Laurel Park 🏇🏾// Sat., May 16, 2026

Happy Preakness Saturday & National Barbecue Day! 🍗

Another day, and another jewel of the Triple Crown is upon us. It just doesn’t have the same ring when there’s no chance at a Triple Crown winner for the fifth time in the last eight years. We could debate daily what the best route is for horses who win the Derby, whether the Triple Crown should be rearranged, and a hundred other horse racing hot topics. But this isn’t Around the Horn, it’s Turtle Sports. While we’ve got plenty of opinions, our goal today is to help you build those winning tickets on a great racing day.

That’s right, it’s Preakness Day, and we’re fired up for a full day of racing at Laurel Park. Today’s card features 14 total races, nine stakes races, and, for the second year in a row, the Preakness is not at Pimlico. As many of you know, the last 134 Preakness Stakes were run at Pimlico, but with renovations underway for a state-of-the-art racing experience, Laurel Park hosted the Preakness last year and again this year.

There are so many great races on tap today, and we could break down each one. The total purse on the card is over $3.4 million, but of course the featured event is the $2,000,000 Preakness Stakes. This is a Grade 1 route on the dirt at 1 1/16 miles for three-year-olds only. We have a full field of 14 for today’s rendition of the race and plenty of storylines beyond Golden Tempo not running.

We have Great White, the late scratch in the Derby after a scary fall behind the gate during loading, back in this race. We have the third-place finisher in the Derby, Ocelli, who drew in after a scratch and nearly pulled off the shocker, just like Rich Strike in 2021. There’s also another Derby runner, Incredibolt, who many thought was the top long shot two weeks ago; he finished sixth but made a nice run down the stretch.

We’ve got two horses, Talkin and Chip Honcho, who looked like Derby contenders all prep season long, but their connections targeted this race instead. Most of the time during prep season, we focus on Derby preps, but the Preakness has two win-and-you’re-in races as well, and both of those winners are here today: Taj Mahal, the track veteran who is a top contender on the morning line, and Crupper, more of a long shot, but he earned his spot by beating seven others earlier this year.

Our two cappers disagree on the top-rated horse, but it’s worth noting that Napoleon Solo is the only horse in the field to have already won a Grade 1 race. That’s why Finky has him as his top selection today.

We’re looking for a bounce-back day after a big racing Friday. We only had three top-pick winners for an ROI of -50%, plus just one other second-pick winner. This same scenario played out during Derby weekend, and we followed it with a strong Saturday, so we’re hoping for a repeat today.

Regardless of how you did yesterday, have some fun today. This is the best time of year for horse racing: the Triple Crown is in full swing, the top three-year-olds are improving, and the two-year-olds are starting to run, so we can prepare for next year. The weather today is going to be fantastic, with highs in the low 80s and mostly sunny skies. The track is fast and the turf is firm, so we should see high-speed racing and tons of opportunities to cash tickets.

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🏇The Preakness Stakes, one of the oldest and most prestigious horse races in the United States, was first run in 1873 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Named after a colt named Preakness who won the Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico’s opening meet, the race quickly became a major event in American horse racing. Although it briefly moved to other tracks in New York during the 1890s, it returned permanently to Pimlico in 1909. The Preakness is the second leg of the Triple Crown, positioned between the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, and is run over 1 3/16 miles. Known for its rich traditions, including the draping of the winning horse with a blanket of black-eyed Susans, the race has long been a centerpiece of American sporting culture.

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Need help picking winners? We've got you covered! Our (Always Free) Lundin Line's top picks and best bets are below. We use them to help narrow the field while putting our tickets together. The first post will be here soon, so don't be late........ It's time to get #InTheMoney! 💰💰💰

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Laurel Park 🏇🏾 // Thurs., May 16th, 2026

First Post @ 10:30 EDT/ 7:30 PDT

R1: 7-3-2-9

R2: 1A-7-3-12

R3: 1-4-6-3

R4Ⓢ: 7-2-1-3

R5: 7-3-6-10

R6Ⓢ: 4-7-3-5

R7Ⓢ: 4-6-5-2

R8Ⓢ: 4⭑-5-3-2

R9Ⓢ: 1-5-6-7

R10Ⓢ: 6-4-7-3

R11Ⓢ: 3⭑-1-8-7

R12Ⓢ: 3-4-8-9

🏇R13Ⓢ: 2026 Preakness

LL: 1-10-2-9

Fink: 10-12-1-6-11

W: 1-12-10-2

R14: 4-3-10-8

🏇= Featured Race(s)

⭑Best Bet(s)

R8: Haileysfirstnotion (#4)

R11: Accent (G3)

Ⓢtakes Race(s)

R4: 125K Skipat S.

6 Furlongs on Dirt for Fillies & Mares, 3 Yr Olds & Up

R6: 100K Sir Barton S.

1 1/16 Miles on Dirt

R7: 150K Chick Lang S.

6 Furlongs for 3 Yr. Olds

R8: 150K Maryland Sprint S. (G3)

6 Furlongs on Dirt for 3 Yr. Olds & Up

R9: 100K James W. Murphy S.

1 Mile on Turf for 3 Yr. Olds

R10: 250K Dinner Party S. (G3T)

1 1/18 on Turf for 3 Yr. Olds & Up

R11: 150K Gallorette S. (G3T)

1 1/16 Miles on Turf for Fillies & Mares, 3 Yr. Olds & Up

R12: 125K Jim McKay Turf Sprint S.

5 1/2 Furlongs on Turf for 3 Yr. Olds & Up

🏇R13: 2 Mil. Preakness S. (G1)

1 3/16 on Dirt for 3 Yr. Olds

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May 16th- National Barbeque Day

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/ As always, please forgive any typos and grammatical errors