2026 Gotham Stakes Betting Odds and Contenders Preview

Key Takeaways:

• The Gotham Stakes is a wide-open 50-point Kentucky Derby prep at a one-turn mile, where pace pressure and trip dynamics often decide the outcome come post time.
• With abundant early speed and few proven routers, tactical stalkers and late runners hold a significant edge in this bulky field.
• Iron Honor brings sharp Aqueduct form, elite Chad Brown connections, and a stalking style that fits the projected pace perfectly.
• Crown the Buckeye cuts back in distance, owns proven class, and could rebound sharply with a more favorable pace scenario.
• Right to Party profiles as the main late-running threat, benefitting from a contested early pace and offering strong exotic horse racing value.

A field of nine lines up Saturday, February 28, for the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, a one-turn mile that offers a $300,000 purse and 50-25-15-10-5 Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying points for the top five finishers. This means the winner is virtually assured a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate on the first Saturday in May, and even other horses who run well can make it there with a good run in another prep or two.

No horse in the field has yet won a Kentucky Derby points race, though Crown the Buckeye and Balboa have both picked up points for underneath finishes in other races. Hammond and Dirty Rich are sprint stakes winners hoping to prove themselves at a mile. And, they will be joined by exciting new faces like Right to Party, Iron Honor, and Exhibition Only.

Some of the best Gotham Stakes winners over the years include breed-shaping sire Native Dancer (1953), dirt mile world record holder Dr. Fager (1967), Triple Crown winner Secretariat (1973), and Belmont winner Easy Goer (1989). The most recent Gotham winner to go on and win a Triple Crown race was Red Bullet (2000), who went on to upset the Preakness.

Gotham Stakes 2026 Information

• Race Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026
• Track: Aqueduct Racetrack
• Post Time: 5:18 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
• Distance: one mile
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV, Fox Business
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

Gotham Stakes Odds

This is the field for the 2026 Gotham Stakes, including post positions, trainers, jockey assignments, and morning-line odds.

Gotham Stakes Prep Results

The nine entrants in the Gotham all come out of different races. Two come out of Kentucky Derby prep races at Aqueduct, though neither won: Balboa was second as the favorite in the Jerome on January 3, while Fourth and One was a distant sixth in the Withers on February 6. The only other horse coming out of a Kentucky Derby points race is Crown the Buckeye, who ships north after finishing a weakening eighth in the Lecomte (G3) on January 17.

Two other horses ship north after sprint stakes races. Hammond was third behind Fountain of Youth contender Solitude Dude in the Swale at Gulfstream on January 31, overcoming both long odds and a tough start to hit the board. Dirty Rich was third in the six-furlong Renaissance at Oaklawn on January 3, where he battled on the pace but was no match for Obliteration in the end.

One other horse faced winners last out: Creole Chrome, who battled to a head victory in a six-furlong allowance sprint for Louisiana-breds on January 18 and now faces open company for the first time.

The other three horses in the Gotham come out of maiden victories. Iron Honor scored on debut in a six-furlong maiden special weight sprint on December 13 at Aqueduct, in a race that has come back live. The third-place horse from that race, Right to Party, came back to win January 10 in a one-mile maiden special at Aqueduct and now steps up for the Gotham. Exhibition Only needed five starts to break his maiden, but romped against $75,000 maiden-optional claimers on February 5 in his first try at the one-turn mile.

Gotham Stakes Contenders

These are the contenders in the Gotham Stakes, organized by post position:

1. Balboa: With seven starts, he is the most experienced horse in the field. He started his career out west in Bob Baffert’s barn, but was no match for his stablemates and went east to the barn of Brittany Russell instead. That has gone better—he won a sprint stakes at Laurel in his first start for the barn before hitting the board in both the Remsen (G2) and the Jerome. He has gotten almost two months off since that, and Russell’s runners tend to come back well off similar freshenings. And, he gets jockey Sheldon Russell, who rode him to victory at Laurel. The big question is pace, however. He does his best work on the front end, but there is so much speed here that he may not be able to finish the job.
2. Hammond: To his credit, he has tactical speed—he can be fast early, but both of his wins have come from a stalking spot, giving him a good chance to stay behind a lively pace battle. But, he hasn’t proven he wants to go this long—he has won at six and 6 ½ panels, but hasn’t closed the job at seven. His female family is also replete with sprinters: he’s a half to Donut God, and his dam is half to Shancelot. This is also his first start outside Gulfstream, so he will have to prove that he’s not just a Gulfstream Park horse.
3. Crown the Buckeye: After three straight two-turn races, he turns back to a one-turn trip. He is a stakes winner at six furlongs, though that came against Ohio-breds. And, that’s really what he has to prove—his close third in the Gun Runner suggests he could do more against open foes, but he came up empty in the Lecomte, and he may get similarly burned up in the pace this time, too. On the other hand, perhaps the shorter distance helps him stay on, and he wasn’t far beaten in the Gun Runner after being on a rollicking pace, so perhaps the Lecomte was just a regression.
4. Fourth and One: He showed good form against New York-bred horses, piling up a couple of stakes placings before even notching his first victory. However, he was keen early and came up completely empty in the Withers last out, his first start against open company. Perhaps the turnback will help—his maiden win did come at one mile on the dirt at Aqueduct—but he also risks getting burned up in the pace or just plain outjumped, and he hasn’t run a race fast enough to bother the top contenders yet.
5. Right to Party: He ran on mildly for third on debut behind Iron Honor, who he faces again in this. He improved next out when stretched out to a mile on the dirt, rallying from last to first. He’ll have to improve significantly from a speed figure perspective to be competitive, though he does have the right running style to stay off of a contested early pace. A win seems like a lot to ask, but a piece of the exotics is possible thanks to the pace advantage.
6. Iron Honor: He stalked and pounced to win his six-furlong debut in fast fashion. Everything about his pedigree suggests the extra distance will move him forward, and trainer Chad Brown’s trainees often improve with more ground. As long as he can harness his tactical speed that he showed sprinting on debut over the one-mile trip, he shapes like a major contender.
7. Exhibition Only: This son of Complexity has tried a little bit of everything in his career: turf and dirt, sprinting and miling and routing. He came close two back in a maiden-optional claimer at two turns on grass, took a freshening, and then took a huge step forward when trying the one-turn dirt mile for the first time. Returning to that trip for this is a positive, though he might be up against it from a pace perspective. His two good starts came on the front end, but he’s going to have a lot of company both inside and outside.
8. Creole Chrome: He has three good starts in sprints against Louisiana-breds in New Orleans, and showed tactical speed in all three of them. The son of Voliatile has enough distance in his pedigree to suggest the step up in trip will be good for him, and if he can keep his tactical speed over the longer trip, he might not get burned up. However, there are questions, so don’t take a short price: he has to prove himself against horses bred outside of Louisiana for the first time, and trainer Joe Sharp tends to underperform in graded stakes.
9. Dirty Rich: He has raced all over the country already—Kentucky, California, and Arkansas. His best game so far has been dirt sprinting: he has never gone past six furlongs on the main, though he was well beaten in a turf mile try last year. Dirt could be a different story; a lot of his pedigree supports dirt routes, being by Thousand Words out of a Distorted Humor mare. The major concern is speed. If he makes the top, he runs well; if not, he spits the bit. He isn’t the only one-way speed in this field, though, so his best chance will be if there’s some chaos inside of him and he ends up making the top.

Gotham Stakes Past Winners Past Performances

Three of the last ten winners of the Gotham have come out of stakes races at Aqueduct, though not all have been Kentucky Derby preps. No Withers winner has won the Gotham in the last ten years, though J Boys Echo (2018) was third. More recently, it has been another stakes that has supplied Gotham winners: Haikal (2019) and Morello (2023) both came out of wins in the Jimmy Winkfield, a sprint stakes at Aqueduct.

Two other recent winners of this race came out of stakes at Gulfstream. Mischevious Alex (2020) won the Swale (G3) in his start before the Gotham, while Enticed (2018) was fourth in the Holy Bull (G2). Another recent winner, Raise Cain (2023), came from a fifth-place try in the Leonatus at Turfway.

Four of the last ten Gotham winners came out of non-stakes races. Shagaf (2016) came out of an allowance win at Gulfstream and made his stakes debut in the Gotham. Weyburn (2021) came out of a maiden special weight win at Aqueduct and won his first try against winners in this race, Deterministic (2024) won it in his first start since a debut maiden win at Saratoga the previous August, and Flood Zone (2025) came out of a Florida-bred maiden special weight victory at Gulfstream.

Gotham Stakes: 3 Best Bets

These are the three best bets in the 2026 Gotham Stakes:

1. Iron Honor (6-5)

Iron Honor cedes experience to his foes: he has only raced once, and he stretches to a mile for the first time. However, last-out maiden winners, even fairly inexperienced ones, have done well in recent editions of the Gotham. He has already proven that he can handle the footing at Aqueduct, and even though he hasn’t gone past six furlongs, his pedigree suggests a mile—and even more—will treat him well. Most promising, given all the speed in this race, he has already proven he can stalk and pounce, a style that should keep him out of the battle.

His connections are further reasons to be confident. Chad Brown is firing at 32% on the meet, and his horses stretch out so well that over the last three years, his horses going a mile or more for the first time offer a flat-bet profit. Given how hard Chad Brown gets bet regularly, this is an incredible feat. And, he keeps jockey Manny Franco aboard—Franco rode him in the maiden win, and is winning at a respectable 18% on the Aqueduct meet.

2. Crown the Buckeye (4-1)

He’ll be a price off of his misfire in the Lecomte (G3) last out, and if you take that as a regression off a tough effort in the Gun Runner, he could be ready to move forward again. The pace won’t be easy, with speedy horse drawn inside and outside. However, in the Gun runner, he was right on a very sharp pace and kept boxing on to be beaten less than a length. The cut back to a flat mile should help him—and who knows, maybe he’ll try to come from off the pace instead, a style he put to good use three back when winning the Best of Ohio Juvenile at Mahoning. Especially for Mike Maker, a trainer who is firing strongly this winter at Aqueduct, there’s reason to think he can rebound.

3. Right to Party (8-1)

Right to Party is a long shot pace play for exotics, specifically. The Kenny McPeek trainee faces winners for the first time after putting it together second-out over the same course and distance as the Gotham on January 10. He needs a serious step forward, probably too much of a step forward to turn the tables on Iron Honor from his debut, assuming the same Iron Honor shows up.

However, he broke his maiden in late-running fashion, closing into a fast pace to win by daylight. With a lot of speed in the race, including some horses who so far look like true one-way speed, he’ll get a similar setup again in the Gotham. This sets him up well to come on late to round out an exacta or trifecta.

Gotham Stakes Undercard

The Gotham Stakes is scheduled as the last of ten races at Aqueduct on Saturday. One of the bigger days on the winter stakes schedule at Aqueduct, there are three other added-money events in addition to the Gotham. Kentucky Oaks prospects will contest the $200,000 Busher Stakes, older dirt sprinters contest the $175,000 Tom Fool (G3), and older milers line up for the $150,000 Stymie.

With all this action at Aqueduct, and Kentucky Derby preps this weekend at Gulfstream and Oaklawn as well, it is a great weekend to watch on FanDuel TV and wager online at FanDuel!

About Aqueduct

An oldie, but a goodie, Aqueduct (familiarly called the Big A) opened up in 1894 in Queens, New York. The track was closed in 1956 for renovations, with an updated version opening in 1959. The only racetrack within the New York City limits, it has been updated several times since then. In 1975, they laid an inner track, and in 2017, the inner dirt track was replaced with a second turf course.

Aqueduct has been the site of many moments in racing history. In the 1944 running of the Carter, fans witnessed the first—and still only—triple dead heat in a stakes race when Brownie, Bossuet, and Wait a Bit crossed the wire at the same time. Between 1963 and 1967, Aqueduct hosted the Belmont Stakes as Belmont was being renovated. In 1973, Secretariat’s retirement ceremony happened at Aqueduct.

In 2013, Aqueduct embraced its position as a true city track by inviting street artists to paint murals in the grandstand of Aqueduct. An exciting overlap of classic racing scenes and modern style, the murals help make Aqueduct a fascinating, unique destination to enjoy a day of horse racing.

Gotham Stakes FAQ

Q: When and where is the Gotham Stakes?

A: The 2026 Gotham Stakes happens Saturday, February 28, at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. Post is scheduled for 5:18 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and it is the eighth of ten races on the card.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Gotham Stakes?

A: Two trainers have three wins in the Gotham Stakes: Kiaran McLaughlin and Shug McGaughey. McGaughey is still actively training, though he does not have an entrant in this year’s edition. Trainers in the 2026 edition who have won it once before include Chad Brown (Iron Honor), who won in 2016 with Shagaf, Rudy Rodriguez (Exhibition Only), who won with Vyjack in 2013, and Mike Maker (Crown the Buckeye), who won within 2012 with Hansen.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Gotham Stakes?

A: Iron Honor is the 6-5 morning-line favorite and will probably hold favorite status at post time. Trainer Chad Brown tends to get bet heavily, and though he cedes experience to the rest of the field, he won impressively over the local course and has the most upside of anyone in the field.

Q: Who is the best Gotham Stakes jockey?

A: Seven different jockeys have won three editions of the Gotham: Jorge Velasquez, Angel Cordero, Jr., Jacinto Vasquez, Richard Migliore, Ramon Dominguez, Mike Smith, and Jose Lezcano. Lezcano can take the record for himself if Fourth and One wins.

Q: Who won the 2025 Gotham Stakes?

A: Flood Zone won the 2025 Gotham Stakes for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Reylu Gutierrez, neither of whom have a horse in the 2026 edition.

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