The Ultimate Guide to the 2026 Preakness Stakes

The 2026 Preakness Stakes will be held on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at Laurel Park. This year’s race marks the 151st running of the Preakness.

Note: The race is being held at Laurel Park instead of its traditional home, Pimlico Race Course, due to ongoing renovations.

The Preakness Stakes is the second leg of the Triple Crown, run two weeks after the Kentucky Derby at Laurel Park in 2026.

It’s important because it determines whether a horse can continue a Triple Crown bid, while also attracting a mix of Derby runners and fresh challengers — making it one of the most exciting and unpredictable races of the year.

The top contenders are expected to include Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, runner-up Renegade, and other key Derby horses — plus fresh shooters targeting the second leg of the Triple Crown. Historically, 7 of the last 10 Kentucky Derby winners have gone on to run in the Preakness, though participation varies year to year.

See the full early contenders breakdown here.

You can place bets on the Preakness Stakes through licensed racetracks, betting windows at Laurel Park, online wagering platforms such a TwinSpires, and approved mobile apps. Options range from simple win, place, and show bets to exotics like exactas, trifectas, and multi-race wagers. Be sure to use trusted, legal betting providers and always wager responsibly.

Early Preakness Stakes odds typically appear shortly after the Kentucky Derby, with the official morning line released a few days before the race once the final field is set at Laurel Park.

Post time for the 2026 Preakness Stakes is expected to be around 6:50 PM ET at Laurel Park.

You can watch the Preakness Stakes live on NBC, with streaming available on Peacock, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app.

Coverage typically begins earlier in the afternoon before the main race broadcast.

The purse for the 2026 Preakness Stakes is $2 million, making it one of the richest races for 3-year-olds in the country.

The winner receives $1.2 million (with the jockey earning a percentage of those winnings), second place gets $400,000, third place $200,000, fourth $120,000, and fifth $80,000.

Attendance for the Preakness Stakes can vary widely depending on the venue. In 2026 at Laurel Park, only 4,800 two-day tickets are being allotted due to the temporary relocation.

For comparison, the event drew around 63,000 fans over the weekend at Pimlico Race Course last year, while peak attendance reached over 190,000 in 2017.

Horses qualify for the Preakness Stakes—exclusively for three-year-old Thoroughbreds—primarily through career earnings and performance in specific automatic-entry races. Unlike the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness does not use a points-based qualification system.

The Preakness Stakes field is limited to a maximum of 14 horses, though the actual number of starters is often smaller.

Journalism, a bay colt trained by Michael McCarthy and ridden by Umberto Rispoli, won the 2025 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. He finished ahead of Gosger, with Sandman, Goal Oriented, and Heart of Honor rounding out the top five. Journalism entered the race off a runner-up finish in the Kentucky Derby and delivered a powerful late rally to win the second leg of the Triple Crown.