Drawn into post nine, the honor of being the morning line favorite for Preakness 151 went to GIII Gotham Stakes hero Iron Honor (Nyquist) as a competitive, wide-open cast came together Monday evening during the post-position draw.
A full field of 14 contenders, the largest since 2011 when Shackleford won, are set to go for this year’s running of the middle jewel of the Triple Crown contested at Laurel Park. The race was moved as renovations continue at Pimlico downstate.
Iron Honor will carry the colors of St. Elias Stable, William H. Lawrence, and Glassman Racing for trainer Chad Brown, who’s had some close finishes in recent years with runners like Good Magic (Curlin, second to Justify in 2018) and Blazing Sevens (sired by the aforementioned stallion, second to National Treasure in 2023). Brown took home the grand prize in 2022 when Early Voting (Gun Runner) captured the Preakness for owners Klaravich Stables.
As for the 9-2 favorite, the son of Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist has been working steadily over the training track at Belmont Park in company with GI Belmont Stakes hopeful Ottinho (Quality Road). The blinkers come off for this fourth career start as Brown went on record in saying that, ideally, there will be an early pace in front of him to let Iron Honor relax off them. As far as the draw went, the trainer is content with what the racing gods gave him.
“I like the horse, I like the spot for him but based on his last start [seventh in the Wood Memorial], I was surprised he was made the morning line favorite,” said Brown. “But, I am not surprised that he fits in this race. [Post 9 is] fine. Right in the middle, we should not have any excuse from there.”
Maryland’s chief hope Taj Mahal (Nyquist) drew the (less dreaded) rail for the Preakness, and was given 5-1 morning line odds. Working lights out for the last month, the Brittany Russell trainee posted a fourth consecutive bullet work over this track May 9, and has remained the talk of the town since then. He’s unbeaten in his career from three starts, the last of which earned him a spot in the gate when he dominated the local Federico Tesio Stakes by 8 1/4 lengths.
“It wasn’t what I was hoping for, but it is what it is,” said Russell after the draw. “He’s a good gate horse and we’ll just have to play it as it unfolds.”
“You know it’s funny. I said to myself the only spot I was hoping not to be was the rail. It’s OK. It’s all good. When I saw that [5-1 odds] I thought, ‘Cool, he’s getting some respect.’ That’s nice to see.”
Taj Mahal | Jim McCue
His rider Sheldon Russell wasn’t concerned either, saying, “To be fair, [Taj Mahal’s] a good gate horse. He’s classy in there. He doesn’t mess around, so I’m not really worried with him being the first one in there.”
“He broke so sharp last time. If he were to do the same thing again, he’d put me in a great spot. We’ve just got to hold that spot until we get to the bend but we’ve got a longer run this time. He’s going to have to overcome a few things but good horses overcome things.”
Drawn to Taj Mahal’s outside is Ocelli (Connect) at 6-1, the much-heralded maiden seeking to win for the first time in a spring Classic contest. He nearly pulled one of the largest upsets in Kentucky Derby history two weeks ago when he drew into the race two days prior and ran third–beaten barely three-quarters of a length for it all–at monstrous 70-1 odds. He will be nowhere close to that price here and has drawn a more advantageous spot over gate 17 that he had to contend with May 2.
“I’m perfect with that,” declared trainer Whit Beckman. “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.”
Two gates down from the far outside is last-minute declaration Incredibolt (Bolt d’Oro), who squeaked in just under the line for entries Monday morning for owners Pin Oak Stud and trainer Riley Mott. Having run sixth in the Kentucky Derby, but emerging from the race in good enough shape to encourage his connections to give it a shot, the Bolt d’Oro colt will ship out for Maryland Tuesday after completing his final prep at Churchill Downs.
“I hope we run the way they like us in the odds,” said Mott. “Anytime you are in a Triple Crown race and you have odds of 5-1, it is a great opportunity. We are going to look to try and get the job done.”
“I would imagine [Post 12] will be fine. The horse has shown he can be fairly tactical at times.”
Of the top three from the Derby, only Ocelli returned for the Preakness, and he is one of three alumni from the race–the other two being Incredibolt and Robusta (Accelerate), who finished 14th.
