Except for the Kentucky Derby winner going for the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes has a little bit of everything for horse racing fans.
There’s a venue change that moves the storied event to a 115-year-old track that has never hosted it before, a field of some of the best 3-year-old colts in the country, and a couple of chances to make thoroughbred racing history.
“This is a great race,” said Bill Knauf, the president and general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club, which operates venues that include Laurel Park, where Saturday’s 1 3/16-mile race will be held. “It’s 14 horses. A great betting race, incredibly hard handicapping race. And you don’t always have those.”
With a capacity of just 4,800 at Laurel Park, which is expected to be converted into a training facility when racing is done there in 2027, tickets are hard to come by this year. Post time is set for 7:01 p.m., and the race will be shown on NBC and Peacock.
After Cherie DeVaux decided not to enter Golden Tempo, whose thrilling last-to-first charge in the 152nd Kentucky Derby on May 2 made her the first woman to train a winner in the 1 1/4-mile “Run for the Roses,” there is — just like that day at Lexington’s Churchill Downs — no obvious horse to beat. Six horses opened at odds of 8-1 or shorter.
The second leg of the Triple Crown remains in Maryland while moving some 30 miles south to Laurel Park for a one-time performance as Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course is rebuilt from the ground up. The plan is for the Preakness Stakes to return to its traditional home next year, as construction continues, with the facility expected to be fully completed in 2028.
In fact, the Kentucky Derby is the only leg of the Triple Crown that will be run at its regular site this year, with the Belmont Stakes on June 6 taking place for the third year in a row at Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York, rather than its traditional home on Long Island at Belmont Park, which is undergoing a rebuild that is expected to be completed ahead of next year’s race.
The switch for the Belmont Stakes has also meant running 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga instead of the usual 1 1/2 miles, but while there is no change in distance for the Preakness Stakes in its temporary move from Baltimore, many of the top trainers have limited experience at Laurel Park.
“I’ve run horses there sparingly,” said Chad Brown, who has the slight morning line favorite in Iron Honor, who opened at 9-2 after Monday’s draw. “The change for this year isn’t going to stop me from going and kind of seeing what happens.”
Tactically, the stretch run at Laurel Park is shorter than many tracks. The finish line comes 1,089 feet after the final turn, compared to 1,152 feet at Pimlico Race Course and 1,234 feet at Churchill Downs. It could be an edge for hometown horse Taj Mahal, who is unbeaten in all three of his races on the dirt course there.
“I’d like to think it’s beneficial that he’s had a good two-turn run over it,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “That’s definitely in our favor.”
What’s not in their favor is having drawn the No. 1 post, which means a strong start to avoid getting stuck on the rail will be important.
“It is what it is. We’ll just have to see how it goes,” Russell said. “He’s a good gate horse, he has speed. So that’ll help us.”
While DeVaux two weeks ago became the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner, the first woman to train a Triple Crown race winner was Jena Antonnuci with Archangelo at the 2023 Belmont Stakes — and now Russell has the chance to complete a sweep of sorts.
She feels like it would be a fairytale to win with Taj Mahal at the track where she started her business eight years ago and is stabled full time. With husband Sheldon riding the horse, it is a family story to root for.
“We’re just trying to keep it pretty simple. We both do our homework. We watch replays together,” Sheldon, who’s set to take part in his fourth Preakness Stakes as a jockey, said of the couple’s approach before adding of Taj Mahal: “It’s nice because I know him. That’s a huge advantage, I would say. I’m happy, and I’m happy it’s one of Brittany’s horses that we get to have a ride in the race with.”
No favorite for the Preakness Stakes when the race started has had odds of 9-2 or longer since at least 1940. Often, it’s the Kentucky Derby winner going off at a short price, but Golden Tempo — expected to run the Belmont Stakes in Devaux’s hometown of Saratoga next month — is the third such champion in five years to skip this race, which may help explain why this could be the largest Preakness Stakes field in 15 years. The previous time 14 horses made it to the starting gate was in 2011.
Ocelli is one of three horses in the field that also ran the Kentucky Derby, where he finished third as a 70-1 long shot, and he could accomplish something not done in more than a century: No horse has broken his maiden — picked up his first official race win anywhere — in the Preakness Stakes since 1888.
Looking to join 19th-century champions like Cloverbook, Culpepper, Refund, Saunterer, and Shirley, Ocelli is 0-for-7 but he did win a two-furlong trial race in Aiken, South Carolina, that doesn’t count on his record.
“At an unrecognized race track and race meet, he is indeed a winner,” trainer Whit Beckman said. “He knows how to put his head across the line first.”
Brown, who has won the Preakness Stakes twice, pointed out that the $2 million race, even without the Kentucky Derby winner, carries great importance in the sport for the rest of this year and beyond.
While Golden Tempo has the spotlight now, the Preakness Stakes could bring a rival to challenge him — and maybe a Saratoga showdown that builds suspense even if there’s not a Triple Crown sweep on the line.
“Maybe there’s another star that’s going to emerge from this race, and perhaps we’ll be looking back at the Preakness in a few months saying, ‘Wow, this was the start of this particular horse’s campaign that ended up being one of the top horses,'” Brown said. “Just not sure that’s not clear yet until we run the race.”