The second leg of the Triple Crown race is here, and the path to the finish line may be just a little bit clearer for Mystik Dan.
Muth, the favorite for the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes, was scratched from the field on May 15. That thins the field a little bit for Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan as he chases the Triple Crown.
The 150th Run for the Roses was a highly entertaining and tightly contested race, with Mystik Dan pulling out the win by a nose in a photo finish. Sierra Leone placed second, while Forever Young finished in third.
USA TODAY Sports will provide live coverage and more for the 149th Preakness Stakes below. (All times are Eastern.)
Preakness weather looks stormy
There is a thunderstorm watch in Baltimore as lightning was forecast in the area a few hours before the race, according to AccuWeather. Conditions are expected to calm around race time, but there is another chance of thunderstorms when the horses are scheduled to be out of the gate. There’s also a 66% chance of rain with temperatures in the mid-60s.
Preakness Stakes start time
Post time for the 2024 Preakness Stakes is 6:50 p.m. ET.
Preakness Stakes TV coverage
The Preakness Stakes will be broadcast live on NBC, with coverage starting at 4:30 p.m. ET. Coverage of the early races begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on CNBC.
Preakness Stakes live stream
For cord-cutters, the Preakness Stakes can be streamed on Peaco*ck.
Preakness Stakes odds
Post positions for the 2024 Preakness Stakes were drawn on May 13. The eight-horse field is as follows, followed by the jockey and the odds, courtesy of FanDuel:
- Mugatu, Joe Bravo, 20-1
- Uncle Heavy, Irad Ortiz Jr., 20-1
- Catching Freedom, Flavien Prat, 6-1
- Muth (scratched)
- Mystik Dan, Brian Hernandez Jr., 5-2
- Seize the Grey, Jaime Torres, 15-1
- Just Steel, Joel Rosario, 15-1
- Tuscan Gold, Tyler Gaffalione, 8-1
- Imagination, Frankie Dettori, 6-1
Mystik Dan was great in Derby. His jockey was even better.
There would have been a fleeting moment nearly three decades ago, participating in his first Kentucky Derby, when Kenny McPeek thought he might just win it. He was just 32 years old back then, barely starting to crack the top echelon of the sport, and a horse named Tejano Run — the first big horse he had in his barn — was flying through the stretch.
Ultimately, Tejano Run came up just short to Thunder Gulch. McPeek, a young and confident trainer, figured it was just the beginning.
“If I thought it would take me this long to knock it down…” he said, his voice trailing off. “I thought I'd do it before today.”
But in the 29 years since, McPeek has won a ton of races and learned a lot of lessons. One of them, of course, is that winning the Derby is really, really hard: None of his next eight Derby runners even hit the board.
He learned another lesson, too: It doesn't take a superstar jockey to give a horse a great ride.
Read Dan Wolken’s story here.
Preakness Stakes winners since 2000
Here are the Preakness Stakes winners over the years, with the winning horse and the winning time in parentheses. Eventual Triple Crown winners are in bold.
2023 – National Treasure (1:55.12)
2022 – Early Voting (1:54.54)
2021 – Rombauer (1:53.62)
2020 – Swiss Skydiver (1:53.28)
2019 – War of Will (1:54.34)
2018 – Justify (1:55.93)
2017 – Cloud Computing (1:55.98)
2016 – Exaggerator (1:58.31)
2015 – American Pharaoh (1:58.46)
2014 – California Chrome (1:54.84)
2013 – Oxbow (1:57.54)
2012 – I'll Have Another (1:55.94)
2011 – Shackleford (1:56.47)
2010 – Lookin At Lucky (1:55.47)
2009 – Rachel Alexandra (1:55.08)
2008 – Big Brown (1:54.86)
2007 – Curlin (1:53.46)
2006 – Bernardini (1:54.65)
2005 – Afleet Alex (1:55.04)
2004 – Smarty Jones (1:55.59)
2003 – Funny Cide (1:55.61)
2002 – War Emblem (1:56.40)
2001 – Point Given (1:55.40)
2000 – Red Bullet (1:56.00)
Have any fillies won the Preakness?
In 148 Preakness Stakes runs, only six female horses have won the event:
- Flocarline in 1903;
- Whimsical in 1906;
- Rhine Maiden in 1915;
- Nellie Morse in 1924;
- Rachel Alexandra in 2009 and;
- Swiss Skydiver in 2020
There are no fillies in the field in 2024, with Secret Oath the last to enter the race (2022).
Preakness Stakes 2024 field
The complete field for the 2024 Preakness Stakes is as follows (trainer in parenthesis):
- Mugatu (Jeff Engler)
- Uncle Heavy (Robert E. Reid Jr.)
- Catching Freedom (Brad H. Cox)
- Mystik Dan (Kenneth G. McPeek)
- Seie the Grey (D. Wayne Lukas)
- Just Steel (D. Wayne Lukas)
- Tuscan Gold (Chad C. Brown)
- Imagination (Bob Baffert)
- Muth (Bob Baffert, SCRATCHED)
Where is the Preakness Stakes held?
The Preakness Stakes takes place at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.
How long is the Preakness Stakes?
The Preakness Stakes is the shortest of the three Triple Crown races, at 1 3/16 miles, or 9 ½ furlongs. The race has been run at this length since 1925.
Mystik Dan at disadvantage after quick turnaround from Derby
Typically, horses respond to this grueling task one of two ways. Either they exit the rigorous Derby as fit and ready to run as they’ve ever been in their life, or they struggle to bounce back and run lethargically in the Preakness.
The physical effort it took for Mystik Dan to win the Kentucky Derby was undoubtedly at the front of trainer Ken McPeek’s mind during the week he spent waffling about whether to run in the Preakness.
At the same time, all the physical signs from Mystik Dan point to him being one of those horsesthat comes out of the Derby thriving and ready to put on an even better performance at Pimlico, says Dan Wolken.
Read his column here.
Preakness Stakes 2023 winner
National Treasure won the 2023 Preakness Stakes by a head. The horse was the eighth of Bob Baffert’s to win the Preakness Stakes.
Preakness Stakes 2024 purse
The purse for the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes sits at $2 million. That number is up from $1.5 million in 2023.
Why was Muth scratched from Preakness?
Muth, the Bob Baffert-trained horse who was the favorite for the Preakness entering the week, was scratched after dealing with a 103-degree fever.
"We are sick about this. The horse had been doing really well," Baffert said earlier this week. "But we have to do what's right by the horse."
Baffert still has a horse in the race, with Imagination in the running this weekend.
When is the 2024 Belmont Stakes?
The Belmont Stakes will take place June 8 from Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.
With renovations taking place at Belmont Park, this is the first time the race will take place in Saratoga. It will be run at 1 ¼ miles, shorter than the usual 1 ½-mile distance.
Pimlico Race Course capacity
Pimlico Race Course can hold around 120,000 fans on the day of the Preakness. There are 750 betting windows at the track, as well as automated betting machines.
When was the last Triple Crown winner?
In 2018, Justify (trained by Bob Baffert) took home the Triple Crown. Justify was the first horse to win the Triple Crown since American Pharaoh in 2015. American Pharaoh was also trained by Baffert.
Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside.
