Despite the one-time relocation to Laurel Park, an on-track crowd limited to 4,800, and the absence of the Kentucky Derby winner for the second consecutive year, pari-mutuel wagering on the 2026 Preakness day program was the third-highest in history, with the Thoroughbred industry’s official database, Equibase, reporting a total of $106,982,107 bet on the 14 races from Laurel, Md., on May 16.
That’s down 2.8 percent from 2025, when $110,043,794 was wagered on the 14-race card at Pimlico, which had an on-track crowd of 52,574. The all-time record was established in 2021 when $112,504,509 was bet on Preakness day at the Baltimore track.
This year’s Preakness card had 122 starters, an average of 8.71 per race, and the Preakness itself had 14 starters compared to nine in 2025. Last year’s 14 races had an average of 7.79 runners per race. Win, place and show wagering on this year’s Preakness race totaled $25,663,916, compared to $27,454,145 in 2025. The Preakness was won by Napoleon Solo, the fourth betting choice at 7.90-to-1. Ridden by Paco Lopez for trainer Chad Summers and owner Al Gold, the son of Liam’s Map paid $17.80 to win. The betting favorite, locally trained Taj Mahal, finished 10th after being sent off at odds of 4.70-to-1.
The Triple Crown’s middle jewel is scheduled to return next year to Pimlico, which is undergoing extensive renovation including a new grandstand. Laurel Park, located roughly halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., is expected to be a year-round training center for Maryland horse racing. The state of Maryland is in the process of purchasing Laurel Park from Belinda Stronach’s 1/ST Racing, which also sold Pimlico to the state and is exiting Maryland, 24 years after her father, Frank Stronach, bought majority interest in the Maryland Jockey Club and the two operating tracks. The elder Stronach bought the remaining interest in the tracks in 2011.
