Preakness draw: Female trainer looks to make history with Taj Mahal

If another coach makes history Saturday at the Preakness, no one can say she wasn’t warned.

Unlike Golden Tempo, who pulled off a shock 23-1 victory to make Cherie DeVaux the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner, Taj Mahal will start at a much lower price for Brittany Russell.

The undefeated and untested son of Nyquist was tabbed as the co-second pick on the morning line when the positions were drawn Monday afternoon at Laurel Park, the temporary home of the Preakness while Pimlico — about 30 miles to the north — is being rebuilt. Laurel Park, located halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., has never hosted the Preakness, which will begin just after 4 p.m. PDT on NBC.

While Golden Tempo becomes the second consecutive Kentucky Derby winner and third in the last five years to compete in the Preakness, there will be only three Derby runners: Ocelli (third), Incredibolt (sixth) and Robusta (14th).

Of the 14 starters, however, only Taj Mahal can complete the “Triple Crown” for women’s coaches, with Russell looking to follow DeVaux and Jena Antonucci, who won the Belmont three years ago with Arcangelo.

“It would probably sound like a fairy tale,” Russell said. “…It would mean a lot. »

Taj Mahal was one of three horses entered at 5-1 on the morning line behind the lukewarm 9-2 favorite Iron Honor. He is the only Preakness starter to race at Laurel; in fact, he has never raced anywhere else, achieving three wins from three there, including an 8¼-length triumph last month in the Federico Tesio.

His Beyer speed number that day was 92, just two points (equivalent to about a length) behind Ocelli’s number in the Kentucky Derby. Chip Honcho, with a 92 for his second-place finish at Risen Star in February, is the only other Preakness horse with a Beyer number above 90 in a straight race.

Taj Mahal was in the same yearling sale as Iron Honor (also a son of Nyquist) in September 2024 at Keeneland and sold for $50,000 more than his rival this week ($525,000 to $475,000). The colt was originally trained by Bob Baffert, but was sent to Russell last fall when he was not progressing.

“When he first showed up, it took him a while to come back,” Russell said. “And honestly, that’s what it was sent to me for. If the horses aren’t progressing or need a change of scenery, luckily for me, it’s kind of become their place.” [for the owners] to send them.

“…When I first worked on him, did I think he would become a star? No, it took time, but he developed and he progressed.”

The Taj Mahal won an inaugural race on February 6, then returned 15 days later to win a minor stakes race. He had almost two months left between this race and the Tesio on April 18.

Russell’s husband, Sheldon, will ride the Taj Mahal, which will detach from the rail.

“He’s a good gate horse, to be honest,” Sheldon Russell said. “He broke so hard last time. If he were to do the same thing again, he would put me in a great position. We just have to hold this place until the turn, but we have a longer race this time. He’s going to have to overcome some things, but good horses overcome some things.”

Iron Honor, who joins Taj Mahal as the most inexperienced horse in the field with three starts each, won his first two races, including the Gotham at Aqueduct. But he finished seventh last month at Wood Memorial, his only try coming around two laps. It will be ridden for the first time by Flavien Prat.

“[He] “We took the blinders off the horse, gave him a chance to get over this experience and he seems to be in a good place right now, training the way we want him to.”

The other horses listed at 5-1 were Incredibolt, who wasn’t even mentioned as a possibility for the race until Monday, and Chip Honcho, who finished ahead of Golden Tempo in the Risen Star but skipped the Derby after a poor showing in the Louisiana Derby. Ocelli is 6-1 and Napoleon Solo, the only Grade 1 winner in the field (last year’s Champagne Stakes), is 8-1.

Incredibolt, trained by Riley Mott, at least saves the Preakness from not having a single graded stakes winner in a two-round race. The son of Bolt d’Oro captured the Grade 3 Street Sense last fall over 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs. (He also won this year’s ungraded Virginia Derby over 1⅛ miles at Colonial Downs.)

Chip Honcho will move from the No. 6 position under Jose Ortiz, who won the Derby. Ortiz’s brother, Irad Ortiz Jr., who finished second in the Derby with Renegade, will be alongside him in the No. 5 position aboard Talkin.

Ocelli is the most experienced horse in the race, with seven starts. He is also the only starter not to have won a race. No maiden has won the Preakness in the modern era, with the last victory dating back to 1888. Bodexpress was the last to attempt, in 2019, but he reared up coming out of the starting gate and dropped his jockey.