LRL: Taj Mahal dazzles in Tesio
Earns Preakness berth with decisive win
Frank Vespe
April 18, 2026
Taj Mahal hasn’t raced much. But he’s done enough to show a ton of talent.
In his debut, the three-year-old Nyquist colt rallied smartly from off the pace to win at first asking. In the Feb. 21 Miracle Wood, he sped to the lead and then held off Let’s Go Lando in a prolonged stretch duel.
In Saturday’s $150,000 Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park, he put it all together.
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Under Sheldon Russell, Taj Mahal sped to the early advantage, ran off to a mammoth lead, and costed home 8 ¼ lengths clear to earn the winner’s share and a free berth in the May 16, Grade 1 Preakness Stakes.
“There’s four weeks between this race and the Preakness, so we’ll talk it over with the owners and see what direction they want to head,” said Brittany Russell, who trains Taj Mahal for a partnership led by SF Racing. “He’s won all three of his races on this track, and the Preakness is on his home track, so I’m hoping they lean in that direction.”
Taj Mahal is now 3-for-3 in his young career with earnings of $178,200. Off as the 6-5 favorite, he paid $4.40 to win and topped an exacta that returned $12.50 for a one-dollar wager.
Initially pointed to the Grade 2 Wood Memorial following the Miracle Wood, Taj Mahal’s connections called an audible, skipping that race to land in the Tesio. In this contest, he faced the top three from last month’s Private Terms – Wild Warrior, Let’s Go Lando, and Code of Silence – along with Close the Gate, second and third in two earlier Laurel stakes, and flashy Kentucky maiden winner Voldendam.
But none of them had any answers for Taj Mahal.
Breaking from the far outside in a 10-horse field, Taj Mahal jetted to the front, clearing quickly and gliding down to the rail by the time the field was partway around the first turn.
“This horse has always had a lot of natural early speed. Honestly, my intention was to just sit off the leaders,” said Sheldon Russell. “He’s going to have to learn to track horses at some point. But today he broke so well and I had so much horse on the first turn that I had to just let him roll.”
Taj Mahal led by four lengths after a quarter-mile in 23.93 seconds and by a bulging 10 lengths after a half-mile in 47.80 seconds.
Taj Mahal dawdled during the third quarter, taking 26.50 seconds to navigate it, and the field closed in, slicing his advantage from 10 lengths down to 1 ½ with Volendam the closest pursuer.
But just as soon as the field began to take heart, Taj Mahal dashed their hopes.
“When those other horses started to come to him, he just seemed to be able to find another gear,” Sheldon Russell said. “I really had a lot of horse underneath me through the lane.”
Taj Mahal covered the final three furlongs of the nine-furlong contest in 38.62 seconds and increased his lead by nearly seven lengths, completing the distance on a fast main track in 1:52.92. Wild Warrior, winner of the Private Terms, rallied into second, with Let’s Go Lando third. Volendam ended up fourth.
Remarkably, nothing about Taj Mahal’s career has gone precisely to plan yet. His victory in the Miracle Wood came just 15 days after his debut. After missing the Wood Memorial, he entered today off nearly two months, though showing a couple of bullet works in the interim, including five-eighths in 1:01 2/5 April 11.
“I was expecting him to run well today based on what I saw from him in his last workout,” Brittany Russell said.
He certainly did run well, and if his connections are in a hurry for Taj Mahal’s future to arrive, well, who can blame them?
“He’s been able to do so much in such a short period of time,” Brittany Russell said. “Today he ran the way I was hoping that he would run.”
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