Preakness berths on the line in Tesio and Bathhouse Row

Six Triple Crown-nominated horses compete this weekend for an automatic berth in the 151st Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, on May 16 at Laurel Park.

Ten 3-year-olds enter Saturday's 45th running of the $150,000 Federico Tesio at Laurel, a 1 1/8-mile test that includes four Triple Crown nominees – Chayton, Close the Gate, Code of Silence and Wild Warrior.

Eight more sophomores line up in the eighth renewal of the $200,000 Bathhouse Row on Saturday at Oaklawn, also at 1 1/8 miles. Triple Crown-nominated Crupper and Khon Han headline the field.

The two-turn races earn automatic entry for Triple Crown-nominated connections into the 1 3/16-mile Preakness. Horses not nominated to the Triple Crown by the April 6 deadline may supplement to the $2 million Preakness for a fee of $150,000.

Named for the noted Italian breeder, owner and trainer whose homebreds Nearco and Ribot dominate Thoroughbred bloodlines around the world, the Tesio offers the Preakness incentive for an 11th straight year. A total of 24 Tesio winners have gone on to run in the Preakness, the most recent being Pay Billy in 2025. Maryland-bred Deputed Testamony, in 1983, remains the lone horse to sweep both races.

Chayton, by 2017 champion 3-year-old colt West Coast, made his last three starts on the synthetic surface at Turfway for trainer Bill Morey and exits a 2 1/2-length starter allowance triumph going one mile March 5.

Close the Gate trains at Laurel under John Salzman Jr., who sent out Coffeewithchris to run seventh in the 2023 Preakness. Close the Gate has run four times at his home track, graduating by 9 3/4 lengths in a seven-furlong maiden claimer Jan. 10 before running second in the Spectacular Bid Stakes at the distance Feb. 4 and third in the one-mile Miracle Wood Stakes Feb. 21.

Code of Silence debuted last July at Delaware Park and has run third or better in seven of eight career starts, including back-to-back wins against fellow Maryland-breds last fall at Laurel, the latter in the seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile Stakes. He has not won in three tries this year, finishing third in the Spectacular Bid Stakes and second in the Miracle Wood Stakes.

Wild Warrior has won three of six starts for Laurel-based trainer Gary Capuano, most recently by a neck over Code of Silence in the 1 1/16-mile Private Terms Stakes on March 21. The race marked his third try around two turns, including a 2 3/4-length optional claiming allowance triumph Dec. 14 over next-out winners Bala de Plata and fellow Tesio entrant Let's Go Lando. Capuano and owner Rose Petal Stable won the 2024 Tesio with Copper Tax.

This year marks the first time in more than a century that the Preakness runs away from Pimlico, which undergoes reconstruction with plans to reopen in 2027. The Preakness took place at Morris Park in the Bronx in 1890 and at Gravesend Racetrack on Coney Island, N.Y., from 1894 to 1908.

The Bathhouse Row debuted in 2019 as the Oaklawn Invitational and ran as the Oaklawn Stakes from 2020 to 2022 before taking its current name. Three of its seven winners have gone on to the Preakness – Red Route One, fourth in 2023; Mr. Big News, seventh in 2020; and Laughing Fox, fifth in 2019.

Crupper, bred and owned by Robert Zoellner and trained by Donnie Von Hemel, has yet to make his stakes debut. The Candy Ride colt graduated by three-quarters of a length Feb. 6 in his fourth start and ran third in his first try against winners Feb. 28, both going 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn.

The lightly raced Khon Han has won two of his three starts, promoted to first after running second by a nose in his debut last June at Gulfstream Park. He ran second by a length in the six-furlong Proud Man Stakes in August. Trained by Bernardo Lopez, the colt did not race again until Jan. 16 at Tampa Bay Downs, registering a three-length optional claiming allowance triumph going one mile and 40 yards.