Hours before Kentucky Derby champion Mystik Dan attempts to win the Triple Crown again in a row when he faces up against seven other horses in the Preakness 2024 Stakes, rain was tumbling on Saturday at the Pimlico racial background Course.
Since Justify in 2018, he would be the first person to win the Derby and the Preakness simultaneously. That would prepare the stage for the next strange and momentous event. month at the Belmont Stakes, where a Triple Crown was at stake.
The primary contenders for Mystik Dan are the Bob Baffert-trained Imagination, Brad Cox’s Catching Freedom, and Chad Brown’s Tuscan Gold. The Preakness may be held on a sloppy track due to the likelihood of afternoon rainfall.
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When does Preakness 2024 kick off?
The game starts at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC, and it can be streamed on Peacock. The article will be published at 6:50 p.m. Eastern Time.
The race was scheduled to start soon after 7 p.m. EDT, and Baffert was supposed to saddle two horses. However, morning line favorite Muth was scratched during the week due to a fever. On Saturday, Mystik Dan started as the 3-1 favorite. with Tuscan Gold and Catching Freedom both scoring 7-2 and Imagination scoring 9-2.
Mystik Dan’s trainer, Kenny McPeek; stated this week that ‘Catching Freedom trained really well going into the Derby.’ ‘What a lovely horse he is. Additionally, Bob wouldn’t send a horse unless it was a good one, and Chad has a horse who just finished third in the Louisiana Derby behind victor Catching Freedom. Indeed, it isn’t a given.
McPeek’s decision to send Mystik Dan to Baltimore on a two-week rest following the colt’s grueling victory by a nose in the Kentucky Derby was far from certain. However, he is one of three horses—up from one last year and two in 2022—from that race that will compete in the Preakness.
The hesitation of many trainers to Doing the Derby-Preakness double, which used to be the standard for horses competing in the Triple Crown, has sparked debate regarding the middle jewel’s status and fears that it has been relegated to the sidelines of the series. There is discussion about separating the races in order to accommodate thoroughbreds that run less frequently now than they did in the past.
The deteriorating Pimlico Race Course will host its final Preakness this year, early in the next year, destruction is scheduled to start. The 150th running of the race will still happen at the track in 2025 while redevelopment is ongoing. In 2026, it will move to Laurel Park, and in 2027, it will return to a reconstructed Pimlico.
Where and when are the Belmont Stakes held?
The Triple Crown’s last leg is happening on June 8 and, for the first time, at the upstate New York racetrack Saratoga Race Course due to renovations at New York City’s Belmont Park.
Given that construction is anticipated to continue until 2025, there’s a strong possibility that Saratoga may host the Belmont twice in a row.
Aqueduct in Queens is the current venue for racing in New York; it hosted the Triple Crown final when Belmont Park was last refurbished in 1963–1967.
