2026 Preakness Stakes Post Position Draw: Field, Odds, and What We're Watching

The 151st Preakness Stakes field is set. Monday's draw at Laurel Park locked in 14 starters for the 1 3/16 mile classic on Saturday, May 16. Iron Honor drew post 9 and was installed as the morning-line favorite at 9-2, with Taj Mahal drawing the rail as the home-track 5-1. The race shifts away from Pimlico for the first time in 118 years - and to Laurel for the first time ever - while Pimlico undergoes a $400 million renovation, and with both Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo and expected favorite Crude Velocity skipping the Preakness, this is one of the most open Triple Crown second legs in recent memory. Here's the full field, the storylines that moved at the draw, and what we'll be watching in the days leading up to post time.

The Field

PP	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	ML
1	Taj Mahal	Sheldon Russell	Brittany Russell	5-1
2	Ocelli	Tyler Gaffalione	Whit Beckman	6-1
3	Crupper	Junior Alvarado	Donnie Von Hemel	30-1
4	Robusta	Rafael Bejarano	Doug O'Neill	30-1
5	Talkin	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Danny Gargan	20-1
6	Chip Honcho	Jose Ortiz	Steve Asmussen	5-1
7	The Hell We Did	Luis Saez	Todd Fincher	15-1
8	Bull by the Horns	Micah Husbands	Saffie Joseph Jr.	30-1
9	Iron Honor	Flavien Prat	Chad Brown	9-2
10	Napoleon Solo	Paco Lopez	Chad Summers	8-1
11	Corona De Oro	John Velazquez	Dallas Stewart	30-1
12	Incredibolt	Jaime Torres	Riley Mott	5-1
13	Great White	Alex Achard	John Ennis	15-1
14	Pretty Boy Miah	Ricardo Santana Jr.	Jeremiah Englehart	15-1

Headline Storylines

Iron Honor fits Chad Brown's Preakness blueprint precisely. Brown's two prior Preakness winners - Cloud Computing (2017) and Early Voting (2022) - both came out of the Wood Memorial with six weeks' rest as their fourth career start. Iron Honor checks every box: Wood Memorial start, six weeks' rest, fourth career start. He ran 7th as the favorite in that Wood off a Grade 3 Gotham Stakes win, then went to the shelf to prep specifically for this race. Flavien Prat takes the call from post 9 - a clean draw with stalking options.

No Derby chalk in the gate, three Derby starters in the gate anyway. Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo is pointing to Belmont. Expected favorite Crude Velocity is pointing to the Woody Stephens. But three Derby finishers DID make the trip: Ocelli (the 70-1 maiden who ran 3rd at Churchill), Incredibolt (PP12, 5-1), and Robusta (PP4, 30-1). Ocelli, if he wins, would be the first maiden to capture the Preakness since Refund in 1888 - and would close the loop on coming up a length short of being the first maiden to win the Derby since Brokers Tip in 1933.

Taj Mahal carries Maryland's hopes from post 1. Trained by Brittany Russell, ridden by her husband Sheldon Russell, undefeated in three starts at Laurel, and coming off a "bullet" five-furlong work in 1:00.40 over the host track on May 2. The local angle is real. Post 1 is the catch - Taj Mahal is a front-runner who likes to be sent (4 lengths clear at the quarter, 10 at the half in the Tesio), and the rail at 1 3/16 means he either has to break alertly and clear, or take back and accept a trip he doesn't want.

The 5-1 cluster makes this a wide-open race. Behind the 9-2 favorite, three horses share the second-choice line at 5-1: Taj Mahal (PP1, local hero), Chip Honcho (PP6, Steve Asmussen / Jose Ortiz), and Incredibolt (PP12, Riley Mott trainee returning from the Derby). For a Triple Crown race, that's an unusually flat odds shape - usually the favorite is 5-2 or shorter and the second choice 4-1 or so. The market is saying: nobody's a slam dunk here.

Laurel's first-ever Preakness comes with a 4,800-fan cap. Pimlico's $400 million renovation forced the move, the first time the race has been run outside Pimlico in 118 years (last seen at Gravesend in Brooklyn in 1908). Laurel's wet infield, seatless grandstand (under renovation itself), and single access road mean attendance is capped at about 4,800 - a roughly 90% reduction from 2025's 46,173 at Pimlico. Tickets sold exclusively as Friday/Saturday combo packages. For most fans, the 2026 Preakness is a broadcast race, which probably means deeper national wagering pools than usual.

What We're Watching

Pace shape: contested, not honest. This isn't a lone-speed race even though Taj Mahal is the most obvious front-runner. Looking at recent PPs, Pretty Boy Miah, Chip Honcho, Great White, Napoleon Solo, and Robusta all prefer to run in the first three at the first call. That's six horses who want a piece of the early pace, and someone is going to have to take less than they want. At a track that historically rewards stalkers and tactical speed - Laurel's stretch is shorter than Pimlico's and horses who sit close usually find more than horses making up ground - the trip that matters is the one in 3rd or 4th, a path off the rail, with cover. That's the spot Iron Honor's PPs say he's been running into all spring, and the reason Chad Brown's blueprint fits the shape of this race even before you get to the calendar math.

The Russell post-1 question. The 1 hole on a contested-pace day is a problem. If Taj Mahal had been the only speed in here, you'd love the rail - save ground, set your own fractions, dare them to catch you. With Pretty Boy Miah in the 14, Chip Honcho in the 6, Great White in the 13, and Robusta in the 4, he's going to have to either gun for the lead and use himself, or take back and let someone else have it. Neither is his preferred trip. Sheldon Russell knows Laurel as well as any jockey alive; the question is what he can do with a setup that doesn't suit his horse.

The closers who can win if the front five cook each other. Ocelli sat 17th at the first call in the Derby and closed to 3rd. Bull by the Horns has been mid-pack-to-back in every recent start and finds his best stride late. Neither will be cheap on the board, but a hot, contested pace is the only scenario where deep closers win a Preakness. Worth at minimum a use on the bottom of your exotics - Ocelli, if he wins, would be the first maiden to capture the race since Refund in 1888.

The Brown/Prat angle on a 9-2 favorite. A 9-2 morning-line favorite is soft for a Triple Crown race, which means there's value in either direction - back the favorite if you trust the blueprint, fade him for any reason you like and the underneath horses pay well. Either is defensible. Our top tier rates the cluster behind Iron Honor as genuinely live.

Weather watch. Forecasts for Laurel on Saturday are early but skewing dry. Track condition at post time always matters; sealed-sloppy at Laurel historically plays similar to Pimlico - favors speed and chalks up the favorite. We'll recheck closer to race day.

For our handicapping approach and methodology on the Preakness, see our Preakness Picks page. The E-Z Win® Form for Laurel's Preakness Day card will be available soon.