Preakness 2026: Iron Honor, Incredibolt, And Gap-Year Betting
· Yahoo Sports
Ocelli Blazes In Show: From right, Golden Tempo #19, crosses the finish line just a neck ahead of Renegade, No. 1, and Ocelli, #22 on May 02, 2026 at Churchill. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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Getty ImagesThe $2-million 151st Preakness run later this evening (post time, approximately 7:01 p.m. EDT) represents a sort of tunaround for the storied middle jewel of the Triple Crown that compares with a sort of university gap year. The race will be run, and heartily so, but at Laurel. As we know, Pimlico itself has been demolished and will be rebuilt, with the state of Maryland taking over as Pimlico’s landlord from Belinda Stronach’s 1/ST. Churchill Downs has bought the “intellectual rights” to the race from 1/ST, which deal will be finalized at some point after today’s race, and for the second year in a row, the Derby winner has opted to skip the race and point to the Belmont.
As far as Derby veterans go, this leaves us with Whitworth Beckman-trained Ocelli, the game Kentucky Derby 70-1 longshot show horse pictured far right, above, battling to within a length of the winner at the line two weeks ago, and Riley Mott’s Incredibolt, who finished a sixth that day behind Danon Bourbon in fifth and Chief Wallabee in fourth.
Iron Honor, Taj Mahal, Chip Honcho, Ocelli and Incredibolt are the obvious class of this evening’s 14-strong 151st Preakness field, with Iron Honor the very narrow morning line favorite. That noted, it’s becoming rather a habit among trainers and owners of Derby winners that they choose to skip the Preakness, and the trackside chatter to move the race further into the summer — effectively lengthening the Triple Crown season so as to give the athletes more recovery time between the three races — is only increasing in volume.
But before we dive into what Iron Honor, Chip Honcho, Ocelli or Incredibolt must do to beat each other and everybody else, herewith, a refresher on the 151st Preakness field and its tight minefield of odds.
(Post Position, Horse, Jockey, Trainer, Morning Line Odds)
1) Taj Mahal, Sheldon Russell, Brittany Russell, (5-1)
2) Ocelli, Tyler Gaffalione, Whitworth Beckman, (6-1)
3) Crupper, Junior Alvarado, Donnie K. Von Hemel, (30-1)
4) Robusta, Rafael Bejarano, Doug O’Neill, (30-1)
5) Talkin, Irad Ortiz, 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, (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 R. Velasquez, 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, Jeremiah Inglehart, (15-1)
(Source: 1/ST)
Iron Honor, Taj Mahal, Chip Honcho, Ocelli and Incredibolt are the obvious class of this evening’s 14-strong 151st Preakness field, with Iron Honor the very narrow morning line favorite. That noted, it’s becoming rather a habit among trainers and owners of Derby winners that they choose to skip the Preakness, and the trackside chatter to move the race further into the summer — effectively lengthening the Triple Crown season so as to give the athletes more recovery time between the three races — is only increasing in volume. With Churchill increasing its stake in the Triple Crown to the tune of $85 million for the “intellectual rights” to the Preakness, we can look forward to that debate being given more heft.
This question is less for the horse and more for the handicappers at Laurel: What element in Iron Honor put him fractionally ahead, by half a point, of co-second favorites Taj Mahal and Chip Honcho. Iron Honor’s last good race was in February at Aqueduct in the Gotham, which he won. His abysmal 7th place in the Wood meant that he was handily bested by Albus, who won, Right to Party, who placed, and Ocelli, who went on to show handily in the Derby, a race that trainer Brown declined for Iron Honor. He has had an upswing in works, which is to say, growth and maturity over the last months.
Twinspires, the betting arm of Churchill Downs, has this morning listed Derby veteran Incredibolt as a 5-1 second favorite alongside Taj Mahal and Chip Honcho. Between the Derby and the May 11 Preakness draw, Incredibolt’s trainer Riley Mott had a longer conversation with his father, Chief Wallabee trainer William Mott, who withheld Wallabee from this year’s Preakness as well as his Derby winner Sovereignty from last year’s Preakness.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com