Preakness 2024 Post Positions: Horse Odds, Prize Money Predictions and More

A race week scratch and a field of talented colts looking to best Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan has created an intriguing 2024 Preakness.

The initial morning line had Bob Baffert-trained Muth as the favorite in the 1 3/16th-mile race. Baffert's suspension kept him from running at the Derby, but he had the profile and resume of a Triple Crown favorite.

Unfortunately for him and his connections, he was scratched from the race on Wednesday after spiking a fever of 103 degrees.

The updated odds tell a story of a race that has a cautious favorite in the Derby winner and multiple horses who are lurking behind him with the chance to pick up a big win.

That also means a considerable share of a record $2 million purse at Pimlico.

Here's a look at all the info you need to catch the race, how that purse will be split up and predictions for who is going to wind up taking some of it home.

Where: Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore

When: Saturday, May 18

Post Time: 7:01 p.m. ET

TV Coverage Start Time: 4:30 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: NBC, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app and Peacock

Prize Purse: $2 million

Payouts

First: $1.2 million

Second: $400,000

Third: $220,000

Fourth: $120,000

Fifth: $60,000

1. Mugatu 20-1

2. Uncle Heavy 7-1

3. Catching Freedom 7-2

4. Muth SCR

5. Mystik Dan 3-1

6. Seize the Grey 8-1

7. Just Steel 9-1

8. Tuscan Gold 7-2

9. Imagination 9-2

Updated Odds via Horse Racing Nation

Only eight horses are in the field, so over half will finish in the prize money.

Who those horses will be is tough to predict in this race. Based on the sudden tightening of odds when Muth was forced out of the race, oddsmakers are having a hard time deciphering who to favor as well.

It starts with Mystik Dan. He's the first choice based on the odds and it isn't hard to see why. He was impressive at the Derby. While he wasn't dominant, he showed a lot of heart to hold off Sierra Leone and Forever Young down the final stretch of the 1 ¼ mile race.

This time, he won't even have to hold the lead for that long. The Preakness is contested at 1 3/16 miles and there aren't a lot of pacesetting horses in the field.

Trainer Kenny McPeek waited a week before deciding whether he'd even enter his Derby winner in the Preakness. However, he responded well enough that the trainer believes he'll do just fine at Pimlico.

"He's a real quiet horse. I've used the terminology that he's an old soul. Nothing much fazes him at all, which makes our job really easy," McPeek told reporters.

Catching Freedom and Tuscan Gold are the top contenders to the Black-Eyed Susans according to the odds.

Catching Freedom ran in the Kentucky Derby, finishing fourth behind the trio of Mystik Dan, Sierra Leone and Forever Young.

That doesn't preclude him from being a contender in this race. The pace should be much slower in the early going and it's a much smaller field this time around. If trainer Brad H. Cox didn't feel good about his horse's chances he wouldn't have asked him to make the quick turnaround.

Tuscan Gold is a new contender to the scene. The lightly-raced colt has only three career starts, but one of them was a third-place finish at the Louisiana Derby. He should be the freshest horse in the field having not raced since March.

Imagination is a contender to watch breaking from the ninth gate. With Muth out, he's Bob Baffert's only entry in the race. His long history of success in the American Classics makes him one to watch.

While he doesn't have the top-end upside of Muth he's been consistent, finishing in first or second in each of his races this year.

If you're looking for a longshot who could shock the world, there are some things to like about Just Steel. There's a chance the track is sloppy with rain in the forecast. Justify, Just Steel's sire, won the Preakness on a sloppy track back in 2018.

He is coming off a disappointing 17th-place finish in the Derby, but that's not indicative of his talent after a bad trip in the first leg.

Predicted Prize Money Winners

First: Imagination

Second: Mystik Dan

Third: Catching Freedom

Fourth: Just Steel

Fifth: Seize the Grey