BALTIMORE — A group of protesters stood near the entrance to Laurel Park on Saturday, holding signs accusing horse racing of cruelty, while fans dressed in bright spring colors streamed toward Maryland’s biggest racing weekend of the year.

“Horse racing kills horses,” one sign read.

“Horse racing is animal abuse,” another bright ...Read more

LAUREL, Md. — Adorned in a cerulean button-down and tan blazer, Napoleon Solo owner Al Gold strutted off the track and into the postrace news conference with a childlike whimsy.

He described the 3-year-old colt’s win of the 151st Preakness Stakes as “just [a] blank-ing awesome” race at Laurel Park. Gold’s eyes were affixed to a TV ...Read more

LAUREL, Md. — Napoleon Solo, a long shot on the morning betting line, emerged victorious from the throes of the largest Preakness Stakes field in 15 years at Laurel Park on Saturday.

The 3-year-old colt — trained by Chad Summers, owned by Gold Square LLC and jockeyed by Paco Lopez — was patient. It was a fast-paced race. He settled into ...Read more

LAUREL, Md. — Maryland’s interest in purchasing the rights to the Preakness Stakes’ brand for $85 million was a highlight of conversation Saturday at Laurel Park ahead of the 151st running of the historic race.

And while Gov. Wes Moore won’t say whether the state will purchase the race’s intellectual property rights, or where that ...Read more

LAUREL, Md. — The 3-year-old horse was supposed to be perfect.

That was the inspiration behind the name, Hit Zero, a piece of 10-year-old Bailey Horowitz’s world she carried with her as a curious and cheerful spectator on Friday morning at Laurel Park.

In competitive cheerleading, “hitting zero” means completing a routine without ...Read more

LAUREL, Md. — Long before he became the voice of the Triple Crown, before millions of viewers came to recognize the rhythm and rise of his calls on NBC broadcasts every spring, Larry Collmus was just a Maryland teenager standing alone in a tiny booth at Laurel Park.

He would watch the horses thunder down the stretch and practice race calls to...Read more

LAUREL, Md. — A horse died after the opening race on Friday at Laurel Park, prompting renewed criticism from animal advocates as Preakness weekend festivities began.

Hit Zero, trained by Brittany Russell and owned by ItsTheJHo LLC and Evan Trommer, died “of an apparent cardiac event” after Race 1 at Laurel Park, according to a statement ...Read more

LAUREL, Md. — The odds are that Laurel Park will never see another big crowd as it hosts the Preakness Stakes on Saturday and then transitions into retirement as a training track.

Laurel opened in 1911 and, from its start, competed as a distant second to Pimlico in Maryland. Seabiscuit was trained at Laurel in 1938 before the big match race ...Read more

LAUREL, Md. — A horse died after the opening race on Friday at Laurel Park as Preakness weekend festivities got underway, according to track officials.

Hit Zero, trained by Brittany Russell and owned by ItsTheJHo LLC and Evan Trommer, died after Race 1 at Laurel Park. Race officials said veterinary personnel responded immediately but could ...Read more

LAUREL, Md. — It’s an unusual 2026 Preakness Stakes, with the event at Laurel Park instead of Pimlico Race Course. It’ll be a smaller crowd Saturday, and Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo won’t be in the 14-horse field.

While many things about the Preakness are changing shape — perhaps even the Triple Crown calendar in coming years �...Read more

BALTIMORE — Every year since 1909, after each Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course, an artist has scaled the cupola and painted its weathervane to match the color scheme of the winning horse and jockey.

While most of Pimlico has been bulldozed over, tradition will attempt to carry on.

On Saturday, when a Preakness 151 winner is decided at...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland is seriously exploring a potential $85 million move to secure the Preakness Stakes’ brand, an action that would further bind the historic race to the state where it has been run for more than 150 years, according to five sources with knowledge of the state’s assessment.

A spokesman for Gov. Wes Moore said the state ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The 2026 Preakness Stakes will take place Saturday at Laurel Park. Here’s a look at the 14-horse field and expected contenders after Monday night’s post position draw:

Taj Mahal, post position 1

A potential favorite of Maryland fans, Taj Mahal has raced three times in his career and won all three times. Each race took place ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky Oaks’ shift to prime time in an attempt to get more eyes on Churchill Downs — and more money in the purse — from the 152nd running of the iconic race seems to have worked for the Louisville horse racing company.

The prime-time broadcast on NBC not only set viewership records, it also set wagering records, ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The purists and the traditionalists are right. The sanctity of the Triple Crown is a credit to its unparalleled difficulty.

Many have tried and failed. Still, racing the second leg was, historically, a rite of passage for the Kentucky Derby winner. Only 13 horses have swept the three major races in the past 107 years. And only ...Read more

BALTIMORE — There will be no Triple Crown winner this year.

Golden Tempo, the 3-year-old thoroughbred who won the Kentucky Derby with a brilliant come-from-behind effort, will not run in the Preakness Stakes on May 16.

Trainer Cherie DeVaux posted in a statement on social media that she believes the “best decision for him moving forward is...Read more

An event that traces its roots to 1875, the Kentucky Derby is as much a 2026 phenomenon as Ella Langley.

According to NBC Sports, the telecast of 23-1 shot Golden Tempo’s worst-to-first charge to victory in the 152nd Run for the Roses was watched by an average of 19.6 million television/internet streaming viewers.

From 7 to 7:15 p.m. ...Read more

The 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby broke the ratings record for the most-watched Kentucky Derby ever, with an average 19.6 million viewers, according to NBC.

The NBC broadcast generated nearly 2 million more average viewers than last year’s race, which was the most watched Kentucky Derby in 36 years. NBC said the broadcast peaked at 24.4...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Eighty-nine years after Mary Hirsch became the first woman trainer to enter a horse in the Kentucky Derby, Cherie DeVaux completed the journey.

All it took for women’s sports history on North American horse racing’s biggest stage was a hard-charging, 23-1 long-shot, Golden Tempo, who rallied from dead last to hold the ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — I was sailing through Churchill Downs aimlessly, chasing a white whale of a story as a first-time Kentucky Derby attendee whose job was to find interesting sights and scenes.

It was all new to me — the vendors handing out free mint juleps, the elaborate walkways between varying millionaires’ suites — but nothing sung ...Read more