LAUREL, Md. – With the Triple Crown off the table, there's another bit of history that could be made in horse racing this week:
Is this the most wide open Preakness ever?
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The morning line odds suggest it could be after Iron Honor was installed as a 9-2 favorite following Monday's draw.
With Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo held out of the race and a sizeable field of 14 horses currently in it, there's no clear choice to beat. Any number of entrants could conceivably be favored by the time the race starts Saturday at Laurel Park.
Taj Mahal (5-1), Chip Honcho (5-1), Incredibolt (5-1) and Ocelli (6-1) are the other top picks on the morning line. Napoleon Solo (8-1) was next, and trainer Chad Summers saw little reason his horse couldn't prevail.
“It’s the right opportunity with the right field, and we’ve already beaten the morning line favorite,” Summers said.
That's because Napoleon Solo was fifth in the Wood Memorial and Iron Honor was seventh. Iron Honor did win the Gotham Stakes in February.
Chad Brown, who has won the Preakness twice, trains Iron Honor. He chalked up the horse's seventh-place showing at the Wood Memorial on April 4 to getting bothered in the first turn and never really relaxing throughout that race. The decision was then made to take the blinkers off the horse.
“We’ve given him a change to get over that experience, and he seems to be in a good place right now training just the way we want him,” Brown said last week. “He’s been training very consistent, very relaxed.”
No Preakness favorite — when the race started — has had odds of 9-2 or longer since at least 1940. Often, it's the Derby winner going off at a short price, but now Golden Tempo is the third in the past five years to skip this race.
Perhaps that explains why this could be the largest Preakness field in 15 years. The previous time 14 horses made it to the starting gate was in 2011.
Post time Saturday is 7:01 p.m. at Laurel, which is hosting the middle race of the Triple Crown this year as Pimlico in Baltimore is rebuilt.
Three horses from the Derby are in the field — Ocelli, Incredibolt and Robusta (30-1). Great White (15-1) is also back after being scratched from the Derby when he threw his jockey just before the race began.
Ocelli was third in the Derby as a 70-1 shot. Incredibolt was sixth and Robusta was 14th.
Jose Ortiz, the jockey from Golden Tempo’s Derby win, is on Chip Honcho this time.
Taj Mahal is trained by Brittany Russell, who has won several meet training titles in Maryland. Taj Mahal has three wins in three starts, all at Laurel. He'll be on the inside after drawing the No. 1 post Monday.
“It is what it is. We'll just have to see how it goes,” Russell said. “He's a good gate horse, he has speed. So that'll help us.”
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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing