Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan looks to follow up one Triple Crown victory with another, as the 2024 Preakness Stakes goes to post on Saturday, May 18. 

The Kenneth McPeek-trained Mystik Dan is one of eight horses in the field. Only three of the 20 horses that ran in the Kentucky Derby are back two weeks late for the second leg of the Triple Crown. 

Bookies.com handicapper Adam Thompson has been crushing horse racing for the last three years. If you bet $5 on the picks for the 2021 TVG Pacific Classic, your account would be $232 fatter. That’s just the latest in a string of horse racing betting success for Thompson, who won $480 on a $10 wager at the 2021 Preakness Stakes and hit the exacta at the Belmont Stakes last year, taking $75 on a $10 bet.

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Thompson just missed on a big payday at last year’s Derby but got paid on six of the seven other races plus a massive 42/1 Exacta Box to finish up huge on the weekend. Then came the Preakness, in which he hit on both the Exacta and Trifecta for another massive weekend finish. He cashed on eight of the 13 races at the Belmont Stakes Saturday, too. 

Now he has set his sights on the 2024 Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The eight-horse field goes to post at 6:50 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 18. 

2024 Preakness Stakes At Pimlico Race Course

When: Saturday, May 18 6:50 PM ET 

Where: Pimlico Race Course

Where To Watch It:  NBC

Can Mystik Dan follow up his Kentucky Derby victory with another Triple Crown win at the Preakness?The horse racing odds at top sportsbook for the weekend’s Preakness Stakes who a crowded and competitive field. There isn’t much fat to trim here. 

MYSTIK DAN (#5 5-2 morning line odds) wasn’t the early favorite at the Preakness. That was Muth, who scratched earlier in the week. Now, half the field is at 9-2 odds or lower heading into the weekend. 

We’re using two horses up top. The lead is Mystik Dan, who has the top speed numbers and has faced the best competition. One not below, but a small notch, is CATCHING FREEDOM (#3, 6-1), who took fourth in a spirited run at the Derby. Catching Freedom had 8-1 odds at the Derby, compared to the 20-1 for Mystik Dan; the horse was more well-regarded prior to that race. Either one could win on Saturday. 

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While we’re going with Mystik Dan to win, we’re using Catching Freedom in all of our exotics, including an Exacta Box and atop a Trifecta. 

Two other horses make the cut. IMAGINATION (#9, 6-1) has never finished worse than second place in six career aces, but only the last two were stakes-level races and neither had the caliber of competition that the Preakness will bring. TUSCAN GOLD (#8, 8-1) led Catching Freedom at the Louisiana Derby before Freedom charged at the end for a narrow win. This race is the same distance as the Louisiana. 

Here’s how we’re betting on the race and every race at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday. 

Preakness Stakes Picks

• $10 To Win: 5 ($10)
• $4 Exacta Box 3,5,9 ($24)
• $2 Trifecta 5 with 3,8,9 with 3,8,9 ($12)
• $2 Trifecta 3 with 5,8,9 with 5,8,9 ($12)

Pimlico Race Course Saturday Picks

• RACE 1: 9 To Win; Exacta 9 with 1,7
• RACE 2: Exacta Box 2,8,10
• RACE 3: 5 To Win; Exacta Box 1,5,7
• RACE 4: 4 To Win; Exacta Box 1,3,4
• RACE 5: Exacta Box 2,6,8; Trifecta Box 2,6,7,8
• RACE 6: 6 To Win
• RACE 7: 7 To Win
• RACE 8: 1 To Win; Exacta Box 1,3,6
• RACE 9: 2 To Win
• RACE 10: 8 To Win; Exacta 8 with 5,6
• RACE 11: 12 To Win; Exacta Box 11,12
• RACE 12: 7 To Win
• RACE 13: Preakness Stakes (see above)
• RACE 14: 5 To Win