With the Kentucky Derby in the rearview mirror, all eyes now turn to the Preakness Stakes. As the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes draws not only the finest three-year-old thoroughbreds but also a massive audience of racing enthusiasts and bettors keen to witness history in the making. Throughout this series, our featured horse racing experts will break down their favorite bets for the Run for the Black-eyed Susans, in addition to providing individual horse profiles. Below, we take a look at the current Preakness Stakes odds, post position, and expert advice for Iron Honor.
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2026 Preakness Stakes Predictions: Iron Honor
- Post Position: 9
- Odds: 9-2
Iron Honor opens as the favorite by process of elimination. Iron Honor won the Grade 3 Gotham in February, then finished seventh as the favorite in a slooooow Wood Memorial where only the winner (Albus) cracked a 100 speed rating, and somehow that résumé was good enough to top a field this thin.
Trainer Chad Brown is making two changes for the Preakness: Flavien Prat goes on, blinkers come off, with the stated goal of getting the horse to settle and track pace rather than fight early. A bullet half-mile at Belmont (tenth fastest of nearly 20) suggests he's physically ready for this race. However, whether the blinker removal fixes the temperament or just removes the one thing actually keeping him focused is the central question.
Brown has won this race twice, and even he expressed genuine surprise that his horse was installed as the favorite. At 9-2, you're backing Brown's ability to solve a problem in two weeks and his experience in this race. For what it's worth, Brown doesn't ship horses to Laurel Park in Laurel, MD, as much as he does up I-95 to Pimlico in Baltimore, where both of his Preakness wins came.
-Luke Monaldo
Bet: Win, hit the board
2026 Preakness Stakes Post Positions & Odds
| Post | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Odds |
| 1 | Taj Mahal | Brittany Russell | Sheldon Russell | 5-1 |
| 2 | Ocelli | Whit Beckman | Tyler Gaffalione | 6-1 |
| 3 | Crupper | Donnie Von Hemel | Junior Alvarado | 30-1 |
| 4 | Robusta | Doug O’Neil | Rafael Bejarano | 30-1 |
| 5 | Talkin | Danny Gargan | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 20-1 |
| 6 | Chip Honcho | Steve Asmussen | Jose Ortiz | 5-1 |
| 7 | The Hell We Did | Todd Fincher | Luis Saez | 15-1 |
| 8 | Bull by the Horns | Saffie Joseph Jr. | Micah Husbands | 30-1 |
| 9 | Iron Honor | Chad Brown | Flavien Prat | 9-2 |
| 10 | Napoleon Solo | Chad Summers | Paco Lopez | 8-1 |
| 11 | Corona de Oro | Dallas Stewart | John R. Velazquez | 30-1 |
| 12 | Incredibolt | Jaime Torres | Rilley Mott | 5-1 |
| 13 | Great White | John Ennis | Alex Achard | 15-1 |
| 14 | Pretty Boy Miah | Jeremiah Englehart | Ricardo Santana Jr | 15-1 |
2026 Preakness Stakes Horse Previews, Picks & Predictions
Check out our previews for every horse competing in the 2026 Preakness Stakes and our expert analysis on the best bets for this year's Run for the Black-eyed Susans.
- Taj Mahal
- Ocelli
- Crupper
- Robusta
- Talkin
- Chip Honcho
- The Hell We Did
- Bull by the Horns
- Iron Honor
- Napoleon Solo
- Corona de Oro
- Incredibolt
- Great White
- Pretty Boy Miah
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