May 13, 2024 
It came down to the wire—again—for the 150th Kentucky Derby winner, but the good news was worth waiting for.
This weekend, Mystik Dan’s trainer, Kenny McPeek, announced that the colt will contest the Preakness Stakes at Pimilco Race Course this Saturday, May 18.
As the top finisher in the closest Run for the Roses in more than 50 years, McPeek said he worried about the short turn-around between races. But after speaking with his owners—and watching his horse’s workouts this week—Team Mystik Dan elected to keep Triple Crown hopes alive.
“All systems go,” McPeek said.
It’s been a minute—six years, in fact—since a horse has won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. That thoroughbred was Justify, who went on to win the Triple Crown in 2018. Only two Derby winners in the past four years have continued on to the Preakness, and Pimlico has clearly taken notice. This year, the venue sweetened the pot, increasing the purse from $1.5 million to $2 million in addition to other incentives.
Even still, a repeat victory could be a tall order for Mystik Dan. Though some top-level riding from jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. helped the colt narrowly fend off Sierra Leone and Forever Young in the Derby, he performed poorly in the second of two races he ran on a similar, two-week timeframe last November.
The short turn-around is a gamble that’s also being taken by the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Just Steel, who finished 17th in the Derby and is the only other horse from Kentucky who will travel to Baltimore this season. Both will have an even bigger fish to fry, though, in the form of the current favorite, the Good Magic-sired Muth, trained by Bob Baffert.
Muth was ineligible to run the Derby due to Baffert’s track suspension at Churchill Downs, extended through 2024 after his horse, Medina Spirit, failed a drug test after winning the Kentucky Derby in 2021. (In 40 years of training, Baffert’s horses have failed 30 drug tests; Medina Spirit’s win was ultimately revoked by the track.)
Will Muth have the edge? Can Mystik Dan stay the course in Maryland? Find out this weekend!
The 149th running of the Preakness Stakes will take place on Saturday, May 18. Post time is set for 6:57 p.m. EST, with coverage beginning on NBC (and live-streaming on Peacock) beginning at 4:30 p.m.
