Bet on the 2026 Preakness Stakes

Bet & Watch the Preakness Stakes online with OffTrackBetting.com - US Legal Online Wagering

The 151st running of the Preakness Stakes (Grade I), the second jewel of the Triple Crown, is set for Saturday, May 16, 2026. The 2026 race will not be held at its traditional location, Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Maryland.

Instead, it will be held at Laurel Park Race Course in Maryland, about 20 miles south of Pimlico. This is because Pimlico is undergoing a $400 million renovation and revitalization project. The Preakness is expected to return to the revitalized Pimlico in 2027.

When is the 2026 Preakness Stakes?

The Preakness Stakes is on Saturday, May 16, 2026

Where is the 2026 Preakness Stakes?

The Preakness Stakes will be held at Laurel Park in Baltimore, Maryland.

When is the field drawn for the Preakness Stakes?

Post positions are scheduled to be drawn Monday, May 11 at Pimlico.

Where can I bet & watch the Preakness Stakes?

Watch the Preakness Stakes via your OTB player account with OffTrackBetting.com or live on TV with NBC with a post time of 6:45 p.m. ET.

OffTrackBetting.com (OTB), America's premier online wagering platform for Thoroughbred, Harness and Greyhound racing, is proud to offer live race video and betting for the second jewel of the Triple Crown - the Preakness Stakes.

Iron Honor 9-2 Preakness Favorite

Iron Honor, drawing the No. 9 post position and the morning-line favorite for the Preakness at 9-2 odds, could become the 75th winner of the race to leave the starting gate as the betting favorite. Historically, the post-time favorite has won the Preakness Stakes about 49% of the time.

This $475,000 yearling won the Gotham (G3) in February but finished seventh in April in the Wood Memorial (G2). This will be his fourth career start. Trainer Chad Brown won the Preakness in 2017 (Cloud Computing) and 2022 (Early Voting).

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PREAKNESS STAKES 2026 SCHEDULE

5/15/2026 Black Eyed Susan $300,000 Grade 2 3YO Fillies 1 1/8 mi. Dirt

5/15/2026 Pimlico Special $250,000 Grade 3 3YO & Up 1 3/16 mi. Dirt

5/15/2026 Miss Preakness $150,000 Grade 3 3YO Fillies 6 fur. Dirt

5/15/2026 Allaire DuPont $100,000 Listed 3YO & UpFillies and Mares 1 1/8 mi. Dirt

5/15/2026 The Very One $100,000 3YO & UpFillies and Mares 5 fur. Turf

5/15/2026 Hilltop $100,000 3YO Fillies 1 mi. Turf

5/16/2026 Preakness Stakes $2,000,000 Grade 1 3YO 1 3/16 mi. Dirt

5/16/2026 Dinner Party $500,000 Grade 3 3YO & Up 1 1/8 mi. Turf

5/16/2026 Chick Lang $200,000 Grade 3 3YO 6 fur. Dirt

5/16/2026 Gallorette $100,000 Grade 3 3YO & UpFillies and Mares 1 1/16 mi. Turf

5/16/2026 MD Sprint $100,000 Grade 3 3YO & Up 6 fur. Dirt

5/16/2026 Jim McKay $100,000 Listed 3YO & Up 5 fur. Turf

5/16/2026 Sir Barton $100,000 3YO 1 1/16 mi. Dirt

5/16/2026 James Murphy $100,000 Listed 3YO 1 mi. Turf

5/16/2026 Skipat $100,000 Listed 3YO & UpFillies and Mares 6 fur. Dirt

KY Derby Winner Golden Tempo To Skip Preakness, Target Belmont Stakes

May 6 - Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo (Curlin) will bypass the Preakness Stakes.

The news was announced Wednesday by the colt's trainer, Cherie DeVaux.

The statement reads: "After much thoughtful discussion as a team, we have decided that Golden Tempo will bypass the Preakness Stakes. We are incredibly appreciative of the excitement and support surrounding the possibility of a Triple Crown run. The enthusiasm from racing fans, our owners, and our entire team has meant more to us than we can properly express.

Golden gave us the race of a lifetime in the Kentucky Derby, and we believe the best decision for him moving forward is to give him a little more time following such a tremendous effort. His health, happiness, and long-term future will always remain our top priority. We are looking forward to pointing him toward the Belmont Stakes and are excited for what lies ahead with this very special horse. Thank you again to everyone who has supported and believed in this journey alongside us."

This is the second straight year in which the Kentucky Derby winner has not gone on towards the Preakness after Sovereignty (Into Mischief) opted to skip it last year en route to a Horse of the Year campaign. Rich Strike (Keen Ice) also skipped the Preakness in 2022.

Renegade 10-1 Early Morning Line Favorite for Preakness Stakes Future Win Wager

The Maryland Jockey Club (TMJC), in conjunction with 1/ST Racing, today announced the field and morning line odds for the Preakness Stakes Future Win Wager. This separate wagering pool offers "WIN" wagers on the Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16.

There are 40 betting interests in the Preakness Stakes Future Win Wager, with the 40th being the pari-mutuel field, or "all other 3-year-olds."

The wagering pool opens on Friday, April 24, at 12:00 pm ET and closes on Saturday, May 2, at 6:00 pm ET. The Preakness Stakes Future Win Wager has a $2 minimum bet and is available on all participating ADWs.

Renegade is the 10-1 favorite on the morning line from Horse Racing Nation. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the Into Mischief colt is unbeaten this year, with wins in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park.

Crude Velocity (12-1), unbeaten in two 6 ½-furlong races at Santa Anita for trainer Bob Baffert, earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure in his most recent start, a 6 ¾-length victory in a first-level allowance on April 4.

Trained by Brad Cox, Further Ado (12-1) was a dominant 11-length winner in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. Last year, Further Ado captured the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Taj Mahal (12-1), trained in Maryland by Brittany Russell, earned an automatic berth in the Preakness Stakes with a facile 8 ¼-length victory in the Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park on April 18.

Several horses are listed at 15-1. Among them is Commandment, who won both the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes and Grade 1 Florida Derby this spring at Gulfstream Park for Cox.

OffTrackBetting.com - US Legal Preakness Stakes OTB is a great way to bet the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Available to customers across the United States, OTB features both Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing from major racing venues in the US as well as top international racing from Europe, Japan, Australia and Hong Kong.

About the Preakness Stakes

Traditionally the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, is held on the third Saturday each May at Baltimore, Maryland's Pimlico Race Course. Sandwiched between the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes in the Triple Crown, the Preakness is contested at a distance of 1 3/16 miles, and regularly attracts a field of the best three-year-old Thoroughbred racehorses in North America. A staple on Pimlico's stakes schedule since 1873, the Preakness is often a handicapping challenge for bettors as all of North America's best jockeys and trainers are in action at Pimlico that day. Other key stakes races held Preakness weekend at Pimlico include the Pimlico Special, the Dixie Stakes, the Gallorette Handicap and the Maryland Sprint Handicap.

Predating the Kentucky Derby by two years, the Preakness Stakes was first run in 1873. It got its name from then Maryland Governor Oden Bowie, who dubbed it `The Preakness' in honor of a horse of the same name that won the Dinner Party Stakes on the opening day of the Pimlico track in 1870. The race was originally a mile and a half in length, and the inaugural event saw 7 horses go to the starting gate. The first Preakness was won by My Sheba, who trounced the rest of the field by 10 lengths. That would remain the largest margin of victory in the race until 2004 when Smarty Jones won the event by 11 lengths. To date, Smarty Jones' triumph is the biggest margin of victory in Preakness history.

The Preakness race wasn't an immediate success and moved several times during its early years. In 1890, the Morris Race Course in the Bronx, New York held the race after which there was no race run for the next three years. In 1894, the Preakness was revived at the Gravesend Race Track on Coney Island and remained there for the next 15 years. In 1909 it returned to the Pimlico track in Baltimore where it has been run ever since. In 2009, the parent company of the Pimlico track, Magna Entertainment, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and moving the Preakness was once again considered. The Maryland Legislature quickly approved a plan to buy the track if Magna was unable to find a buyer so for now it looks like the Preakness will remain in Baltimore for the foreseeable future.

Just like the Kentucky Derby is preceded by the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, and the Preakness has a similar tradition with Black-Eyed Susan day. The Black-Eyed Susan was first run in 1919 as the Pimlico Oaks; but the name was changed in 1952 to pay homage to the Maryland state flower. The mile and one-eighth race for three-year-old fillies has been a Grade II event since 1976. Gates for the Black-Eyed Susan day open at 10 AM on Friday, May 17th with a full day of racing action.

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