The 149th running of the Preakness Stakes takes place on May 18, and after the favorite Muth was scratched due to a fever, eight horses are expected to race in the second leg of the Triple Crown, sorted by post position:
No. 1: Mugatu
No. 2: Uncle Heavy
No. 3: Catching Freedom
No. 4: Mystik Dan
No. 5: Seize the Grey
No. 6: Just Steel
No. 7: Tuscan Gold
No. 8: Imagination
Mystik Dan jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., Mystik Dan trainer Kenny McPeek and Tuscan Gold trainer Chad Brown joined Glenn Clark Radio recently to preview the Preakness.
With Muth scratched, the Preakness favorite is Mystik Dan, the winner of the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby. Mystik Dan won the Derby in a photo finish, beating out Forever Young and Sierra Leone for the top prize in horse racing. It was the first Derby win for Hernandez and McPeek.
Brian Hernandez Jr.: It means the world. The only three happier days in my life were the three kids’ births. To win the Kentucky Derby, it’s life-changing, it’s life-altering. It’s just very rewarding. I’ve been riding for the last 20 years. To go out and win the Kentucky Derby, it’s very meaningful. It’s hard to put into words how unbelievable it is.
Mystik Dan drew the No. 3 post position at the Derby, and as such, Hernandez and McPeek knew their horse would have to control the inside to have a chance to win the race. Mystik Dan staved off multiple competitors in a memorable finish. McPeek was confident his horse had won the race, even as other observers weren’t quite sure.
Kenny McPeek: There was a monitor to my right that NBC had set up that actually showed the slow-mo of him hitting the wire, and he was clearly [the winner]. And when I say he won easy, it was easily 4 or 5 inches. But it wasn’t one of those 1 inch, “Oh, it might be a dead heat” type of ones. I was fine with it. There’s an old saying that I read years ago about horse racing. You win like you’re used to it and lose like you like it. So obviously when you win, you have to do that gracefully. You don’t rub it in anybody’s nose. You don’t get crazy. It’s a very humbling sport. When you lose, you have to lose gracefully because losing is part of it. You lose a lot of races to win a few races.
McPeek said that Mystik Dan would run the Preakness if he ate well in the days following the Derby win, and that’s exactly what happened. McPeek confirmed on May 11 that Mystik Dan was a go. Hernandez is searching for his first Preakness win, while McPeek won the 2020 Preakness with filly Swiss Skydiver.
Brian Hernandez Jr.: We’re going in there with all the confidence in the world. Our horse, he’s done everything so far that we’ve asked of him and done it with a smile on his face I guess is the best way to put it. We’ll just go in there hopefully with the Derby winner and just make sure he’s doing well and have fun with it. … It’d be an unbelievable experience just because I’ve been to the Preakness a few times — never with a Derby winner, of course. Every time we go up there to Baltimore, you guys do such a great job with the hospitality. It’s always a lot of fun to go there for the Preakness just because of the way you treat people and how you guys embrace the whole Preakness weekend. It’s an enjoyable weekend every year.
Kenny McPeek: They’ve always treated me great in Baltimore. I’ve always loved coming up there. It’s a wonderful town. The Preakness is always a great experience. I’m not going to approach it much different. … We’re going to keep putting one foot in front of the other, not getting too carried away with everything. Still, there’s a lot of work to do every day. I’m not going to change that. I’ve got a lot of people I’m responsible for — and horses obviously.
One of the horses that will push Mystik Dan is Tuscan Gold, trained by Chad Brown. Brown won the 2017 Preakness with Cloud Computing and the 2022 Preakness with Early Voting. Tuscan Gold did not run in the Derby, so he should be ready to roll in Baltimore.
Chad Brown: It really just comes down to having the right horses. If you skip the Derby, you have a fresh horse going into the Preakness. That’s really the key — a horse that’s good enough and it’s fresh. Both [Cloud Computing and Early Voting] were very lightly raced. We had our eye on the Preakness for some time. We sort of work backward a little bit, me and my team. We did our part, but it really just centers around having the right horse at the right time.
For more from Hernandez, listen to the full interview here:
For more from McPeek, listen to the full interview here:
For more from Brown, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Churchill Downs Racetrack