The New Face of the Preakness

LAUREL, MD–With the first two finishers in this season's Kentucky Derby opting to bypass the Preakness Stakes, something that hasn't happened in a quarter of a century, a full field of 14 readies to earn Classic glory in Saturday's second jewel of the Triple Crown, which will be staged at Laurel Park for the first, and quite likely, the only time.

Despite the absence of what looks like the divisional leaders at this point, the 151 renewal of the Preakness Stakes offers a competitive group of 3-year-olds.

One of this year's Preakness contenders–Incredibolt (Bolt d'Oro)–was not even under consideration for the race following his sixth-place finish–beaten only four lengths–in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago. That was not until a well-timed conversation with a Hall of Famer gave his trainer a nudge.

“[Bill Mott was] the first person I called,” Riley Mott said. “While I was eating lunch, I called and said, 'What do you think?' He said, 'If he's doing good, put him in. When do they enter?' I said I didn't know. I called up the racing office and was like 'Hey, when do you enter?' They said, 'We close in about an hour.' That's a true story. I am not embarrassed to say that. That is how not on the radar this race was.”

Mott admitted that he has only been to Laurel once previously, and that is while he was under the tutelage of the elder Mott. But the GIII Street Sense Stakes and Virginia Derby winner appears to be on the improve heading into the 9 1/2-furlong Classic.

“[Exercise rider] Charlotte [O'Connell] said he was feeling himself [Friday] morning,” Mott said. “He feels good, and he looks good. We galloped around to the starting gate and stood and backed out and he finished his gallop up by the quarter pole.”

Jaime Torres, who has ridden Incredibolt in all six of his career races, will be on board Saturday. Torres won the 2024 Preakness with Seize the Grey, trained by the late D. Wayne Lukas.

“On paper, it looks like there is plenty of speed,” Riley Mott said of the 5-1 chance on the morning line. “I could see him potentially in the second or third flights and hoping he gets into a good rhythm no matter where he's at. And then get a clear run at it from the three-eighths pole.”

Garnering early favoritism at 9-2 on the morning line, Iron Honor (Nyquist) looks to overcome a troubled seventh-place finish in the Apr. 4 GII Wood Memorial at the Big A. The Chad Brown-trainee won his first two career starts, including the Feb. 28 GIII Gotham Stakes, a race he was favored.

Owned by Vincent and Teresa Viola's St. Elias Stable and William H. Lawrence, he will be racing without blinkers for the first time in the Preakness and will be ridden by Flavien Prat for the first time.

Iron Honor at Laurel this week | Sarah Andrew

“He had a tough race the last time, and although it did not work out for him, it gave him a lot of experience,” Brown said of the colt's seventh-place finish in the GII Wood Memorial at the Big A on Apr. 4. “His works have been very good, particularly since we took the blinkers off. He has a good body of work. I am confident he has enough foundation to handle this.”

Regarding his post position on Saturday, he said, “It's fine. Right in the middle, we should not have any excuse from there.”

Brown saddled prior Preakness winners Cloud Computing (2017) and Early Voting (2022). Both colts didn't start in their respective season's Kentucky Derby.

Despite finishing third by only a length in the Derby two weeks ago, Ocelli (Connect) holds the distinction as the only maiden in the Preakness field. This weekend he will be exiting Post 2 with Tyler Gaffalione in the irons. The colt also finished a respectable third in the Wood Memorial.

Trainer Whit Beckman thinks his charge is positioned just right to get off the duck in career start number eight.

“I'm perfect with that,” said of the post position. “I think our most effective running style dictates sitting back off the pace so being in the two-hole, we can just kind of break and save some ground going into that first turn, and kind of let the race develop in front of us. In the Derby, we had to cut over quite a bit [from Post 17] just to get to the first turn.”

Reflecting on the colt's latest start, he explained, “We don't need to make a long run over to the rail like we did in the Derby. We ran 19 more feet than [winner Golden Tempo] in the Derby and only lost by a length. I think if he catches the trip, we've got a tremendous shot.”

The only undefeated horse to line up in this year's renewal of the race, local horse Taj Mahal (Nyquist) holds the home court advantage with a trio of victories at Laurel, including a runaway 8 1/4-length score in the nine-furlong Federico Tesio Stakes on Apr. 18, the Florida-bred's advantage may be tempered somewhat given his Post 1 draw.

“It wasn't what I was hoping for, but it is what it is,” said trainer Brittany Russell of the colt's inside position. “He's a good gate horse and we'll just have to play it as it unfolds.”

Taj Mahal | Sarah Andrew

She explained, “We anticipate he's going to be forward as long as he breaks good. “Sheldon's [Russell] going to be smart. If something tries to go with him and be silly, I hope Taj cooperates and can settle in for Sheldon. We don't have to be on the front end. We want Taj to be comfortable. We just want him to be comfortable that first part so hopefully he's not over-running.”

Heavy rains in the Baltimore area on Wednesday night gave way to nice weather heading into to Preakness day, however, trainer Steve Asmussen nonetheless expressed concern for his charge Chip Honcho (Connect)'s handling of Laurel's deeper track surface.

A second-out winner in the Churchill Downs mud last November before taking Fair Ground's Gun Runner Stakes in December, the colt was fourth at that venue in the Jan. 17 Lecomte Stakes before finishing a close-up second behind Paladin (Gun Runner) in the GII Risen Star Stakes Feb. 14. He tired to fifth last time in the Mar. 21 GII Louisiana Derby.

“I think the surface is the variable that's going to change the race so much,” the Hall of Famer opined. “You see a lot of the horses come in here and struggle over the surface with how much material is on it. I think they're going to lack a consistency of form with the horses that have not run over the surface or ever been here.”

Is the Timing of the Triple Crown Obsolete?

With the passing of the years, people change, places change and in the Thoroughbred industry, races change.

The Triple Crown wasn't really referred to as such until the 1920s but it was turf writer Charles Hatton who is generally known to have popularized the term in 1930, the same year that Gallant Fox won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

The very first Triple Crown winner, accredited to Sir Barton in 1919, won the Preakness only three days after the Derby. Talk about quick turnaround. He subsequently returned 10 days later to win the Withers Stakes before taking the Belmont on June 11, 1919, a grand total of 32 days removed from the Run For the Roses.

Yes, that was over 100 years ago and to say that they did things differently then is an understatement of epic proportions. However, the trio of Classics crammed into five weeks just doesn't seem hold the same appeal anymore. And why would it? It's hard to argue that the horses that have swept the Triple Crown were for the most part superior creatures. However, in contemporary terms, it may have come at a cost.

The 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was as good as they come, winning eight Grade I races over two seasons while earning a divisional championships at both two and three in addition to being named the 2015 Horse of the Year following a career-closing victory in that season's GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Too valuable to continue on to a 4-year-old season, the breeding shed came calling and the Bob Baffert trainee was retired with nine wins from 11 starts and earnings in excess of $8.6 million.

Three years later, Justify, another Baffert pupil, held the distinction of being unraced at two and ran through the Triple Crown undefeated, something that hadn't been achieved since Seattle Slew accomplished the feat in 1977. Differently than his stablemate who competed through his 3-year-old season, Justify was retired after a nagging ankle issue made it financially unwise to risk racing on with him. That seems to be the overriding theme in the present era of racing.

Just for comparison's sake, 1973 Triple Crown hero Secretariat ultimately made 21 career starts throughout his racing career while Seattle Slew (1977) started 17 times. Affirmed, Triple Crown winner in 1979, made a whopping (by contemporary standards) 29 starts prior to retirement.

While only a limited sampling, it can be argued that the Triple Crown seems to have fallen out of favor with many who prefer to bypass a quick turnaround to the Preakness completely and head to the Belmont Stakes, thus receiving a much more favorable five week cushion following the Derby. Case in point: three of the last five Derby winners have skipped the middle jewel and gone straight to the Belmont.

And it's a trend that doesn't seem to be ending any time soon.

Stacked Preakness Day Undercard

Preakness Day will also feature three graded races–the GIII Maryland Sprint, GIII Dinner Party Stakes and the GIII Gallorette Stakes. Supporting Preakness undercard stakes are the $150,000 Chick Lang for 3-year-olds and $125,000 Skipat for fillies and mares 3 and up, each sprinting six furlongs, and $100,000 Sir Barton going 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-old non-winners of an open sweepstakes, all on dirt, along with the $100,000 James W. Murphy for 3-year-olds going one mile and $125,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint at five furlongs, each on the grass.

Accent will contest Saturday's GIII Gallorette Stakes | Sarah Andrew

For the 10th consecutive year, a total of $100,000 in bonus money is on tap for trainers that run a minimum of five horses in more than a dozen stakes races offered during Preakness weekend, May 15 and 16, at Laurel.

Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen was the leading Preakness weekend stakes trainer four times in its first seven years, earning the top bonus in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022. In 2024, Cherie DeVaux became the first female trainer to take the honors. Brad Cox (2019), Mike Maker (2020), Maryland-based Graham Motion (2023) and Brendan Walsh (2025) have also won the top prize.

There will also be bonus money totaling $50,000 for trainers with the most points in non-stakes races during Preakness weekend. Trainers must have a minimum of three starts to qualify for the bonus. Mike Trombetta earned the top prize in 2025.