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The 2026 Preakness Stakes draws a wide-open field of 14 3-year-olds to Laurel Park in Laurel, Md. Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo is skipping the race, leaving the door open for a new name to emerge on the Triple Crown trail. Ten of the 14 horses in the 2026 Preakness Stakes field prefer to race on or near the lead, setting the stage for a fast early pace that figures to set up the late runners. With so much speed in the field, identifying the right closers could be the key to cashing your 2026 Preakness Stakes bets.

Laurel Park will host the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 16, with post time at 7:01 p.m. ET. Iron Honor (9-2) tops the 2026 Preakness Stakes odds as the morning-line favorite, trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Flavien Prat, one of the most powerful connections in the sport. Taj Mahal, Chip Honcho, and Incredibolt are all listed at 5-1, while Ocelli (6-1) and Napoleon Solo (8-1) round out the top tier of the 2026 Preakness Stakes field. Before making any 2026 Preakness Stakes picks, be sure to see the 2026 Preakness Stakes predictions and best bets from SportsLine’s elite horse racing expert Jody Demling.

A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling hit the top three finishers in the 2025 Kentucky Derby in the correct order. He also called 11 of the last 21 Preakness winners, including 2023, when he hit the winner, exacta, trifecta and superfecta. He hit the trifecta in the 2024 Preakness Stakes and nailed Journalism as the 2025 Preakness winner. Anyone who has followed him on horse racing betting sites could be way up. 

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Now, with the 2026 Preakness Stakes field set, Demling is sharing his 2026 Preakness Stakes betting picks and 2026 Preakness Stakes predictions over at SportsLine. Go to SportsLine to see them.

Top 2026 Preakness Stakes predictions

One of Demling’s surprising 2026 Preakness Stakes picks: Demling is high on Napoleon Solo (8-1). Despite having the sixth-best odds to win and running from post No. 10, Demling likes what he sees from the Chad Summers-trained colt in a wide open Preakness field. The last horse to leave from post No. 10 and win the Preakness was Real Quiet in 1998.

Napoleon Solo, who won his first two races, is coming off back-to-back fifth-place finishes. On April 4, he took fifth at the dirt-fast 2026 Wood Memorial. He was also fifth at the 2026 Fountain of Youth this past February. His wins were at the MSW race at Saratoga in August, and at the 1-mile 2025 Champagne G1 at Aqueduct Racetrack in October. See which other horses to back at SportsLine. 

Another surprise: Demling is fading Chip Honcho (5-1). Chip Honcho enters the 2026 Preakness Stakes as one of the favorites, but the numbers behind the odds tell a more cautious story. The Connect colt has not visited the winners’ circle since December 2025, going winless across his last three starts on the Derby trail. 

His most recent outing was a fifth-place finish in the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds, a race run at the exact same 1 3/16-mile distance as the Preakness Stakes. That result, at the Preakness distance, against a weaker field, does little to inspire confidence that Chip Honcho is ready to take on the best 3-year-olds in the country. See which other horses to fade at SportsLine. 

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How to make 2026 Preakness Stakes picks, bets

Demling is also especially high on an epic double-digit longshot “with a chance” to win it all. Anyone who backs this sleeper pick could hit it big. Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected 2026 Preakness Stakes leaderboard, over at SportsLine.

Which horse wins the Preakness Stakes 2026, and which stunning longshot is a must-back? Check out the recent 2026 Preakness Stakes odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Demling’s picks for the Preakness Stakes, all from the expert who has nailed the last three winners.

2026 Preakness Stakes odds

Post Horse  Odds Projection
1 Taj Mahal 5-1 SEE PICKS
2 Ocelli 6-1 SEE PICKS
3 Crupper 30-1 SEE PICKS
4 Robusta 30-1 SEE PICKS
5 Talkin 20-1 SEE PICKS
6 Chip Honcho 5-1 SEE PICKS
7 The Hell We Did 15-1 SEE PICKS
8 Bull By The Horns 30-1 SEE PICKS
9 Iron Honor 9-2 SEE PICKS
10 Napoleon Solo 8-1 SEE PICKS
11 Corono De Oro 30-1 SEE PICKS
12 Incredibolt 5-1 SEE PICKS
13 Great White 15-1 SEE PICKS
14 Pretty Boy Miah 15-1 SEE PICKS