Mystik Dan seeing Triple as path opens at Preakness

Mystik Dan's path to winning the Kentucky Derby opened up about midway through the final turn after he cleared out pacesetter Track Phantom and rode the rail to the slightest of victories.

His path to capturing Saturday's 149th Preakness Stakes cleared out a bit on Wednesday.

Mystik Dan's owners Zedan Racing Stables and trainer Ken McPeek were well aware that the Bob Baffert trained Muth would be waiting in Baltimore to try and stop their colt from attempting to become the 14th horse in history to win the coveted Triple Crown.

Muth, who had defeated Mystik Dan by 6 1/4 lengths when they last met on March 30 in the Arkansas Derby, was installed as the 8-5 morning line favorite on Tuesday, marking the first time since 2012 that the Kentucky Derby winner was not the early favorite in the Preakness.

One day later, Mystik Dan assumed early favoritism after Muth was declared out of the race after spiking a fever of 103 the night before.

"We are sick about this. The horse had been doing really well," said Baffert, the all-time winningest Preakness trainer with eight victories. "But we have to do what's right by the horse."

Health was the reason that Mystik Dan's connections waited until the Saturday after his Kentucky Derby win to commit to the Preakness. Following a scope and bloodwork, and under careful watch from McPeek during the week after the win, the colt was declared good to go.

Mystik Dan, who is currently listed at 5-2, will again be ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. His commitment to keeping the son of Goldencents pressed tight to the rail in the Kentucky Derby allowed him to save enough ground to win the race by a nose.

Barring any additional defections, Mystik Dan will face seven rivals in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness at Pimlico - and his main challenger may still be a Baffert pupil.

Imagination, who finished second in the Santa Anita Derby on April 6, is the second choice at 6-1. Like Muth, Imagination was not permitted to race in the Kentucky Derby as Baffert is currently under suspension by

Churchill Downs following Medina Spirit's disqualification from the Kentucky Derby win 2021 after testing positive for a banned substance.

Also listed at 6-1 is Catching Freedom, one of three horses in the Preakness field that ran in the Kentucky Derby. Catching Freedom rallied from deep in the field in that race to finish 4th, 6 ½ lengths back of Mystik Dan. Tuscan Gold, who was last seen finishing third in the Louisiana Derby, is the only other runner presently with single digit odds at 8-1.

Just Steel, who finished 17th in the Kentucky Derby, will try and avenge that loss in the Preakness. This will be the third consecutive race that Just Steel and Mystik Dan will face off against each other as Just Steel finished second in the Arkansas Derby. He is listed at 15-1 as is Seize the Grey. Both are trained by Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lucas, who is the third all-time winningest Preakness trainer with six wins.

Like his stablemate, Seize the Grey will also be racing back after just a two-week layoff as he was a winner in the Pat Day Mile, which was part of the Kentucky Derby card.

--By Tim Dwyer, Field Level Media