2024 Preakness Stakes Participants: Who's In & Who's Out Following Kentucky Derby Results

After the Kentucky Derby on May 4, the 2024 Preakness Stakes field fell together quickly. The draw happened on Monday, May 13 with the race set to go on Saturday, May 18 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The race is scheduled as the 13th race of Pimlico’s blockbuster card, with the scheduled start at 6:50 p.m. EDT.

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This is what you need to know about who is in the 2024 Preakness Stakes, and who is out.

Is Kentucky Derby Winner Mystik Dan in the 2024 Preakness Stakes?

Yes. Trainer Kenny McPeek did take a few days to make sure that Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan came out of his game, rail-skimming victory in good order. But, after he had a good gallop at Churchill Downs one week after the race and scoped clean afterwards, the Kentucky Derby winner was declared good to go into the Preakness Stakes, and he will continue his pursuit of horse racing’s Triple Crown.

Is Arkansas Derby Winner Muth in the 2024 Preakness Stakes?

No, Muth will not be running in the Preakness Stakes. He was expected to run well in the race, and was the favorite in both the second pool of the Preakness Future Wager and on the morning line after Monday’s draw. However, he was diagnosed with a fever on Wednesday morning before the race. The Arkansas Derby winner has been scratched from the Preakness Stakes. He may return in the Belmont Stakes if he returns to health quickly enough, or may be rerouted to later races as necessary.

2024 Preakness Stakes Contenders List

As usual, the Preakness Stakes field is smaller than the Kentucky Derby field: after the defection of Muth, eight horses are expected to line up for the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown. The race will still be a thriller, though: it is a classy and competitive field of eight three-year-old thoroughbreds, including three horses coming from the Kentucky Derby and five others who last raced elsewhere.

These are the 2024 Preakness Stakes horses in order of post positions:

1. Mugatu (trainer Jeff Engler, jockey Joe Bravo)

Mugatu was entered into the Kentucky Derby, but he did not draw into the field since he was two deep on the also-eligible list and there was only one scratch. Mugatu was last seen finishing fifth in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1). He switches back to jockey Joe Bravo, who last rode Mugatu to a maiden win in November on the Gulfstream Park Tapeta. That is his only win to date.

2. Uncle Heavy (trainer Butch Reid, jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr.)

Uncle Heavy upset the Withers (G3) two starts back, but was a well-beaten fifth in the Wood Memorial (G2) after a wide trip and being placed close to a horse who fell in the stretch. The rain in the forecast can move him forward in the Preakness, given that his Withers win came over a wet track. The switch to more experienced major-race jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. is a plus as well.

3. Catching Freedom (trainer Brad Cox, jockey Flavien Prat)

One of three horses coming into the 2024 Preakness Stakes out of the Kentucky Derby, Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Catching Freedom rallied for fourth behind Mystik Dan in the first leg of the Triple Crown. The Brad Cox trainee reunites with Preakness Stakes-winning jockey Flavien Prat. Prat rode him not only at Churchill Downs but also to his victory in the Louisiana Derby, which covers the same distance as the Preakness.

4. Muth (trainer Bob Baffert, jockey Juan Hernandez)

Muth was scratched from the 2024 Preakness Stakes on Wednesday due to a fever, and will not run.

5. Mystik Dan (trainer Kenny McPeek, jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr.)

Mystik Dan won the Kentucky Derby and continues his Triple Crown quest in the Preakness Stakes. The slight cutback from the Kentucky Derby trip may play well for this son of Goldencents, and the rain in the forecast is a big positive after his dazzling Southwest (G3) win. However, he needs to prove he can wheel back on short rest, something he couldn’t do last year.

6. Seize the Grey (trainer D. Wayne Lukas, jockey Jaime Torres)

Seize the Grey raced two weeks ago at Churchill Downs, but he competed on the Kentucky Derby undercard, winning the Pat Day Mile (G2). Jaime Torres returns to the irons, and could make him show speed once again. However, the D. Wayne Lukas trainee is going to have to show stamina to see out the Preakness Stakes trip: he has stamina in his pedigree, but his race form so far has skewed more miler.

7. Just Steel (trainer D. Wayne Lukas, jockey Joel Rosario)

Another runner from the D. Wayne Lukas barn, Just Steel comes into the Preakness Stakes with hopes to bounce back from a 17th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. His form was better down the Oaklawn spur of the Kentucky Derby trail, where he finished second in three of the four points preps. That includes a second behind Muth in the Arkansas Derby and a second behind Catching Freedom in the Smarty Jones.

8. Tuscan Gold (trainer Chad Brown, jockey Tyler Gaffalione)

Tuscan Gold makes only his fourth career start in the Preakness Stakes. In his only other stakes start he was the third-place finisher in the Louisiana Derby, where he was beaten only 1 ¾ lengths by Catching Freedom. Brown has won the Preakness Stakes twice with horses making their fourth start, and Tuscan Gold may be the most class-proven of these lightly-raced Brown runners in the Preakness.

9. Imagination (trainer Bob Baffert, jockey Frankie Dettori)

With the scratch of Muth, Imagination is the only 2024 Preakness Stakes runner from the barn of Bob Baffert. He was last seen running in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), where he finished second beaten by a neck by Stronghold. The outside draw could play well for his stalking style, though he still has class to prove against these Triple Crown contenders.

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