California Chrome has won the Preakness Stakes to seize a chance at US flat racing's elusive Triple Crown.

Ridden by Victor Espinoza, the Kentucky Derby winner held off Ride On Curlin down the straight at Pimlico and will now head to the June 7 Belmont Stakes with the opportunity to become just the 12th horse to sweep the coveted treble.

The last horse to achieve the feat was Affirmed in 1978 and since then a dozen others have won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness only to come up empty at Belmont in the 1-1/2 mile (2400m) race dubbed The Test of the Champion.

Trainer Art Sherman admitted the three races in five weeks was a tall order, but he was delighted with what the chestnut three-year-old showed him in the Preakness (1900m).

"I'll tell you, it's quite a thrill," the 77-year-old Sherman said.

"I knew he had to run harder (in) this race. Just watching him perform, coming back in two weeks, I was a little concerned. But I'll tell you one thing, he's a real racehorse.

"I'm hoping the mile and a half is up his alley, too."

The Preakness was the sixth win in a row for California Chrome who justified his status as the odds-on favourite in the 10-horse field.

Espinoza said it was mentally exhausting trying to decide how to position his mount early in the race.

California Chrome broke beautifully from the gates and Espinoza stayed just off the pace and had plenty in reserve for a late move.

Ride On Curlin, ridden by Joel Rosario, finished strongly but didn't have enough to catch him.

Social Inclusion, the second favourite with Luis Contreras aboard, was third.

"It's an awesome feeling," Espinoza said. "He's just an amazing horse."

Espinoza has reason to know, however, how hard it is to close out the Triple Crown.

He rode War Emblem to victory in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2002, only for the horse to stumble almost to his knees out of the gate at Belmont Park.

Although he recovered to briefly take the lead, the effort cost too much and he faded to finish eighth.

The last horse to arrive in New York with a Triple Crown chance was I'll Have Another in 2012, and he didn't even make it to the starting gate.

He was scratched on the eve of the Belmont Stakes with career-ending tendinitis.