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The 149th Preakness Stakes — the second leg of the Triple Crown —ran Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.
Andrew DeWitt, Teresa Genaro and more
(Photo: Samuel Corum / Getty Images)
Two weeks after Mystik Dan won the Kentucky Derby in a photo finish, the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown is set to run today with the 149th Preakness Stakes in Baltimore.
The post time is set for 7:01 p.m. ET.
Eight horses will run in this year’s event after previous favorite Muth was scratched Wednesday due to a fever. Only horses that are three years old are eligible to race in the Preakness Stakes, and it’s open to both male and female horses. The race is 1 3/16 miles long.
The Athletic has you covered with the latest updates and race analysis, including a full breakdown of the 2024 field.
How to watch
Television coverage for the 2024 Preakness Stakes starts at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Preliminary coverage starts at 1:30 p.m. on CNBC. All coverage can also be streamed on Peaco*ck.
Required reading
- 2024 Preakness Stakes date and time: When is the race, how to watch, odds, horses and weather
- Regarding Derby ban, Bob Baffert is only looking ahead: ‘I’m like Bill Belichick. I just want to talk about Baltimore.’
- Who will win the 2024 Preakness? Picks including longshots from experts, enthusiasts and more
When I spoke to Bob Baffert earlier this year, he talked about D. Wayne Lukas and how he remembered as a young trainer Lukas taking on the glare of the spotlight. The two chatted earlier this week on the backside of Pimlico.
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Seize the Grey went off at 9-1 odds ... only two horses had worse odds for the Preakness.
D. Wayne Lukas, 88 years young, wins the Preakness. The legendary trainer’s horse, Seize the Grey, goes to the front and stays there, holding off a challenge from Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan.
Lukas still gets on his horses every morning for workouts. A legend in the sport.
Seize the Grey wins the Preakness! Trainer D. Wayne Lukas wins his seventh Preakness — the most all-time.
We're off!
The race is underway, and Mystik Dan and Imagination both got good starts.
Horse are approaching the starting gate and loaded in. Derby winner Mystik Dan is loaded in and is ready for the second crown of the Triple Crown.
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All the horses in the lead-up to the Preakness Stakes seem pretty calm and ready to go. We'll see if there are any issues with the load-in, but there are only eight horses in this race compared to the Derby, which had 20.
There was a brief delay as one horse had issues getting into the starting gate.
The horses have completed their warmup runs before the race and are approaching the starting gate. We're at post time.
The course is incredibly muddy after it has rained on and off all day as some sun shines down on the track.
NBC says this is the first Preakness Stakes on a muddy track in 85 years.
Pre-race odds: Mystik Dan still the favorite
Mystik Dan will go off as a 5-2 favorite in the Preakness Stakes. The odds haven't changed much in the last 30 minutes before this race.
Catching Freedom is the second favorite with Tuscan Gold the third favorite.
Anticipation before the Preakness always is on the Triple Crown and what the Kentucky Derby champion will do.
It's a tough turnaround for the winner to bounce back and win again after most of the horses in the field didn't run two weeks ago.
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Keep an eye on Uncle Heavy. OK, admittedly this is a Philly girl saying this and he’s a Philly horse, with all sorts of connections to the area. He’s also named after a former wrestler. C’mon now!
But besides the great geographical lineage and storyline, Uncle Heavy has run and won twice on muddy tracks. The trainer wasn’t sure about entering him in this race but with a push from the ownership group, here he is.
I know the old take is that nobody will care about Belmont if Mystik Dan doesn’t win and there’s no hope for a Triple Crown, but keep in mind that this year’s “Belmont” is really Saratoga, and that’s a vibe and event all its own. Throw in the Dave Portnoy influence and I wouldn’t be surprised if the buzz for Belmont surpasses Preakness, no matter who wins today.
The horses have made their way to the track and are walking towards the starting gate.
One thing Ken McPeek said in his post-Kentucky Derby news conference is that he likes his horses to go through some adversity in their first starts.
Running on a sloppy track is one of those things that can be adversity for the horses because of the mud being thrown into their face throughout the race.
We'll see if that strategy pays off for Mystik Dan.
The Athletic Staff
Why Caton Bredar likes Mystik Dan to win the Preakness
(Photo: Rob Carr / Getty Images)
While the tendency is to get creative or try and find a price play in the Preakness, most roads point to the likely favorite and Derby winner. Mystik Dan has earned the highest speed figures on almost any system of any horse in the race, is the most consistent performer in the field, is most proven, and, most importantly, appears physically to be just as good, if not better, now than he was going into the Derby. From a pace standpoint, it might appear that Imagination has an edge as the quickest early, but he’s untested outside of California and has had relatively easy and ideal set-ups, something he may not be able to obtain in Baltimore. The potential for a sloppy track only enhances Mystik Dan’s chances. Historically, Derby winners have been able to ride the momentum of success through the second leg of the Triple Crown. I’ll ride along with him, with Mystik Dan running down Imagination and holding off a late closing Catching Freedom to keep the dream alive.
Mystik Dan over Catching Freedom and Imagination. – Caton Bredar, horse racing analyst
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Ray Lewis adds signature flare to 'Riders Up' call
Ray Lewis gives the call for riders up and we're just under 10 minutes away from the 2024 Preakness Stakes.
Honestly, that was a muted "riders up" call from Lewis until he went with his traditional introduction dance he used to do for the Baltimore Ravens.
It's unlikely we'll get a record-breaking performance today given the sloppy track conditions, but Secretariat does own the Preakness Stakes record at 1:53 in 1973.
Yes, Secretariat owns the record in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.
Hannah Vanbiber's Preakness pick: Mystik Dan
Imagination is one of the favorites for a reason — he has all the money and the names behind him and he’s raced well and has great speed. With his Baffert-brother-in-training Muth out, it’s easy to see him finishing first. But I don’t want to count out Mystik Dan, who could be on a hot streak and who races well in the slop. Plus, the heart wants what it wants, and mine wants a Triple Crown. Uncle Heavy has a great story (love that) and is good on wet tracks.
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