The Kentucky Derby ended in photo-finish fashion, with 18-1 long shot Mystik Dan winning by a nose. In the moments after the victory, Mystik Dan’s trainer, Ken McPeek, got a call inviting his victorious horse to the Preakness Stakes, which takes place just two weeks later. McPeek’s immediate comment was that “We’re not committed to the Preakness. I ran him back once in two weeks, and it completely backfired on me.” That’s a reference to November, when Mystik Dan got his maiden win and then ran two weeks later at Churchill Downs in an allowance race. The tired horse settled for fifth. McPeek also opted not to bring Mystik Dan back just three weeks after winning at the Grade III Southwest Stakes. Mystik Dan was McPeek’s first Kentucky Derby winner; he also trained the filly Swiss Skydiver, who won the Preakness four years ago. Mystik Dan’s team may wait until next Monday, when posts are drawn, to decide. In the meantime, let’s see how Kentucky Derby winners have fared for sports betting enthusiasts when the scene shifts to Baltimore and it’s time to go for the second leg of the Triple Crown.
Horse Racing Odds: How Kentucky Derby Winners Fare in the Preakness Stakes
There have been 150 runnings of the Kentucky Derby now. Obviously, all 13 of the Triple Crown winners have gone on to win the Preakness. A total of 36 horses have won the first two legs, and 26 other winners at Churchill Downs have gone on to place at Churchill Downs.
The first Preakness Stakes was in 1873, two years before the first Kentucky Derby. However, the Preakness has had a slightly less continuous history. It did not take place at all between 1891 and 1893, and it was held at Morris Park in New York in 1890 and at Coney Island’s Gravesend Race Track between 1894 and 1908. It returned to Pimlico Race Course in 1909, but the first time a Kentucky Derby winner entered the Preakness would not occur until 1919, when Sir Barton tried it – and ended up winning the first Triple Crown. Before 1919, it was rare for any Kentucky Derby entrants to run in the Preakness, and only two of them won. Hindu, who had finished dead last in a seven-horse field in the 1900 Kentucky Derby, won the Preakness.
Gallant Fox took the Triple Crown in 1930, and then the concept really became a thing at that point. It helped that some stability came to the racing calendar; in 1922, the Kentucky Derby (always on the first Saturday in May, except for the COVID-19 change in 2020) and the Preakness were run on the same day, and between 1923 and 1931, the Preakness was actually run before the Kentucky Derby. The order of races (Kentucky Derby-Preakness Stakes-Belmont Stakes) was set in 1932, but the current calendar spacing between the races did not get set until 1969.
When Omaha won the Triple Crown in 1935, as Gallant Fox’s son, he made history as part of the only father-son Triple Crown winners. Between 1937 and 1948, five horses would complete the sweep: War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), and Citation (1948). Then came a 25-year drought of Triple Crowns until 1973, when Secretariat smashed track records. Seattle Slew (1977) and Affirmed (1978) would follow suit, but then it would take 37 years for the next Triple Crown winner (American Pharaoh) in 2015. Justify would round out the list in 2018.
There have also been 23 winners who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes before faltering in the longer Belmont Stakes. These include: Burgoo King (1932), who sat out the Belmont with an injury. After Burgoo King, here’s the list:
- Bold Venture (1936)
- Pensive (1944)
- Tim Tam (1958)
- Carry Back (1961)
- Northern Dancer (1964)
- Kauai King (1966)
- Forward Pass (1968)
- Majestic Prince (1969)
- Canonero II (1971)
- Spectacular Bid (1979)
- Pleasant Colony (1981)
- Alysheba (1987)
- Sunday Silence (1989)
- Silver Charm (1997)
- Real Quiet (1998)
- Charismatic (1999)
- War Emblem (2002)
- Funny Cide (2003)
- Smarty Jones (2004)
- Big Brown (2008)
- I’ll Have Another (2012)
- California Chrome (2014)
Almost 74% of Kentucky Derby winners have gone on to place in the Preakness Stakes. So it looks like Ken McPeek’s worries about Mystik Dan should focus on how he would hypothetically run in the Belmont Stakes, but we will see what unfolds.
At the wire! Mystik Dan wins the 150th Kentucky Derby. pic.twitter.com/2aiutu2mWz
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) May 4, 2024
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