on Friday.
Rafael Bejarano will ride Robusta in the Preakness.
THE HELL WE DID – Peacock Family Racing Stable’s The Hell We Did went out for his usual 7:30 a.m. gallop Monday morning at Laurel Park, much the same as he has since he first arrived in Maryland April 28 from Kentucky following his runner-up finish in the April 11 Lexington (G3) at Keeneland.
For Oscar Rojero, exercise rider and assistant to trainer Todd Fincher, Monday’s training session was more than just another day at the track.
“I took him out to the track this morning and he surprised me how good he went. He showed me a much better attitude than the days before when he galloped. He was more alive and taking a better hold than he’s been doing,” Rojero said.
“I talked to my trainer, and I told him my horse made me very happy today. I didn’t expect him to train that good. He was impressive, believe me,” he added. “Today he showed me something. He said, ‘I’m ready for the race. I’m ready for action.’”
The Hell We Did had a walk day Sunday after his final work for the 151st Preakness Stakes (G1) May 16 was interrupted twice the previous morning by a loose horse on the track. After the half-brother to $12.9 million earner Senor Buscador was able to restart, he was credited with a five-furlong move in 1:01.40, second-fastest of the day.
“He’s a very smart horse, very classy. He’s something else,” Rojero said. “I’ve known him since he was a 2-year-old. I get on him almost every day and today was the best day he’s ever had, believe me. I don’t think he can do any better than he did this morning.”
Luis Saez will ride The Hell We Did in the Preakness. Saez was aboard in the Lexington, as well as for an April 24 breeze at Keeneland, before the Authentic colt left for Laurel.
“Let me tell you, he’s been doing great for the last two weeks since we’ve been here but today was something different. He surprised me how good he was, how much ground he was making up all the way around. He’s doing so good,” Rojero said. “We have a nice horse, and I think we will be successful in the race. I can feel it.”
NAPOLEON SOLO – With Gold Square LLC’s Napoleon Solo, trainer Chad Summers has adopted a less-is-more approach in his horse management. Rather than sending his colt out the moment the track opens for training, Summers waits until the final few minutes of the session to let the son of Liam’s Map start his morning exercise.
“He goes out when nobody's out there,” Summers said.
The way Summers sees it, timing the training is a matter of trying to control the colt’s behavior and avoid a potentially bad situation.
“He can get aggressive,” Summers said. “He can forget that he has four legs. Sometimes he thinks he has two. It's just safer and better for everybody if he goes when the track is quiet.”
Napoleon Solo visited the Laurel Park racetrack at approximately 9:45 a.m. Monday to prepare for a start in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes (G1). He galloped about 1 ¼ miles and stood quietly in the starting gate.
The Summers trainee had shipped from Belmont Park to Laurel Park – a trip that Summers said took about 4 ½ hours – midday Sunday.
Summers said everything went smoothly with the ship to Laurel Park and that Napoleon Solo had settled in well. Laurel will be the fourth track he has competed on during his five-race career.
Jockey Paco Lopez, who was up on Napoleon Solo for his most-recent start, a fifth in the Wood Memorial (G2) April 4, will ride him back in the Preakness Saturday. It will be the second Preakness mount for Lopez.
“We're a pretty loyal team,” Summers said. “We appreciate Paco coming in to ride for us for the Wood. I thought he rode him well that day with some circumstances, having to kind of use ourselves early from Post 1 with the other speed horse being in Post 2. Hopefully we get a little bit of a better draw this afternoon. I think he had a lot of confidence when he rode the horse. He gave us some good feedback and was very comfortable with our decision to kind of shoot here for the Preakness. He’s a guy who wins races at every racetrack he goes to.”
BULL BY THE HORNS – Peachtree Stable and Mark Corrado’s Bull by the Horns arrived at Laurel Park Monday shortly after 8 a.m. following an overnight van ride from Gulfstream Park. The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained son of Essential Quality was scheduled to walk the Preakness Stakes Barn shedrow Monday before taking to the Laurel Park racetrack Tuesday morning to prepare for a start in Saturday’s Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
“He just got here. He traveled well. He’s checking out his new surroundings. He seems happy and healthy,” assistant trainer Anastasia Zemtsov said.
Bull by the Horns is coming off a victory in the 1 1/16-mile Rushaway at Turfway Park with a last-to-first stretch rally.
Micah Husbands has the mount on Bull by the Horns, whom he rode to a maiden-breaking victory at Gulfstream last fall.
CORONA DE ORO – On Our Own Stable LLC and partners’ Corona de Oro galloped at Churchill Downs Monday morning in preparation for a start in Saturday’s 151st Preakness Stakes (G1) at Laurel Park.
The Dallas Stewart-trained son of Bolt d’Oro, who most recently finished third in the Lexington (G3) at Keeneland, is scheduled to arrive at Laurel Tuesday.
GREAT WHITE – Trainer John Ennis said Great White will head to Laurel Park from Lexington on Tuesday for Saturday’s 151st Preakness Stakes (G1). Alex Achard, aboard for all of the gelding’s starts, has the mount.
Ennis, who would be in the Preakness for the first time, finalized the decision after speaking with Three Chimneys, the breeder with which he co-owns the massive gray gelding.
“There was not really a discussion,” he said by phone from his The Thoroughbred Center base. “It was just whether we wait the extra three weeks for the Matt Winn at Churchill Downs or go to the Preakness. The horse is doing well now. He has trained great since the Derby mishap, so we’re going to take a shot.”
Great White won Turfway Park’s Battaglia Memorial, bypassing the Jeff Ruby (G3) there in favor of Keeneland’s Toyota Blue Grass (G1) for his first start on dirt. Great White found himself on the lead for the first time in his life before weakening to fifth. After drawing into the Kentucky Derby off the also-eligible list, Great White wound up being scratched when he reared and flipped behind the starting gate. Ennis has emphasized that the gelding experienced no ill effects and missed no training.
“I’m going there because I think he has a big chance,” Ennis said of the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown. “I think he’s as good as these horses. That’s why I’m taking him there. I’m not going there making up numbers. My horse deserves the shot.”
Great White galloped 1 ¼ miles under regular exercise rider Omar Torres Monday after the trainer got on the gelding the prior two days. Ennis said Great White is likely to ship out Tuesday evening and that he’ll fly to Maryland Wednesday to oversee his training Thursday morning. He said FanDuel TV’s paddock analyst/reporter Andie Biancone will get on him during training at Laurel.
CRUPPER – Robert Zoellner’s Crupper, who earned a fees-paid entry into Saturday’s 151st Preakness Stakes (G1) at Laurel by virtue of winning Oaklawn Park’s Bathhouse Row Stakes, had a routine gallop Monday under exercise rider David Contreras at Churchill Downs’ Trackside training center. Trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel said Crupper will van to Maryland Tuesday with the details still to be worked out.
Junior Alvarado, who rode Crupper for the first time in the Bathhouse Row, has the Preakness mount.
PRETTY BOY MIAH – Trainer Jeremiah Englehart will reach a career milestone Saturday when he makes his Triple Crown debut saddling Pretty Boy Miah for the $2 million Preakness Stakes (G1) at Laurel Park.
Englehart, 49, who grew up in the business working for his father, trainer Chris Englehart, has operated his own stable based in New York for nearly 20 years. Through Sunday he had 8,562 starters, registered 1,902 wins and earned more than $50 million in purse money.
Team Penney Racing, Echo Racing, Flower City Racing LLC, Anthony Bruno and Christopher Meyer’s Pretty Boy Miah, who has won his last two starts since blinkers were added, is taking Englehart to a new level of competition.
“It feels great,” Englehart said by phone from Saratoga Springs, N.Y. “You want to be involved in the big races on the big days. I've always been a pretty conservative trainer, as far as, like, trust the process and go up the ladder the right way. This is probably a little outside of what I normally do, but I think at the same time these races, they only come around once, and you’ve got to take advantage of it. If you have a type of horse that you feel confident can handle it, then I think you’ve got to take advantage of it when you can. I'm glad that we were able to get in the race.”
Englehart said that Pretty Boy Miah galloped 1 ¼ miles Monday morning on the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga Springs. The colt will ship to Laurel on Tuesday. He will be ridden by his regular jockey Ricardo Santana Jr in the Preakness.
This story was originally published by Paulick Report on May 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
