After a week of deliberation, trainer Kenny McPeek made it official Saturday: Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan will head to the Preakness Stakes to compete in the second leg of the Triple Crown.
“The horse is doing fantastic,” McPeek said Saturday after Mystik Dan galloped 1 ½ miles on a cool and cloudy morning at Churchill Downs.
McPeek had Mystik Dan go through routine scopes and blood work and was satisfied enough to commit to Saturday’s $2 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
McPeek said Mystik Dan will ship to Baltimore on Sunday. The Preakness draw is set for 5:30 p.m. Monday.
After beating Sierra Leone by a nose in last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, Mystik Dan got three days off before returning to the track Wednesday. McPeek said Mystik Dan will maintain a schedule of jogs and breezes until the Preakness.
“He won’t breeze going into the Preakness,” McPeek said. “You don’t need a breeze. He just ran.”
While Brian Hernandez Jr. will have the mount in the Preakness, retired jockey Robby Albarado has been riding Mystik Dan in the mornings and continued to do so Saturday.
Albarado and McPeek teamed to win the Preakness in 2020 with filly Swiss Skydiver.
“Kenny gave me a call and said, ‘Rob, I need you at Pimlico,’” Albarado said. “Me and Kenny have had a little luck at Pimlico. We’re trying to do this whole Swiss Skydiver thing over again. This will be the only time I’ll be riding him this year, but we got just as good a rider, Brian, on him.”
Added McPeek: “Robby knows this horse as well as anybody. I think he gets along with him the best.”
Mystik Dan is one of three horses who raced in the Kentucky Derby being considered for the Preakness.
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has committed to running Just Steel — 17th in the Derby — in the second leg of the Triple Crown. Trainer Brad Cox is still weighing his options with Catching Freedom, who was fourth in the Derby.
There are seven “new shooters” in consideration for the Preakness, led by the Bob Baffert-trained pair of Arkansas Derby winner Muth and Santa Anita Derby runner-up Imagination.
Muth figures to be the morning-line favorite for the Preakness after his 2-length victory over Just Steel in the Arkansas Derby on March 30 at Oaklawn Park.
Mystik Dan finished third in that race, 6 ¼ lengths behind Muth. McPeek said Mystik Dan’s outside post position — ninth in a field of 10 — “was probably what got him beat, more than anything. He really got hung out there, and then he got bumped pretty good.”
McPeek is hoping for a cleaner trip for the rematch with Muth in Baltimore.
“He was ready for the Arkansas Derby,” McPeek said Saturday morning. “I’m not going to use that as an excuse. He did get turned sideways in that turn, and Brian felt like that cost him 3 or 4 lengths. The horse fought back fortunately. … I’m optimistic maybe we can give (Muth) another run.”
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Mystik Dan Preakness 2024 decision made. Kentucky Derby winner to run
