Next start: Kentucky Derby. Wood Memorial upsetter at 11-1 odds has won back-to-back races since starting his career 0-2. Trainer Riley Mott is son of last year's Kentucky Derby and Belmont-winning trainer, Bill. Wood Memorial alumni have had Preakness success in recent years, Early Voting and Cloud Computing winning in the last decade.

Next start: Preakness. Fifth-place finisher as the favorite in March's Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn, the only start in 2026 for last summer's Del Mar Futurity winner. Missed a month on the workout tab after that trip from his California base, forcing him to skip a planned bid in the Blue Grass. Baffert has a record 8 Preakness wins, most recently with National Treasure in '23 after skipping the Derby.

Next start: Preakness. Beat fellow New York-breds twice last year but is 0-3 this season with a runner-up in the Holy Bull at Gulfstream his best finish. Added fourth-place runs in the Fountain of Youth as well as Aqueduct's Wood Memorial. Funny Cide (2003) was the most popular NY-bred Preakness winner. Photo: Coglianese/NYRA

Next start: Preakness. Stakes-tested runner had a breakout maiden victory in late February, but troubled start in the Santa Anita Derby stunted his momentum. Off the board in all 3 stakes tries to date. Baffert has a record 8 Preakness wins, most recently with National Treasure in '23 after skipping the Derby.

Next start: Kentucky Derby. From same trainer-jockey as last year's Derby winner Sovereignty, who would then skip the Preakness Stakes bid. This lightly raced colt didn't debut until Jan. 10 and has since run a close-up second in the Fountain of Youth and narrow third in the Florida Derby. All 3 starts to date have been at Gulfstream Park.

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Veteran of all 4 Louisiana Derby series races at Fair Grounds, winning the Gun Runner in December to open the quartet. Runner-up in the Risen Star before tiring in the series finale. Potential pace player in Derby may opt to go directly into Preakness. Asmussen won the Preakness in 2007 and 2009 with Curlin and Rachel Alexandra. Photo: Coady/Churchill Downs

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Only horse ever to win Gulfstream's Mucho Macho Man, Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby. Jockeys Flavien Prat and Irad Ortiz Jr. rode him to victory this year but both opted for other mounts in the Kentucky Derby. Trainer Brad Cox seeks his first Preakness win after dominating the Triple Crown prep trail this spring.

Next start: Preakness. Ohio-bred stakes winner at Thistledown and Mahoning Valley as a 2-year-old posseses strong early speed. He led the Lecomte at Fair Grounds before tiring to eighth and most recently in late February Aqueduct's Gotham before finishing second. Son of top sprinter Yaupon.

Next start: Pat Day Mile on Kentucky Derby undercard. Unbeaten sprinter from Santa Anita has a maiden and allowance win to his credit heading into his stakes debut to come at Churchill Downs. The Preakness would be his first start around 2 turns. Seize the Grey won the 2024 Preakness after running in the Pat Day Mile. Bob Baffert has trained a record 8 Preakness winners.

Next start: Preakness. Won an automatic berth to the Preakness by scoring Oaklawn's Batthouse Row Stakes in April. Has won 2 of his last 3 after starting his career 0-3. Home-bred for owner Robert Zoellner who campaiged the dam She's All In to 8 stakes wins with trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel. Photo: Coady/Oaklawn

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Undefeated Japanese Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifier won the Fukuryu Stakes to punch his ticket to Louisville. Win margin to date 18-1/2 lengths in 3 triumphs all at 1-1/8 miles or farther. The Japanese are 0-10 in the Kentucky Derby, while showing less propensity to run in the Preakness (Lani, 5th, 2016). Photo: netkeiba

Next start: Pat Day Mile. 2-time stakes winner of the Best Pal at Del Mar and most recently the Hot Springs at Oaklawn in late March. Runner-up in Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity and Grade 1 American Pharoah at age 2. Maternal grandson of 2007 Preakness winner Curlin. Trainer Baffert has a record 8 Preankess wins.

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Most lightly raced member of this year's Derby field could benefit by experience if able to advance to Preakness. Won the Louisiana Derby in just his second lifetime start. Jockey Flavien Prat opted to ride him over Commandment in the Derby. Trainer Brown has had Preakness success this decade with Cloud Computing and Early Voting.

Scratched out of Kentucky Derby on April 30 with a bone chip, trainer Brad Cox said.

Next start: Kentucky Derby. King of Kentucky won last year's Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs and most recently Keeneland's Blue Grass. Dramatic flair with 20-length and 11-length win margins on his ledger. The last Blue Grass winner to add the Preakness was Prairie Bayou in 1993. Jockey Irad Ortiz opted to ride Renegade in the Kentucky Derby. Trainer Cox seeks his first Preakness winner.

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Raced all 4 times at Fair Grounds this winter-spring with a win in the Lecomte before third-place efforts in the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby. Trainer DeVaux can become first female to saddle Preakness winner. Son of '07 Preakness winner Curlin. Phipps Stable co-owned '13 Derby winner Orb (4th Preakness). St. Elias co-owned '17 Derby winner Always Dreaming (8th Preakness).

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Turfway Park winter warrior raced his first 3 times there on the synthetic surface, winning the John Battaglia Memorial in February at 15-1 odds. Set the pace and tired to fifth on the dirt at Keeneland in the Blue Grass Stakes, beaten 22+ lengths by Further Ado. Trainer Ennis had similar-campaigned Epic Ride finish 13th in the 2024 Derby and not advance to the Preakness. Photo: Coady/Turfway Park

Next start: Kentucky Derby. The Virginia Derby winner bounced back from a disappointing 2026 return effort in Florida. Won same Street Sense Stakes at age 2 that Sovereignty did a year prior en route to Kentucky Derby glory for trainer Riley Mott's father, Bill. Preakness-winning jockey Torres (Seize the Grey, 2024) picked him over Wood-winning stablemate Albus to ride in Louisville.

Next start: Preakness. Gotham Stakes winner tired to seventh in the Wood Memorial in his first try around 2 turns and first beyond 1 mile. Son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness third-place finisher Nyquist heads directly to Preakness starter in lieu of a Kentucky Derby bid even though he had enough points to qualify for the first Saturday in May. Trainer Brown has Preakness wins with Cloud Computing and Early Voting. Photo: NYRA

Next race: Kentucky Derby. Los Alamitos Futurity winner dropped both decisions this season at Oaklawn, hitting the road from his California base. Third in the Rebel and seventh most recently in the Arkansas Derby, his trainer Bob Baffert has a record 8 Preakness victories. Fourth in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, he and Intrepido are the lone members of that race still in Derby consideration.

Next start: Preakness. Blowout winner of both starts last year, including Grade 1 Champagne at Aqueduct. Disappointing fifth-place return in the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream was followed by similar finish upon returning to NY for the Wood Memorial. Seeks first win around 2 turns.

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Drew into the race Thursday of Derby Week after 2 scratches. Wood Memorial third-place finisher at 28-1 odds has yet to win a race in 6 starts. Sixth in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa and sixth in Colonial's Virginia Derby prior. Has a late-running style that sometimes welcomes additional distance.

Next start: Preakness. Blue Grass Stakes runner-up and Withers third-place finisher had enough points to compete in the Kentucky Derby but was aimed for the Preakness. Trainer Chad Brown has won this race with Cloud Computing and Early Voting with similar bypasses of Louisville.

Next start: Kentucky Derby. California-bred hit the road to win the Sunland Derby by a nose and lose a hard-luck photo in the Louisiana Derby at 21-1 odds. 2-time Derby-winning trainer O'Neill, who scored the 2012 Preakness with I'll Have Another, has one of the crop's most-experienced starters. -- Photo: Coady Photography

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Dropped his first decision when runner-up in the Santa Anita Derby as the 6-5 favorite, previously winning the San Felipe. Trainer Baffert's 8 Preakness victories are a record for the race (7 of them coming with horses who also raced in the Kentucky Derby). Potente did not debut until Jan. 31 and has raced exclusively at Santa Anita prior to the Triple Crown.

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Arkansas Derby winner was the final Kentucky Derby Future Wager favorite for 2-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Pletcher (2010, 2017). Pletcher has never won the Preakness and his prior Derby winners, Super Saver and Always Dreaming, finished off the board in the middle jewel. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. opted to pilot this colt over Commandment, Further Ado and Fulleffort in Louisville.

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Aqueduct winter warrior was third in the Gotham and second in the Wood Memorial to work his way into the Kentucky Derby lineup. Trainer McPeek won the 2020 Preakness with the filly Swiss Skydiver. Jockey Christopher Elliott is son of Stewart Elliott, who won the 2004 Derby and Preakness aboard Smarty Jones '04. Photo: NYRA.

Next start: Kentucky Derby or Preakness. San Felipe Stakes runner-up missed his Kentucky Derby calling after a seventh-place regression in the Santa Anita Derby. He's raced exclusively in California thus far for Doug O'Neill, who campaigned 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another.

Next start: Preakness? Scratched from Kentucky Derby with a reported foot bruise on Wednesday of Derby Week. Solid Canadian freshman season followed up with 4 top-2 stakes finishes during the Oaklawn meeting, culminating with a runner-up in the Arkansas Derby. Top local jockey Preakness and Belmont Stakes-winning trainer Mark Casse found glory here in 2019 with War of Will.

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Kentucky-bred has raced exclusively in Dubai, winning the UAE Two Thousand Guineas before a second-place finish in the UAE Derby while prominent in the early pace. Son of red-hot stallion Not This Time. Seemar's Summer is Tomorrow finished last after setting the '22 Derby pace in his only previous Triple Crown series bid. No Dubai-based horse has won the Preakness.

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Santa Anita Derby winner extended beyond his champion sprint sire's pedigree expectations as the west's best Triple Crown prospect. 60-year-old jockey Mike Smith is a 2-time Preakness winner, Prairie Bayou in 1993 and Triple Crown winner Justify in 2018. No less than 5 Santa Anita Derby winners have won the Preakness since 2012, including Journalism a year ago.

Next start: American Turf or Kentucky Derby. Runner-up in the Jeff Ruby at Turfway, he's raced on turf or synthetic surfaces in his last 6 starts. Debuted on dirt when fourth at Del Mar sprinting last summer. Same owner-trainer had Endlessly finish 9th in 2024 Derby with a similar surface background. McCarthy trained Preakness winners Rombauer and Journalism.

Next start: Preakness. Top local hope has won all 3 starts at Laurel Park, including the Miracle Wood Stakes and an 8-1/4 length romp in the Federico Tesio Stakes. Husband-wife tandem of jockey Sheldon and trainer Brittany Russell. Son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, third in that year's Preakness as the favorite. Nyquist sired last year's narrow Preakness runner-up Gosger. Photo: TMJC

Next start: Preakness. Blue Grass Stakes third-place finisher hasn't won since his August debut at Saratoga, but has been stakes-placed in the Champagne in New York amongst his defeats. Trainer Gargan won the Belmont Stakes 2 years ago with Dornoch, who did not compete in the Preakness.

Next start: Preakness. Aqueduct-based colt has raced in New York in all 4 starts, winning February's Withers Stakes before a disappointing eighth-place Wood Memorial finish knocked him out of Kentucky Derby contention. NY-bred looks to follow the footsteps of Funny Cide (2003) as a Preakness champ.

Next start: Preakness. New Mexico-based, half-brother to Senor Buscador (who earned $12.9 million) exits a runner-up finish in Keeneland's Lexington Stakes. Son of 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic, who wound up second in that year's Preakness. His victories have come at Remington Park in Oklahoma City and at New Mexico's Sunland Park.

Next start: scratched from Kentucky Derby with left-front leg swelling on the morning of the race. Tampa Bay Derby winner and Florida Derby nose runner-up hails from the same owner-trainer-jockey as '23 Derby winner Mage, who finished third in that year's Preakness. Like that stable predecessor, he was late to debut as a 3-year-old, unveiled Jan. 10. All 4 starts have come in Florida and his 21-day turnaround between his final 2 preps might help him navigate the 14-day gap in the Triple Crown openers.

Next start: Preakness. Laurel-based winner of the local Private Terms Stakes and runner-up in the Federico Tesio Stakes. Trainer Gary Capuano finished third in the 1997 Preakness with Captain Bodgit. Son of 2019 Preakness favorite Improbable, who finished sixth. Photo: TJMC

Next start: Kentucky Derby. Japanese-bred has been on the road via the Saudi Derby (fourth) and UAE Derby (win) since February. Jockey Ryusei Takai, third aboard countryman Forever Young in the '24 Kentucky Derby, brings experience to his new seat in the saddle. Trainer Takayanagi a credible fifth with TO Password in '24 Derby. The Japanese are 0-10 in the Kentucky Derby, while showing less propensity to run in the Preakness (Lani, 5th, 2016).