Pretty Boy Miah moved into the 14th and final spot in the Preakness 2026 field Sunday after the defections of Express Kid and Smoovin Saturday, with a capacity group expected when entries close Monday for the May 16 Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown at Laurel Park.
The 151st Preakness will run at Laurel for the first time as Pimlico undergoes renovation, with the 1 3/16-mile classic finishing at the first wire to shorten the stretch run from 1,419 feet – the longest in America – to 1,089 feet. Post positions will be drawn at 5 p.m. EDT Monday.
Storylines abound in a wide-open renewal. Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Ocelli aims to become the first maiden to win the Preakness since Refund in 1888. Brittany Russell can become the first female trainer to take the race with undefeated Laurel-based Taj Mahal. And John Velazquez, at 54, has a chance to surpass Mike Smith as the oldest jockey to win the Preakness aboard Corona de Oro.
Chip Honcho
Chip Honcho completed his major training with a half-mile work in 50.2 seconds Sunday morning at Churchill Downs under exercise rider Luiyi Ortiz. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen’s son of Connect will van to Laurel Monday morning. Kentucky Derby-winning jockey José Ortiz, who handled the colt for his maiden victory, will ride.
“I think we’re in a very good place with him right now,” said Asmussen, whose record win total of 11,221-and-counting includes Preakness victories with Horses of the Year Curlin in 2007 and Rachel Alexandra two years later. “We want to get him up there in the same shape he’s leaving here in and hope for a good draw for him. I’m anxious because I think we have a very good opportunity going in. For him, I really want to avoid an outside draw.”
Chip Honcho finished fifth in the March 21 Louisiana Derby (G2) after running second in the Risen Star Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds. His big work came May 2 on Derby morning, when he covered five furlongs in 1:00.0.
Iron Honor
Iron Honor breezed a half-mile in 48.0 seconds at Belmont Park’s training track Saturday – 10th fastest of 184 at the distance – as trainer Chad Brown looks to add to a Preakness ledger that includes wins with Cloud Computing in 2017 and Early Voting in 2022. Brown will remove blinkers and put Flavien Prat aboard for the first time after the colt finished seventh as the favorite in the April 26 Wood Memorial Stakes (G2), where he was bumped hard going into the first turn.
“We’re trying to get the horse to relax and maybe not be too aggressive early,” said Brown, a five-time Eclipse Award winner who has started six horses in the Preakness with two wins and a second (Blazing Sevens in 2023). “I’m hoping there is some early pace in the race where he can sit back just a little bit and track horses. Ideally, he does prefer to be drawn middle to inside where he can maybe save some ground and rate.”
The St. Elias Stable and William H. Lawrence-owned Nyquist colt is making his fourth career start. Iron Honor broke his maiden Dec. 13 at Aqueduct and won the Gotham Stakes (G3) by a length Feb. 28.
Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal emerged so well from Saturday’s bullet five-furlong work in 1:00.2 that Russell scrapped a planned walk day and sent the undefeated colt to the Laurel main track Sunday morning.
“He’s great. I actually decided to take him to the track, and he was a little wild,” Russell said, laughing. “He went the wrong way once, so he was really happy. I think we’ll probably plan on galloping tomorrow and kicking on with the week because he’s pretty fresh coming out of that work. He’s a good-feeling boy.”
The SF Racing partnership runner has won all three starts at Laurel, where he is based year-round. Taj Mahal earned an automatic Preakness berth with an 8 1/4-length romp in the 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio Stakes April 18 in his two-turn debut, following a six-furlong maiden win Feb. 6 and a neck victory in the one-mile Miracle Wood Stakes 15 days later.
Sheldon Russell, Brittany’s husband and Taj Mahal’s regular rider, has the mount. Jena Antonucci won the 2023 Belmont Stakes with Arcangelo, and Cherie DeVaux took the Kentucky Derby with Golden Tempo May 2, leaving the Preakness as the lone Triple Crown race yet to be won by a female trainer. Magic Weisner’s runner-up finish for Nancy Alberts in 2002 remains the best by a female-trained Preakness starter.
Ocelli
Ocelli had a routine gallop Sunday morning at Churchill Downs before vanning to Laurel for his bid to become the first maiden to win the Preakness in 138 years.
The Whit Beckman-trained colt took the lead at the sixteenth pole in the Kentucky Derby before Golden Tempo and Renegade ran him down, losing by a combined length in third. No winless horse had hit the board in the Derby dating to at least 1937, the first year for which conclusive records exist. Six previously winless horses have won the Preakness, with Refund the last in 1888.
“It only takes one,” jockey Tyler Gaffalione said. “He could definitely be that one. He definitely earned his right to be here. He’s competed against the top horses in the country and shows he deserves it. I think we have a big chance.”
Gaffalione picked up the mount on Ocelli when his scheduled Derby ride, Fulleffort, was scratched two days out. The Kentucky-based rider’s lone Triple Crown win came aboard War of Will in the 2019 Preakness.
Robusta
Calumet Farm homebred Robusta will ship from Keeneland to Laurel and is expected to arrive Tuesday night, trainer Doug O’Neill said by phone from California Sunday. The colt ran 14th in the Kentucky Derby from Post 18 as the second-longest price at 70-1, drawing into the field when Right to Party was scratched the day before. Rafael Bejarano takes over from Jaime Torres.
“From that post, it was a real challenge,” O’Neill said. “But he came out of it in super shape. He has been doing two-minute licks and has been galloping really strong. He has been eating great and training with good energy. He is a big, strong horse and was so fit going into the Derby. The fact that he came out so well and now, coming back in two weeks, going a shorter distance and a smaller field … I think he is up to it.”
War of Will, Oxbow, Shackleford and Lookin At Lucky all captured the Preakness in recent renewals after failing to win the Derby.
The Hell We Did
Peacock Family Racing Stable homebred The Hell We Did walked the shedrow at Laurel’s Barn 17 on Sunday following a chaotic final work the previous day, when the breeze was interrupted twice by a riderless horse on the track. The Todd Fincher-trained Authentic colt was credited with five furlongs in 1:01.4, second-fastest of nine horses behind Taj Mahal.
“He was not in the best spot yesterday since two times he was interrupted in his workout, but at the end of the day he finished his workout and we’re happy with it,” assistant trainer and exercise rider Oscar Rojero said. “There was nothing we could do about it, it was out of our hands. I watched the replay later on in the afternoon and I thought when the horse came back and he came into the stretch, he was moving pretty good.”
The Hell We Did, runner-up in the April 11 Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland, is a younger half-brother to 2024 Saudi Cup (G1) winner Senor Buscador.
Corona de Oro
Corona de Oro jogged a lap around Churchill Downs Sunday morning following Friday’s five-furlong work in 59.8 seconds. The Dallas Stewart-trained Bolt d’Oro colt will gallop Monday and leave Churchill at 4 a.m. Tuesday for Laurel.
“He’s full of life, ready to go,” Stewart said. “Happy as can be.”
Hall of Famer John Velazquez has the mount. At 54, the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame member could surpass Mike Smith, who was 52 when he swept the 2018 Triple Crown on Justify.
Great White
Trainer John Ennis was set to make a final decision on entering Great White after a Sunday evening conversation with co-owner Three Chimneys Farm. The gelding jogged Sunday at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Ky., following an easy half-mile in 52.2 seconds Saturday.
“He’s doing great,” Ennis said by phone. “I jogged him myself a mile. He came into the barn squealing and bucking and fresh as can be. He looks really good. He felt really good, so I’ll just talk to Three Chimneys later on this evening and make a final decision.”
Napoleon Solo
Napoleon Solo arrived at Laurel mid-afternoon Sunday after leaving Belmont Park at approximately 10 a.m. The Liam’s Map colt breezed a half-mile in 48.06 seconds Saturday, his fourth work since finishing fifth, beaten 2 3/4 lengths, in the April 4 Wood Memorial Stakes.
Trainer Chad Summers’ runner won decisively as a 2-year-old in his Saratoga debut Aug. 8 and added a front-running 6 1/2-length score in the Champagne Stakes (G1). A bruised heel disrupted Derby preparation, but Napoleon Solo led into the stretch in the Wood before fading.
“He could have made it into the Derby at the end of the day, but we felt like this was the right race,” Summers said. “Obviously, we are interested to see how the Preakness will be at Laurel instead of Pimlico, like everybody else. Little bit of a different track. Different circumferences. This has been the race we’ve been pointing to since the Wood.”
Paco Lopez, who rode in the Wood, retains the mount.
Bull By The Horns
Bull by the Horns walked the shedrow at Gulfstream Park Sunday morning before shipping to Laurel later in the day. The Essential Quality colt breezed a half-mile in 47.84 seconds Saturday at Gulfstream. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. reported the Peachtree Stable and Mark Corrado-owned colt exited the work in good order. Bull by the Horns closed from last to win the 1 1/16-mile Rushaway Stakes over Turfway’s all-weather surface March 21.
Pretty Boy Miah
Pretty Boy Miah walked at Jeremiah Englehart’s Saratoga Springs, N.Y. barn Sunday after breezing a half-mile in 49.04 seconds Saturday over the Oklahoma training track. The Beau Liam gelding has won his last two starts since blinkers were added for a March 29 maiden score at Aqueduct. Ricardo Santana Jr. will ride.
“These races come around just once a year and you only have one chance in a career to run in them,” Englehart said. “I think he’s always been a really nice horse. Is it logical? To me, he’s run numbers fast enough to compete, to get a chance, just without running in the stakes races.”
Englehart said he would finalize shipping plans after entries close Monday in case another entry knocks Pretty Boy Miah back to the also-eligible list. The gelding would likely run in the Sir Barton Stakes on the Preakness undercard if displaced.
Talkin
Trainer Danny Gargan said via text Sunday morning that everything was “perfect” with Talkin, third in the April 4 Blue Grass Stakes (G1). The colt had a walk day Sunday after Friday’s half-mile work in 47.8 seconds – fastest of 104 at the distance that morning at Keeneland. Talkin is scheduled to have a light training day Monday and ship to Laurel Tuesday.
Crupper
Robert Zoellner’s Crupper jogged two laps Sunday around Churchill Downs’ six-furlong Trackside training center under exercise rider David Contreras. The Donnie Von Hemel-trained colt earned a free berth by winning Oaklawn’s Bathhouse Row Stakes April 18 and will van to Laurel Tuesday. Junior Alvarado, aboard in the Bathhouse Row, retains the mount.
