Get caught up with Iron Honor's past performances, jockey, trainer and full analysis heading into the second leg of the Triple Crown
By Gene Menez May 14, 2026 at 11:36 am ET • 2 min read 
Imagn Images Trainer Chad Brown has found the formula to win the Preakness Stakes: Take a horse from the Wood Memorial, skip the Kentucky Derby and point to the second leg of the Triple Crown. The strategy has worked twice for Brown, with Cloud Computing in 2017 and Early Voting in 2022. On Saturday, he will try to try that formula again with Wood Memorial also-ran Iron Honor. Bet Iron Honor and the entire Preakness Stakes at DraftKings Racing, where new users who click through our links can win a share of $150,000 with DK Horse's King of the Track promo here:
9 Iron Honor (9-2)
- Trainer: Chad Brown
- Jockey: Flavien Prat
- Last race: Seventh in the Wood Memorial by 4¼ lengths
- Career record: 3 starts: 2 wins
- Career earnings: $229,250
- Best career Beyer Speed Figure: 95 (maiden special)
- Sire: Nyquist
Below, we'll dig further into Iron Honor as part of our series profiling all the horses competing in the 151st Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 16. We'll look back into his past performances, what questions need to be answered Saturday and analyze how the post draw affects his chances.
1 Taj Mahal | 2 Ocelli | 3 Crupper | 4 Robusta | 5 Talkin | 6 Chip Honcho | 7 The Hell We Did | 8 Bull by the Horns | 9 Iron Honor | 10 Napoleon Solo | 11 Corona de Oro | 12 Incredibolt | 13 Great White | 14 Pretty Boy Miah
Now that you know who's in the field, you'll want to know how to bet the Preakness Stakes on the top horse racing betting apps. Win a share of $150,000 at DK Horse with our promo code. Claim it here:
What to know about Iron Honor
After Iron Honor won the Gotham Stakes on Feb. 28, he seemed destined for the Kentucky Derby. He was a perfect 2-for-2, the Thoro-graph speed figures said he was fast and he was trained by Chad Brown, one of the best in the business.
But in the Wood Memorial, Iron Honor was caught wide entering the first turn, brushed another horse, pressed hot fractions and predictably faded in the stretch, finishing seventh. Though the horse had obvious excuses that day, Brown elected not to press on to the Kentucky Derby and instead point to the Preakness Stakes.
You can't blame Brown for that decision. It worked with Cloud Computing in 2017 and Early Voting in 2022. But those two were coming off third- and second-place finishes in the Wood, respectively -- not seventh.
Also, there are now serious stamina concerns for Iron Honor based on the Wood performance. Both of his wins have come around one turn.
The pace scenario for the Preakness is shaping up to be similar to the Wood's: fast. But this time, Brown has chosen to remove the blinkers from Iron Honor, which may allow him to calm down. Also, top jockey Flavien Prat replaces Manny Franco, and Prat has a magical ability to get horses to relax.
Iron Honor has been the betting favorite in each of his last two starts, and the combination of Brown's record in the Preakness and Prat taking the mount could make him the post time favorite again at DK Horse and 1/ST BET. Claim our jumbo-sized 1/ST BET offer here to get a $500 sign-up bonus with the promo code 500BET:
Post draw analysis
In the Wood Memorial, Iron Honor drew the widest of 12, and that ended up being a killer. He was wide around the first turn while also pressing a fast pace. For the Preakness Stakes, he drew slightly more inside, in the No. 9 hole. However he also drew inside the speedy Napoleon Solo, which could urge Iron Honor to go faster earlier than jockey Flavien Prat wants to.
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