Friday May 15, 2026
BLACK-EYED SUSAN $300,000 1 1/8 miles
Saturday May 16, 2026
PREAKNESS 151 $2,000,000 1 3/16 miles
| Post Position | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | M/L Odds | Phil’s Odds |
| 1 | Taj Mahal | Brittany T Russell | Sheldon Russell | 5-1 | 5.01 |
| 2 | Ocelli | D. Whitworth Beckman | Tyler Gaffalione | 6-1 | 9.78 |
| 3 | Crupper | Donnie K Von Hemel | Junior Alvarado | 30-1 | 31.84 |
| 4 | Robusta | Doug F. O’Neil | Rafael Bejarano | 30-1 | 31.84 |
| 5 | Talkin | Danny Gargan | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 20-1 | 18.04 |
| 6 | Chip Honcho | Steven M. Asmussen | Jose Ortiz | 5-1 | 5.45 |
| 7 | The Hell We Did | Todd Fincher | Luis Saez | 15-1 | 27.48 |
| 8 | Bull By The Horns | Saffie A Joseph Jr. | Micah Husbands | 30-1 | 33.15 |
| 9 | Iron Honor | Chad C Brown | Flavien Prat | 9-2 | 4.15 |
| 10 | Napoleon Solo | Chad Summers | Paco Lopez | 8-1 | 8.59 |
| 11 | Corona de Oro | Dallas Stewart | John Velazquez | 30-1 | 21.52 |
| 12 | Incredibolt | Riley Mott | Jaime Torres | 12-1 | 8.10 |
| 13 | Great White | John Ennis | Alex Achard | 15-1 | 16.15 |
| 14 | Pretty Boy Miah | Jeremiah C Englehart | Ricardo Santana Jr. | 30-1 | 33.15
|
The preferred spacing is 1) early May, 2) early June, 3) July 4th, regardless of which race/which city, but the future of our sport is more important than a racetrack’s territorial claim.
Phil has a question:
With the North American thoroughbred foal crop dropping from over 30,000 to around 20,000 how can the tracks expect to fill the races they have for 3 year olds.
Treasurer Dereck Davis (D) told Maryland Matters that ongoing expenses related to a “flagging” horse racing industry may have to come to an end.
“At some point …we have to get it [the horseracing industry] to sink or swim,” he said. “Can it survive? We can’t keep pouring massive amounts of dollars into this industry for the third weekend in May. And I know, I know the conversations about year-round, but that’s not really working, which is why we’re here.”
TDN – Bill Finley – Report: Legislative Panel to Take a Second Look at Purchase of Laurel
Pressbox – Bill Ordine – The Future Of The Preakness
Churchill Downs Inc. Purchases Preakness Stakes – With Preakness Purchase, CDI Hopes to Grow Event
Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.
Franz Kafka
Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.
Honore de Balzac
Phil has a question:
Do Clark Kent, the Undertaker, tarPaulin, 007 and the other minions over at Horse Racing Alberta understand that they are the epitome of this quote and they don’t even have to be at Century Downs.
It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.
Thomas Sowell
People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.
Thomas Sowell
You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing.
Thomas Sowell
If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?
T. S. Eliot
TDN – Patrycja Szpyra – Iron Honor Made 9-2 Favorite for Wide Open Preakness 151
Brisnet – Get to know the 2026 Preakness Stakes contenders
DRF – David Grening – Preakness 2026: The plan remains the same, but Iron Honor is different
Paulick Report – Kentucky Derby Sixth Incredibolt ‘Doing Extremely Well,’ Enters Preakness
Bloodhorse – Eric Mitchell – Silent Tactic Scratched From Preakness, Still Not 100%
Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.
William Wordsworth
TDN – Pretty Boy Miah Joins Preakness Field
Bloodhorse – Silent Tactic Appears Set for Preakness
Bloodhorse – Bob Ehalt – Napoleon Solo Eyes Starring Role in Preakness
TDN – Iron Honor on Track for Preakness, Ottinho Targets Belmont
Bloodhorse – Chip Honcho Puts in Final Move Ahead of Preakness
TDN – Chip Honcho Tunes Up for Preakness
Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Bloodhorse – Taj Mahal Sparkles in Final Tuneup for 151st Preakness
Bloodhorse – Sean Collins – Ennis Breezes Great White Himself Ahead of Preakness
Bloodhorse – Sean Collins – Gargan Seeks Second Classic Win With Talkin
The busy have no time for tears.
Lord Byron
TDN – Renegade Settles In At The Spa To Train Up For The Belmont Stakes
Bloodhorse – Byron King – The Maiden Ocelli Tasted Unofficial Victory at Aiken
Bloodhorse – Byron King and Sean Collins – Silent Tactic Takes Step Toward Preakness With Breeze
We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.
William Faulkner
Bloodhorse – Byron King – The Road: Taj Mahal Carries Maryland’s Preakness Hopes
Bloodhorse – Preakness Stakes Notes: The Field is Shaping Up
DRF – David Grening – Preakness 2026: Napoleon Solo’s blazing works earn him final two-turn shot
If people get all the sex they can handle, they’re so happy and content they just sit around and smile. I mean, you never feel aggressive just after you’ve gotten laid, right? Lots of sex for everybody, that’s a solution to the world’s problems.
Ted Turner
Bloodhorse – Preakness Notes: Jose Ortiz Reunites With Chip Honcho
Bloodhorse – Bob Ehalt – From the Magazine: Debating Best Timing of Preakness
Phil has a suggestion:
Kentucky Derby – First Saturday in May
Preakness – First Saturday in June
Belmont – July 4th Long weekend Saturday
“In the 1950s and ’60s,” Beyer wrote, “good horses often raced with a week’s rest (or less).” He attributed the movement to less robust horses, use of the diuretic Lasix and a belief that horses will have a poor result if raced too quickly after a peak effort.
Phil has a question:
Since all the naysayers about moving the date quote tradition, which tradition are they quoting post 1950 or Sir Barton days.
Bloodhorse – Taj Mahal, Talkin on Good Track Ahead of Preakness
Bloodhorse – Byron King – Ocelli, Corona de Oro Under Preakness Consideration
DRF – David Grening – Preakness Stakes 2026: Fifteen, including Golden Tempo, being considered
Well, I’m having a good time. Which makes me feel guilty too. How very English.
David Attenborough
CNN – Timmy the stranded humpback whale released into North Sea by rescue team
Phil has a question:
Have the rescuers ever heard of transparent aluminum.
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
H. L. Mencken
Brisnet – Get to know the 2026 Preakness Stakes contenders
TDN – Preakness and Black-Eyed Susan Fields Take Shape, Junior Alvarado to Ride Crupper
Bloodhorse – Eclipse Award-Winning Writer Celebrates Pimlico in Film
“Pimlico from the Heart” will premiere at 9 a.m., Saturday, May 9, on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMPuJyY-baA), one week after the Kentucky Derby (G1) and a week before the Preakness Stakes is held for the first time at Laurel Park.
TDN – “I’ve Taken Worse Falls Out of Bed”: Great White Likely for Preakness
I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat.
Edgar Allan Poe
Paulick Report – Jose Ortiz Caps Personal Triple Crown
Paulick Report – Preakness Update: No Shortage Of Possible Contenders For Maryland Classic
Bloodhorse – Preakness Has 16 Possible Despite Lack of Derby Runners
TDN – Preakness Field Takes Shape: Iron Honor Could Make Two For Viola
Bloodhorse – Great White Doing Well After Flipping, Derby Scratch
Bloodhorse – Byron King – DeVaux to Take Wait-And-See Approach with Golden Tempo
TDN – Golden Tempo Ships Back to Keeneland, Preakness Remains a Possibility
Mental Floss – Unsettling Theories About Edgar Allan Poe’s Mysterious Death
Believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear.
Edgar Allan Poe
Bloodhorse – Byron King – Preakness Next for 2025 Champagne Winner Napoleon Solo
Bloodhorse – Frank Angst – Chip Honcho to Skip Kentucky Derby, Target Preakness
Bloodhorse – Sean Collins – Brown Points Iron Honor to Preakness Instead of Derby
Bloodhorse – Sean Collins – Ottinho to Bypass Kentucky Derby
Phil has a question:
Has the thrill of just being in the Kentucky Derby gone.
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.
Oscar Wilde
Phil M. Stockmen