BALTIMORE — Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan on Monday drew the No. 5 post position in Saturday’s Preakness, when the colt will look to sweep the first two legs of horse racing’s Triple Crown — though he’s not favored to do so.
Bob Baffert-trained Muth, just inside Mystik Dan in the No. 4 post, opened as the 8-5 morning line favorite Monday.
Muth won the Arkansas Derby on March 30, when Mystik Dan finished third.
Baffert, who was barred from the Derby because of Churchill Downs’ ban on him that was extended, is also saddling No. 9 Imagination (6-1) as he goes for a record-extending ninth Preakness victory and second in a row after National Treasure won for him last year.
Mystik Dan is the 5-2 second choice in the nine-horse field for the 149th rendition of the 1 3/16-mile, $2 million second jewel of the Triple Crown.
He’s one of three heading to Pimlico Race Course after running in the Derby, joined by Brad Cox’s Catching Freedom (No. 3, 6-1), who finished fourth, and D. Wayne Lukas’ Just Steel, who faded to 17th.
It’s the first time since 2012 that the Derby winner did not open as the Preakness favorite.
Trainer Kenny McPeek is hoping Mystik Dan can be the first horse since Baffert’s Justify in 2018 to win the Derby and Preakness.
McPeek had not committed to bringing him back on a two-week turnaround until Saturday, when he was satisfied the colt bounced back well from his run to win by a nose over Sierra Leone and Forever Young in the closest Derby finish in half a century.
“There is hope,” post-position draw emcee Britney Eurton said. “There is hope of a Triple Crown.”
Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., whose elite ride got the job done May 4 in the Derby, will again be aboard Mystik Dan. Also running in the Preakness are Lukas’ Seize the Grey (No. 6, 15-1), No. 2 Uncle Heavy (20-1), No. 8 Tuscan Gold (8-1) and No. 5 Mugatu (20-1).
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