From The Sports Desk: Preakness preview

Horse racingFrom The Sports Desk: Preakness previewOur data guru Steve Kornacki expects a wide-open field for the big race. Plus, our World Cup player spotlight and a preview of this weekend’s Premier League action.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00The field heads into the first turn during the 150th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. on May 17, 2025.Emilee Chinn / Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 15, 2026, 3:30 PM EDTBy Steve Kornacki, Doha Madani and Joe Prince-Wright, NBC SportsThe 151st Preakness will be run tomorrow at Laurel Park in Maryland. There won’t be a Triple Crown at stake — both Golden Tempo and Renegade, the top two finishers at the Kentucky Derby, won’t be there. But that means the field is expected to be wide open.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Our resident numbers guy (and horse guru) Steve Kornacki breaks it down below. Also, come join us tomorrow as our NBC News team live-blogs the race. Lots of soccer coverage in today’s newsletter, too. South Korea’s Son Heung-min is the World Cup player spotlight, and we preview this weekend’s Premier League action.Preakness PreviewBy Steve Kornacki, NBC News’ chief data analystThis is only the second time in 40 years that the top two finishers from the Derby aren’t running the Preakness. Nor is there any horse in the field who has won a Grade 1 or Grade 2 race this year. In other words, this is a Preakness devoid of star power.Also: It won’t be run at its usual home at Pimlico in Baltimore, which has been razed for a complete rebuild that will (hopefully) be finished by next year. This year, the race has moved 20 miles south to Laurel Park, just outside Washington, D.C., a track that’s unfamiliar for most big-time national trainers.What it lacks in star power, though, this year’s Preakness makes up for in volume. Fourteen horses are signed up to run, the most in 15 years. And with no i...