The undefeated and untested son of Nyquist was made the co-second choice on the morning line when post positions were drawn Monday afternoon at Laurel Park, the temporary home of the Preakness while Pimlico — about 30 miles north — is being rebuilt. Laurel Park, located halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., has never hosted the Preakness, which will start just after 4 p.m. PDT on NBC.
With Golden Tempo becoming the second straight Kentucky Derby winner and third in the last five years to race in the Preakness, there will be just three runners from the Derby — Ocelli (third), Incredibolt (sixth) and Robusta (14th).
Among the full field of 14 starters, though, only Taj Mahal can complete the “Triple Crown” for women trainers, with Russell seeking to follow DeVaux and Jena Antonucci, who captured the Belmont three years ago with Arcangelo.
“It would sort of feel like probably a fairy tale,” Russell said. “ … It would mean an awful lot.”
Taj Mahal was one of three horses listed at 5-1 on the morning line behind lukewarm 9-2 favorite Iron Honor. He is the only Preakness starter who has raced at Laurel; in fact, he has never run anywhere else, going three for three there, including an 8¼-length triumph last month in the Federico Tesio.
His Beyer Speed Figure that day was 92, just two points (equal to about a length) behind Ocelli’s number in the Kentucky Derby. Chip Honcho, with a 92 for his runner-up effort in the Risen Star in February, is the only other Preakness horse with a Beyer number above 90 in a route 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 originally was trained by Bob Baffert but was sent to Russell last fall when he wasn’t progressing.
“When he first showed up, it took some time for him to come around,” Russell said. “And, honestly, that’s why he was sent my way. If 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.
“… The first time I worked him, did I think he would become a star? No, it took some time, but he developed and he progressed.”
Taj Mahal won a maiden race Feb. 6, then came back 15 days later to win a minor stakes race. He had almost two months between that race and the Tesio on April 18.
Russell’s husband, Sheldon, will ride Taj Mahal, who will break from the rail.
“To be fair, he’s a good gate horse,” Sheldon Russell said. “He broke so sharp last time. If he were to do the same thing again, he’d put me in a great spot. We’ve just got to hold that spot until we get to the bend, but we’ve got a longer run this time. He’s going to have to overcome a few things, but good horses overcome things.”
Iron Honor, who joins Taj Mahal as the most inexperienced horses in the field with three starts each, won his first two races, including the Gotham at Aqueduct. But he finished seventh last month in the Wood Memorial, his only try around two turns. He will be ridden for the first time by Flavien Prat.
“[He] got bothered in the first turn from a bad post and … just never really relaxed,” said his trainer, Chad Brown, who won the Preakness in 2017 (Cloud Computing) and 2022 (Early Voting). “We took the blinkers off the horse, gave him a chance to get over that experience and he seems to be in a good place right now, training just the way we want.”
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 spares the Preakness from not having a single graded-stakes winner in a two-turn 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 the ungraded Virginia Derby this year at 1⅛ miles at Colonial Downs.)
Chip Honcho will break from the No. 6 post under Jose Ortiz, who won the Derby. Ortiz’s brother, Irad Ortiz Jr., who was second in the Derby with Renegade, will be next to him in the No. 5 post aboard Talkin.
Ocelli is the most experienced horse in the race, with seven starts. He’s also the only starter not to have won a race. No maiden has won the Preakness in the modern era, with the last victory coming in 1888. Bodexpress was the last to try, in 2019, but he reared leaving the starting gate and dumped his jockey.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Every Kentucky Derby evokes emotion in the winning horse’s team, but the 1990 race brought it to a level even beyond a Hallmark movie.
Trainer Carl Nafzger famously described Unbridled’s stretch run to 92-year-old owner Frances Genter, whose eyesight was failing.
“He’s taking the lead. He’s on the lead, Mrs. Genter. He’s on the lead. He’s gonna win. He’s gonna win. … He’s the winner. He’s the winner, Mrs. Genter. … You won it. You won the Kentucky Derby. Oh, Mrs. Genter, I love you.”
As Al Michaels said on ABC, “You couldn’t get it to look that way in a movie if you did 50 takes.”
Kentucky Derby entrant So Happy works out at Churchill Downs on Monday in Louisville, Ky.
(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)
Some 36 years later, Mrs. Genter could have company Saturday if So Happy wins the 152nd Derby at Churchill Downs.
The Santa Anita Derby champion is trained by Mark Glatt, a genial but quiet native of Washington state who in February endured tragedy: the heart failure and sudden death of his wife of 25 years, Dena. She was 57, four years older than her husband, with whom she had three children.
Glatt, who wears a bracelet containing some of Dena’s ashes “so she’ll always be with me,” unsurprisingly was emotional after the Santa Anita Derby last month. It was the first victory by the colt since his wife’s death, and it also meant the Monrovia resident would have a horse in the Kentucky Derby for the first time.
“It’s pretty hard to describe,” he said then. “We have had an overwhelming amount of support, and it’s helped us get through this very, very tough time. She got that horse there today.”
For the most part since, including during an interview Thursday morning at his barn at Churchill Downs, he politely has declined to discuss his wife, saying he just doesn’t feel comfortable. But he has opened up a bit on rare occasions.
“I absolutely think she’s above and pushing us through this and hopefully enjoying the ride along with us,” Glatt told reporters this week. “She would be happy for me and all the hard work. She’d be happy for all of the connections. I think she’d be very proud of an accomplishment like this.
“We’re still together, even if it’s just in spirit.”
Hans Maron, one of So Happy’s co-owners along with his wife, Ana, and Robbie Norman, paused to gather himself Thursday when asked how much Dena Glatt would have enjoyed being at the Derby for the first time.
So Happy runs on the track during Kentucky Derby training Thursday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
(Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
“She is here,” Maron said.
Asked if he has allowed himself to dream about what it would be like if So Happy won, Maron said, “I’m not arrogant, but I envision it. I mean, I believe. I’m not a homer but I’m a believer. I really think he’s gonna take us there. I think he’s the right horse at the right time.”
Early wagering seems to indicate the public believes So Happy is a major contender. He was co-sixth choice on the morning line at 15-1 — a surprising number, given his speed figures for the Santa Anita victory were comparable to almost anything his competitors have posted this spring — but as of Friday evening, he was the 6-1 co-second choice along with Commandment and Further Ado, just behind Renegade at 5-1.
It’s hard to find a trainer who isn’t happy with their horse at this point, and Glatt is no different: “Nothing’s told me that he’s not sitting on a really good race,” the trainer said.
Those who doubt So Happy point to his breeding: His sire, Runhappy, was a champion sprinter not known for producing horses who can run more than a mile. But Runhappy’s sire, Super Saver, won the 2010 Derby, and So Happy’s grandsire on his mother’s side is Blame, who captured the Breeders’ Cup Classic later that year at Churchill Downs.
“If you watch him train,” Maron said, “he’s long and he covers a lot of ground. He’s just a really smart horse, actually. That’s the biggest thing. He uses his energy when it’s needed.”
Maron, a co-founder of Fairlife Milk (which was sold to Coca-Cola), said he has been a racing fan since he was 14 but never dreamed of owning a horse, let alone being in the Derby. The Marons, who live in Arizona, have been with Glatt for about five years, and they were close friends with the trainer and his wife. Glatt has credited the couple with supporting him emotionally the last few months.
They’ll all be together Saturday for the race that elicits emotion like no other. Even So Happy’s jockey, 60-year-old Mike Smith, who has more Derby experience than any other rider, including two wins, struggled to explain what a victory would mean.
“I wish I had some words to tell you what it would mean, but those are just things that you’d have to just feel and see to really understand it,” said Smith, who would be the oldest jockey to win the Derby (Bill Shoemaker was 54 in 1986).
Glatt paused a long time before saying he has not allowed himself to think about what it would be like to win.
“That’ll all hit if … you know, I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Glatt said. “I’m sure that would all hit me if we would be so fortunate.”
One more scratch
Right to Party was withdrawn Friday morning with what state veterinarians said was lameness in his right front leg, moving Robusta into the field and giving trainer Doug O’Neill two (long shot) chances for his third Derby win. O’Neill, who also has Pavlovian as a starter, named Cristian Torres to ride Robusta because Emisael Jaramillo had commitments at Santa Anita.
Weather outlook
The last rainfall here was Wednesday and there is none in the forecast for Saturday. It’s not warm, though: The high temperature the last couple of days barely touched 60, and the post-time forecast calls for 55 degrees with fairly light winds.
The U.S. Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) competition to replace the T-45 Goshawk is accelerating toward one of the most consequential training decisions in decades. The Navy has now issued its eagerly-anticipated Final Request For Proposals – an inflection point in the long-running effort to field 216 modern jet trainers for the next generation of naval aviators.
Amid this pivotal moment, SNC is leading a powerhouse team that has developed the only clean-sheet design in the running: the Freedom Trainer. Built specifically to address the Navy’s evolving carrierborne training needs, the Freedom Trainer aims to deliver modern capability at significantly reduced lifecycle cost.
An artist rendition of two SNC Freedom Trainers. SNC
SNC is partnering with Northrop Grumman, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., and CAE, leveraging advanced production, manufacturing, and synthetic training expertise to create a comprehensive, integrated family of training systems.
“SNC’s Team Freedom brings the agility of a disruptor and the reliability of our well-established defense partners to bear so that we can deliver what the Navy wants, on the aggressive timeline it set,” says Jon Piatt, executive vice president at SNC.
Why the Navy’s training model is changing
Core requirements for the T-45 replacement have shifted dramatically. Advances in automated carrier landing technologies and increasingly capable simulation environments have altered the Navy’s perspective on how student naval aviators should be trained. The service has already removed carrier qualifications from the T-45 syllabus, one of the most significant training changes in decades, and plans for UJTS could further reshape how training occurs ashore.
A major driver of this debate centers around Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP), the land-based surrogate for shipboard carrier landings. Traditionally performed to touchdown, these aggressive, un-flared landings, or “bouncing,” replicate the forces and precision required aboard the carrier. But for UJTS, the Navy has removed the requirement for FCLP-to-touchdown, instead calling only for FCLP-to-wave off.
The Freedom Trainer is designed to be able to fly FCLP-to-touchdown. SNC
This change dramatically broadens the aperture for competitors. Trainers designed for land-based operations can meet wave-off profiles without requiring the structural upgrades typical of Navy aircraft. But this also introduces concerns about the long-term impact on aviator proficiency, and whether foundational carrier skills can be taught effectively without actual touchdown repetition.
The FCLP equation and its implications for the fleet
FCLP has long been considered essential for preparing student naval aviators for the demands of carrier aviation. A Navy spokesperson reaffirmed to TWZ in August 2025 that “Field Carrier Landing Practice landings ashore are still required for graduation,” though did not specify whether touchdown was still necessary.
Touchdown landings impose tremendous structural loads on an aircraft, particularly landing gear and associated components. Removing this requirement opens the competition to off-the-shelf trainers such as the T-7 Red Hawk, Korean-built TF-50N, and the Italian M-346N. These jets can perform FCLP-to-wave-off but not repeated unflared touchdowns without extensive structural reinforcement.
SNC argues that this shift elevates readiness and cost risk. “FCLP-to-touchdown is a tried and trusted method to train naval aviators,” says Derek Hess, vice president of strategy at SNC. “Not performing carrier qualification or FCLPs-to-touchdown essentially defers that training to the fleet replacement squadrons with their 4th-, 5th-, and soon, 6th-generation fighters which would be a very expensive use of those precious assets.”
In other words: the Navy can remove the requirement, but the fleet will still pay the bill.
Why a clean-sheet matters
The Navy’s decision not to mandate touchdown capability fundamentally changes the nature of the competition. Legacy trainers can now be offered at lower upfront cost, but at the expense of performance characteristics essential to naval aviation.
SNC is blunt on this point: the Freedom Trainer is the only aircraft in the field that can perform FCLP-to-touchdown without major modification because it is purpose-built to meet Navy training standards. SNC believes this is the defining advantage of a true naval trainer.
Where its competitors adapt land-based jets for a naval training mission, the Freedom Trainer is engineered from inception for the pounding, the control margins, and the durability required for FCLPs-to-touchdown.
A view of the Freedom Trainer’s tandem cockpit arrangement. SNC
Clean-sheet means a whole new approach
The Freedom Trainer offers improvements over the T-45, while delivering dramatically lower lifecycle costs. Hess explains that lifecycle economics are central to SNC’s approach: only about 10 percent of lifecycle cost is tied to research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) and 30 percent for procurement, while roughly 60 percent stems from operations and sustainment.
“From a business perspective, you can pay more in the RDT&E phase and still dramatically reduce your lifecycle costs,” Hess says. “We’re employing a more businesslike approach to training that balances training costs holistically across the lifecycle of the aircraft.”
To achieve this, SNC leverages advanced digital engineering to reduce risk and ensure real-world fidelity. “Digital engineering has evolved significantly over the last 10 years,” Hess says, pointing to Northrop Grumman’s work on the B-21 Raider as a benchmark for its modeling environment.
The Freedom Trainer’s mission systems architecture is built using Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and is delivered with full technical and data rights – ensuring the Navy retains long-term control and interoperability.
Designed for the mission: performance and durability
The aircraft’s design reflects a deliberate choice to provide representative fighter performance at dramatically lower cost. The Freedom Trainer’s design reflects a deliberate philosophy: deliver the handling qualities and durability of a fighter‑representative aircraft without imposing fighter‑level sustainment costs. Rather than itemizing features in a list, SNC emphasizes that the jet’s airframe, engines and performance envelope all work together to meet the Navy’s demanding syllabus.
The Freedom Trainer is designed to provide fighter-like performance at lower cost. SNC
At its core, the Freedom Trainer is built around a 16,000‑hour airframe that’s engineered to withstand up to 35,000 carrier‑style landings. This level of durability is essential for repetitive FCLP operations, especially un-flared touchdowns that impose loads far more intense than standard runway operations. By designing the structure from day one to accept these stresses, SNC ensures the aircraft can train pilots to full carrier‑representative standards while avoiding the costly structural fatigue associated with modifying older, land‑based designs.
Power comes from a pair of Williams FJ44‑4M engines, selected not only for reliability but also for their lower operating cost compared to legacy trainer engines. These efficient turbofans help reduce support burdens by an estimated 40 percent relative to the T‑45, while enabling longer sorties on less fuel than the competition.
Performance‑wise, the Freedom Trainer provides the maneuvering capabilities student naval aviators must master before transitioning to fleet aircraft. With a −3 to +8 G envelope and angles of attack (AoA) reaching up to 27 degrees, the aircraft exposes students to the high‑AoA handling characteristics relevant to modern 4th‑ and 5th‑generation fighters. Yet SNC deliberately designed the jet to avoid the transonic regime, which typically demands larger thrust margins and higher fuel consumption to accomplish the same training maneuvers. By staying sub‑transonic, the aircraft maintains fighter‑representative handling qualities while keeping lifecycle costs far below those of high‑performance jets.
“You don’t need a fighter to learn how to fly a fighter,” Hess notes. “You need a trainer engineered for Navy training missions that create graduates who are ready for FRS training and beyond.”
The Freedom Trainer features twin Williams FJ44-4M engines. SNC
LVC: The synthetic backbone of modern training
Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) training is now central to the Navy’s future training enterprise. The service intends to offload many carrier operations scenarios into synthetic environments as part of its modernization journey.
The Freedom Trainer’s LVC environment, developed with CAE, includes synthetic radar, targeting pods, and augmented reality tactical scenarios that replicate beyond visual range (BVR) and within visual range (WVR) engagements. Hess notes that many mission training functions can be downloaded from frontline squadrons, producing far more capable pilots at much lower cost.
“Ultimately, flying 4th- and 5th-gen fighters with modern flight control systems isn’t hard these days,” Hess says. “The tough part is employing the aircraft. That’s where we excel with our LVC capabilities.”
Turning clean-sheet into reality: timeline and industrial base
The final RFP envisions Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) beginning with up to two contract awards in 2027, delivering four EMD aircraft followed by seven low-rate production jets beginning in 2032. The goal is initial operating capability in 2035.
Hess is confident SNC can meet the timeline. With a restructured Navy acquisition enterprise and strong industrial partners, the Freedom Team argues it is well positioned to deliver a future-focused foundation for Navy training.
“Our primary focus is to deliver a trainer that meets the demanding needs of naval aviation with zero compromise,” Hess says. “We believe the next-generation navy trainer must enable efficient sortie generation, evolve with technology, and strengthen the nation’s industrial base.”
The bottom line: improving training while reducing cost
SNC positions the Freedom Trainer as a solution that protects naval aviation’s most critical training standards while delivering significant lifecycle savings. The company argues that deferring essential skills like FCLP-to-touchdown to the fleet imposes an unnecessary cost and readiness burden.
The Freedom Trainer is designed to lower lifecycle costs for the Navy. SNC
“If aviators aren’t learning these key skills while they’re earning their Wings of Gold,” Hess says, “they will have to learn it in a much more complex, more expensive, and more scarce resource – frontline gray jet fleet fighters.”
A compelling candidate for the future fleet
The Navy’s next trainer will shape every aviator who enters the fleet for generations to come. The Freedom Trainer’s clean-sheet approach positions it as a contender capable of improving Naval training capabilities while reducing cost.
For a decision as consequential as UJTS, SNC’s argument is clear: choose a trainer designed for the Navy’s mission – not adapted to it.
