Kenny McPeek got the phone call at 7:40 a.m. Sunday, the traditional invite from Preakness Stakes officials wanting the Kentucky Derby winner to compete in the second leg of the Triple Crown.
Seconds later, McPeek was explaining to reporters at Churchill Downs why a trip to Baltimore might not be on the agenda.
“We’re not committed to the Preakness. No, not yet,” McPeek said the morning after his Mystik Dan won the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby by a nose over Sierra Leone. “We’ll just watch him over the next week. It will be one of those where we’ll probably take (the decision) up to the last minute. … We’ll let him tell us. If he’s not in the feed tub, he won’t run.”
A sleep-deprived McPeek spent Sunday morning soaking in the significance of Saturday’s accomplishment — his first Kentucky Derby victory in 40 years as a trainer.
He’d won the Kentucky Oaks on Friday with Thorpedo Anna and became the first trainer since Ben Jones in 1952 to get an Oaks-Derby sweep.
His children and grandchildren made congratulatory signs and placed them in the front yard of his Louisville home. Mystik Dan got extra peppermints from co-owner Sharilyn Gasaway.
“We got in late, but worthwhile,” McPeek said of the Saturday night celebration. “Kinda sinking in a little bit.”
But as McPeek pointed out, “there’s more work to do,” and the attention now turns toward the possible Triple Crown pursuit.
The $2 million Preakness is set for May 18 at Pimlico, and Mystik Dan’s presence — or lack thereof — will have a big impact on the race’s significance.
McPeek said Mystik Dan likely will rest Monday and Tuesday before returning to the track Wednesday. One crucial sign of Mystik Dan’s condition will be his food intake, which was not off to a good start after Saturday night.
“He left three quarts feed,” McPeek said. “We couldn’t hardly get everybody out of the barn until midnight, so he really didn’t get a great night’s rest.”
McPeek said Mystik Dan likely will ship to Saratoga later this week. With Belmont Park being renovated, Saratoga will host the Belmont Stakes — the final leg of the Triple Crown — on June 8.
McPeek said Mystik Dan could skip the Preakness and return to action in the Belmont.
“No. 1, if we go into the (Preakness) we want to win,” co-owner Lance Gasaway said. “I’m pretty sure (Bob Baffert) is going to have (Arkansas Derby winner) Muth in there. You take those horses in there at full speed that have been off a month or a month and a half, and we’re coming in there in two weeks. That’s a big ask of this horse.”
McPeek noted Mystik Dan raced twice in a 13-day span as a 2-year-old, breaking his maiden Nov. 12 at Churchill Downs and then finishing fifth in an optional claimer on Nov. 25.
“It completely backfired on me,” he said of the decision to race back so quickly.
A son of Goldencents, Mystik Dan won the Kentucky Derby at 18-1 odds behind a rail-skimming ride from jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.
Mystik Dan pulled away down the stretch before Sierra Leone and third-place Forever Young made a late charge.
Gasaway said he got about five hours of sleep after the race but was losing his voice.
“Has it sunk in yet? No,” Gasaway said Sunday morning. “This is the pinnacle of the sport. Unbelievable.”
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
More horse racing Meet Mystik Dan co-owners Lance Gasaway, Brent Gasaway and Daniel Hamby
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Will Mystik Dan run in Preakness Stakes? Kenny McPeek on next steps
