At the end of the Kentucky Derby, the team around Mystik Dan was noncommittal about sending him to Pimlico Race Course just two weeks later for the Preakness Stakes. Winning that race by just a nose – the closest photo finish in 75 years – took so much energy that his trainer and owner thought he might not be able to bounce back. However, a couple of days of rest helped the Kentucky Derby winner perk up, and now he’s ready for the Preakness. He drew the No. 5 post position, and on Tuesday, he had a nice jog in the early morning. But can he really win this weekend and then again in the Belmont Stakes? Read on to get our thoughts as you consider to bet on Horse Racing in the Preakness Stakes.
Bet On Horse Racing: Can Mystik Dan Win the Triple Crown?
Mystik Dan
It’s worth noting that Mystik Dan will face the horse that ran by him at the Arkansas Derby and did not enter the chutes at Churchill Downs. However, the Preakness Stakes is actually 1/16 of a mile shorter than the Kentucky Derby, so stamina isn’t as much of an issue. Also, the Belmont Stakes is usually a 1 ½-mile race that requires more endurance, punishing horses that hit the speed too quickly. However, this year’s Belmont Stakes is being held at Saratoga, New York, because of construction at Belmont. The track at Saratoga is a different length, so running the Belmont Stakes at its usual 1 ½-mile would have meant starting the race on a turn. Race officials didn’t want to do that, so the Belmont will only last 1 ¼ miles, a distance that we know Mystik Dan can win – even if just by a fraction of a nose.
Then there’s the talk of affixing an asterisk to this Triple Crown. Part of that would come from the shortened Belmont Stakes, but horses can only run the races in which they are entered. It’s also true that some of the top horses in the sport did not run in the Kentucky Derby because of the ongoing ban that Churchill Downs has placed on horses trained by Bob Baffert. However, horse owners had a choice to use a trainer not under suspension of doping his animals.
Favorite to Win Preakness
The favorite at this writing is Muth, one of Baffert’s horses who could not run at Churchill Downs. He beat Just Steel by two lengths at the Arkansas Derby – and beat Mystik Dan by 6 ¼ lengths. Just Steel, also in the field at the Preakness, finished just 17th in the Kentucky Derby. Muth has run six races in his career, with four wins and two runner-up finishes. One of those second-place results came against Fierceness at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
We wrote a detailed article about the correlation between winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, and even though no horse has won both since 2018, when Justify went on to take the Triple Crown. Since 1932, when the order of the three races was set and the spacing between the events became somewhat consistent, the Kentucky Derby winner has gone on to win the Preakness Stakes about 40 percent of the time. Twenty-three horses have won the first two legs of the Triple Crown but either lost at the Belmont or did not run, and 13 other horses have won the Triple Crown.
Just Steel
If you’re looking for a longer shot at the Preakness Stakes, take a look at Just Steel, who should be ready for a bounceback race after that 17th-place result at Churchill Downs. Seize the Grey won the Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs. Either one of those horses would offer 15-1 odds at this writing. Both horses are trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who is 88 years old but still gets on horseback to supervise workouts each day. He has four wins at the Kentucky Derby, six at the Preakness and four at the Belmont.
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