2026 Preakness Stakes results: Napoleon Solo wins in trainer's Triple Crown race debut

Complete finishing order with win, place and show as Napoleon Solo takes title

Napoleon Solo, a brilliantly fast 2-year-old whose struggles this year kept him out of the Kentucky Derby, returned to top form on Saturday and won the 2026 Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park outside Baltimore. Trained by Chad Summers, Napoleon Solo tracked early pacesetter Taj Mahal through fast fractions of 22.66 and 44.66 seconds. The gray colt took over the lead around the far turn and held off the Chad Brown-trained Iron Honor for the victory in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Sent off at more than 7-1, Napoleon Solo paid $17.80 to win. Taj Mahal, the local hope who was the post time favorite at 9-2, finished 10th, more than 13 lengths behind.

Full 2026 Preakness Stakes results

Win: Napoleon Solo
Place: Iron Honor
Show: Chip Honcho
Ocelli
Incredibolt
Bull by the Horns
The Hell We Did
Great White
Robusta
Taj Mahal
Corona de Oro
Talkin
Crupper
Pretty Boy Miah  

Napoleon Solo emerged on the Triple Crown trail in October when he won the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes by more than 6 lengths and earning a 95 Beyer Speed Figure in the process. Summers, who had never had a runner in a Triple Crown race until Saturday, elected to bypass last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, even though the horse would've been one of the favorites, to get him ready for a 3-year-old campaign.

But Napoleon Solo was short on fitness in his first start of the year, the Fountain of Youth Stakes, and finished fifth. He then set a hot pace in the Wood Memorial and faded, finishing fifth again.

Perhaps that was the best thing for this former $40,000 purchase, who was able to regroup after the Wood and train for the Preakness. He had four workouts between the Wood and the second leg of the Triple Crown and impressed trackside observers with how he was working in the mornings.

And, now, the question will be whether Napoleon Solo will run in the Belmont Stakes in three weeks at Saratoga Race Course.

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[May 16, 2026 at 6:50 pm ET · Gene Menez]

With a little more than 10 minutes until post time for the Preakness Stakes, the race is on track to have the longest-priced favorite in race history.

Since records started being kept in 1918, the longest priced favorite was Zev, who was 4.35-1 in 1923. He finished 12th.

As post time approaches, local hope Taj Mahal, who is a perfect 3-for-3 in his career, is the 9-2 favorite, which is the equivalent of 4.5-1. Virginia Derby winner Incredibolt is 5-1 in the current odds.

[May 16, 2026 at 6:13 pm ET · Gene Menez]

Jockey Irad Ortiz. Jr. guided Chasing Liberty (7-2) to a victory by a nose over Outlaw Kid in the Jim McKay Turf Sprint in the race before the Preakness Stakes. The result was a reversal from the local prep race for this, the King Leatherbury Stakes on April 18 in which Outlaw Kid beat Chasing Liberty.

The victory was the first on the day for Ortiz, who had lost in his previous nine mounts. He is set to ride longshot Talkin in the upcoming Preakness Stakes (post time: 7:01 p.m. ET).

[May 16, 2026 at 4:36 pm ET · Gene Menez]

Cruise the Nile's loss in the Dinner Party Stakes extends the woes of heavy favorites on the Preakness Stakes Day undercard. Through 10 races, three favorites of 3-5 or shorter have lost on the undercard. They are Epic Style (3-5 in Race 1), Final Story (1-2 in the Sir Barton Stakes) and Cruise the Nile (2-5).

Overall, just two post time favorites have won through the first 10 races. That could be a bad omen for Incredibolt, who's the current 5-1 favorite in the Preakness Stakes.

[May 16, 2026 at 3:23 pm ET · Gene Menez]

With less than five hours remaining until the starting gate opens for the Preakness Stakes, the battle to be the favorite is shaping up to be a two-horse race.

Both Virginia Derby winner Incredibolt and local hero Taj Mahal are listed at 5-1 in the updated Preakness odds. Technically Taj Mahal is the slight favorite by virtue of having attracted more money ($587,430 to Incredibolt's $547,304). But, as this blog said this morning, Incredibolt is the slight favorite based on the Black-Eyed Susan-Preakness will-pays, so much can change in the hours leading up to the race.

Here are the current odds for Preakness Stakes 151:

1	Taj Mahal	5
2	Ocelli	9
3	Crupper	24
4	Robusta	25
5	Talkin	9
6	Chip Honcho	11
7	The Hell We Did	8
8	Bull by the Horns	16
9	Iron Honor	9
10	Napoleon Solo	9
11	Corona de Oro	17
12	Incredibolt	5
13	Great White	7
14	Pretty Boy Miah	25

[May 16, 2026 at 3:00 pm ET · Gene Menez]

In what could be a sign of things to come, the Steve Asmussen-trained Obliteration cruised to a victory in the Chick Lang Stakes on the Preakness Stakes day undercard on Saturday. A stakes winner at 2 last year, Obliteration entered race off a second place effort in the Saudi Derby in February. But this speedy son of Violence did not seem to have any issue returning from the Middle East and cutting back in distance to six furlongs.

"[We] expect to have a huge year in the one-turn races with Obliteration this year, and I think this was the first step in that," Asmussen told NBC's Nick Luck after the race.

Obliteration will be pointed next to the Woody Stephens Stakes on the Belmont Stakes day undercard.

[May 16, 2026 at 1:47 pm ET · Gene Menez]

Jockey Yedsit Hazlewood is on fire to start the Preakness Stakes day card. The Laurel Park-based rider has won three of the first six races, and none of those was the favorite. He won Race 1 aboard Boujee Bubbles ($10), Race 3 aboard Limo ($11.40) and the Sir Barton Stakes aboard Big Cuddle ($12.80).

Hazlewood has only one more mount the rest of the card: Love Yourself (6-1) in the 14th and final race.

[May 16, 2026 at 1:16 pm ET · Gene Menez]

Trainer Chad Summers and jockey Paco Lopez combined to win Race 5 at Laurel Park with I Love Giraffes. The horse beat Mambo Queen by a long neck.

Summers and Lopez hope that's not the only victory for them today. The trainer and jockey will team up in the Preakness Stakes on Napoleon Solo, a brilliantly quick horse with early speed who's 8-1 in the morning line. He is currently 9-1 in early wagering for the race.

Post time for the Preakness is 7:01 p.m. ET.

[May 16, 2026 at 10:00 am ET · Gene Menez]

Post time for the Preakness Stakes is not until 7:01 p.m. ET, but early betting already has given a hint as to what horse will leave the gate as the favorite.

Marshall Gramm—a horse owner, champion horseplayer and a professor of economics at Rhodes College—has calculated the imputed odds for the Preakness based on the Black-Eyed Susan-Preakness Stakes will-pays. And his calculations say that Incredibolt will be the favorite for the Preakness, at 3.3-1. (He was the co-second choice on the morning line, at 5-1.) Incredibolt is coming off a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.

Taj Mahal, the local horse who's a perfect 3-for-3, is projected to be the second choice, at 4.9-1. Iron Honor, who was the 9-2 favorite on the morning line, will be the third choice, at 5.7-1.

Here are the Gramm's imputed odds for every horse in the Preakness:

Incredibolt	3.3
Taj Mahal	4.9
Iron Honor	5.7
Napoleon Solo	7.3
Ocelli	7.4
Chip Honcho	9.0
The Hell We Did	11.4
Talkin	11.9
Corona de Oro	22.3
Pretty Boy Miah	24.8
Great White	26.5
Bull by the Horns	45.3
Crupper	49.6
Robusta	50.0

[May 16, 2026 at 9:13 am ET · Gene Menez]

Preakness Stakes day has arrived, and a beautiful spring day will greet the 4,800 fans who will be in attendance. The forecast calls for sunny skies, zero chance of precipitation and temperatures in the mid-80s. The temperature will be around 80 at post time for the Preakness Stakes (7:01 p.m. ET post time), which is the 13th race on the 14-horse card.

Racing kicks off at 10:30 a.m. ET with a turf sprint.