Volendam, Taj Mahal set for key Federico Tesio Stakes clash at Laurel Park

Volendam and Taj Mahal will headline a 10-horse Federico Tesio Stakes field at Laurel Park on Saturday, April 18, with a rare prize hanging over the race: an automatic entry into the Preakness Stakes if the winner chooses to take it. The $150,000 Tesio is run at 1 1/8 miles on dirt for 3-year-olds, and it lands on a Laurel spring card that carries four stakes and $450,000 in purses.

The timing gives the race extra weight. The Tesio has served as a Win and In qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses for eight straight years, and the 2026 Preakness will be run at Laurel Park during the reconstruction of Pimlico Race Course. That turns Saturday’s test into more than a local prep. For the horses in this group, it is a direct route into one of the sport’s biggest stages.

Volendam comes in as the morning-line favorite at 3-1 after a promising debut that hinted at real upside. The Resolute Racing colt broke his maiden on March 21 at Turfway Park, winning a Maiden Special Weight by 2 lengths on the all-weather surface. His Equibase profile lists him as a $600,000 yearling purchase, and he had been working regularly at Churchill Downs before making that first start for trainer Michael J. Maker. One race is still one race, but it was enough to put him in the favorite’s spot.

Taj Mahal is the other horse that commands immediate respect. Trained by Brittany Russell, he is 2-for-2 and already owns black type after taking the Miracle Wood Stakes on February 21 at Laurel by a neck. He returned $6.60 to win that day and has yet to finish worse than first, a record that gives him a different kind of appeal than Volendam’s raw, unfinished talent. Taj Mahal has already handled Laurel and has shown he can fight when the finish gets tight.

Code of Silence adds another layer to the Tesio. He comes off a second-place finish in the Private Terms Stakes and will try to land his first victory of the year in a race that could still reshape the middle-distance 3-year-old picture heading toward Baltimore. Laurel’s same stakes card also features the Weber City Miss Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, giving bettors and horsemen more than one stakes race to watch on a pivotal Saturday.