2026 Preakness Stakes odds, horses, field: Racing insider offers best bets for top picks for the second leg of the Triple Crown

A Preakness Stakes unlike any other will take place on Saturday when the starting gate opens for the 2026 Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md. Traditionally held at Pimlico Race Course, the race is being hosted at Laurel for the first time while Pimlico is being rebuilt. The second leg of the Triple Crown is scheduled to return to Pimlico next year.

For Saturday, the Chad Brown-trained Iron Honor has been installed as the lukewarm 9-2 morning-line favorite in the 2026 Preakness Stakes odds. Brown has won this race twice, in 2017 and '22. Local favorite Taj Mahal (5-1), Chip Honcho (5-1), Virginia Derby winner Incredibolt (5-1) and Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Ocelli (6-1) round out the top five choices among the 14 Preakness Stakes horses. Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo will not be in the race as his connections decided to target the Belmont Stakes instead.

With a large and evenly matched field set to leave the starting gate, you NEED to see what racing reporter and insider Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2026 Preakness Stakes picks, considering what she did two weeks ago.

Few people in racing are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders' Cup, Yu has spent a lifetime in racing. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett. She also is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.

Yu also has tremendous handicapping chops. In a wide-open Kentucky Derby in 2021, she gave out Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first, as the winner at 12-1. In Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager four years ago, she suggested a play on All Other 3-Year-Olds, which cashed at a whopping 18-1 when Rich Strike won.

She started off 2025 by correctly going all-in on Citizen Bull to win the Robert B. Lewis Stakes, and she also predicted Forever Young's win in the Saudi Cup, Journalism's win in the San Felipe Stakes, Sandman's win in the Arkansas Derby and Mindframe's win in the Churchill Downs Stakes. She also hit the exacta in the Kentucky Derby.

In August she hit the Fierceness-Journalism exacta in the Pacific Classic, and in March she nailed the Renegade-Silent Tactic-Taptastic trifecta in the Arkansas Derby. And on the Kentucky Derby undercard, she smashed two races: Crude Velocity's win in the Pat Day Mile and Stark Contrast's win in the American Turf.

For the 2026 Preakness Stakes, Yu has made her picks and constructed her bets. One surprise: Her top pick is not Iron Honor, even though he is the 9-2 favorite. "The Gotham Stakes winner really faltered when stretching out to nine furlongs in his last start," she told SportsLine. She prefers two horses over Iron Honor.

Instead, Yu's top pick is a horse who is in "super shape." She's also high on a massive double-digit longshot who is "sneaky." She is including these horses in her 2026 Preakness Stakes bets, and so should you. You ABSOLUTELY NEED to see her picks before locking in any of your own.

So which horse wins the 2026 Preakness Stakes? What massive double-digit longshot is a must-back? And how has Yu constructed her wagers? ... Join SportsLine right now to get Michelle Yu's 2026 Preakness Stakes picks and bets, all from the racing insider!