Preakness: Iron Honor, Chip Honcho tackle Derby alumni Ocelli, Incredibolt

May 11, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Iron Honor wins the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct.

Iron Honor wins the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. (Photo by Coglianese Photo / Chelsea Durand)

With Kentucky Derby (G1) hero Golden Tempo skipping the Preakness (G1), only three Derby runners will contest the middle jewel of the Triple Crown on Saturday. The maiden Ocelli, third as a 70-1 longshot at Churchill Downs, renews rivalry with Derby sixth Incredibolt and 14th-placer Robusta in the 151st edition of the Preakness.

The historic home of the 1 3/16-mile classic, Pimlico Race Course, is currently undergoing redevelopment, so another Maryland track, Laurel Park, is hosting this year’s Preakness. Similarly, the June 6 Belmont (G1) will once again be staged at Saratoga, as Belmont Park is still in redevelopment mode as well. Thus the Kentucky Derby is the only jewel of the 2026 Triple Crown held at its traditional track.

Although Ocelli, Incredibolt, and Robusta are the only Derby veterans to advance to the Preakness, many of the Preakness contenders are familiar faces from the Derby trail. Among them are Gotham (G3) winner Iron Honor; Gun Runner S. victor Chip Honcho, notably runner-up in the Risen Star (G2); John Battaglia Memorial scorer Great White, who was scratched at the gate just moments before the Derby; and the top two from last fall’s Champagne (G1), Napoleon Solo and Talkin, both cycling back into form.

Iron Honor, the lukewarm 9-2 favorite on the morning line, is following a path reminiscent of trainer Chad Brown’s Preakness winners, Cloud Computing (2017) and Early Voting (2022). They all developed over the winter in New York, and competed in a couple of Aqueduct preps, but did not appear to be quite ready for the Derby.

Catching the eye with his sharp debut victory at Aqueduct, Iron Honor confirmed the impression in the Gotham. Early trouble compromised him in the Wood Memorial (G2) and contributed to his seventh-place finish. The son of 2016 Derby champion Nyquist aims to bounce back here, and taking the blinkers off could help.

Chip Honcho attracts attention not only because of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who has won the Preakness with superstars Curlin (2007) and Rachel Alexandra (2009), but also because he was mixing it up with Golden Tempo at Fair Grounds.

Fourth to Golden Tempo in the Lecomte (G3), Chip Honcho turned the tables in the Risen Star. He nearly wired the 1 1/8-mile affair, only to be caught by then-Derby favorite Paladin, with Golden Tempo behind in third. After Chip Honcho faded to a subpar fifth in the Louisiana Derby (G2), well adrift of third-placer Golden Tempo, Asmussen decided that the Preakness was a more realistic fit for the headstrong colt.

Of the Derby runners, Incredibolt brings the strongest resume. As a juvenile, the Riley Mott pupil was a last-to-first winner of the Street Sense (G3) at Churchill. Incredibolt threw in a clunker in his reappearance in the Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream, but rebounded in style in the Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs.

Ocelli, only sixth in the Sam F. Davis S. and Virginia Derby, improved to third in the Wood Memorial. The Whit Beckman trainee entered the Kentucky Derby as an also-eligible, got his chance when spots in the starting gate opened up, and ran the race of his life to finished third. Placed in five of seven starts, Ocelli aims to become the first to break his maiden in the Preakness since Refund in 1888.

Robusta sports high-profile connections as a Calumet Farm homebred trained by Doug O’Neill. His best stakes result was a near-miss at 67-1 in the San Felipe (G2), which remains an outlier compared to his overall form.

The Hell We Did and Corona de Oro, the respective second and third from the Lexington (G3), just hopped on the trail for that last scoring race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Taj Mahal and Crupper earned their Preakness spots by capturing “Win and You’re In” races at Laurel and Oaklawn Park, respectively.

The Laurel-based Taj Mahal is a perfect 3-for-3, including an 8 1/4-length wire job in the Federico Tesio S. to book his ticket here. Like Iron Honor, he is by Nyquist.

Aside from the ever-popular angle of the local hope in the Preakness, Taj Mahal might well make history for trainer Brittany Russell. She would become the first female trainer to win the Preakness, right after Cherie DeVaux made history as the first woman to train a Derby winner with Golden Tempo.

Crupper also used early speed to good effect in the Bathhouse Row S. But the Donnie Von Hemel colt had a fight on his hands before gamely prevailing by a length.

Bull by the Horns scored in the Rushaway S. on Jeff Ruby Steaks Day at Turfway Park. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. initially entered him in last Saturday’s Peter Pan (G3) at Aqueduct, but opted to reroute the son of champion Essential Quality to the Preakness.

Rounding out the 14-horse field is Jeremiah Englehart’s Pretty Boy Miah, who makes his stakes and two-turn debut after winning two straight at Aqueduct.

The Preakness is the 13th of 14 races on the Laurel card on Saturday, with a post time of 7:01 p.m. ET, and you can watch and wager on TwinSpires.com.

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