2024 Preakness Stakes Betting Guide: Odds, Top Long Shot, and 2 Best Bets
All eyes will turn to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland for the 2024 Preakness Stakes on Saturday evening. Post time is set for approximately 6:50 PM Eastern and fans will be anxious to see if Mystik Dan can complete the 2nd leg of the coveted Triple Crown.
Need help betting on the 2024 Preakness Stakes? Check out our betting guide below, which mentions a couple of best bets and a top long shot. Good luck!
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Live Odds for 2024 Preakness Stakes
Unlike the jam-packed 20 horse field of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness will feature just 9 horses in 2024. This will give horses who like a little more open space to run a leg up on the competition.
Horses that get off to fast starts and have good top-end speed usually do well at the Preakness, mainly because it's the shortest of the Triple Crown races. The track is only 1 3/16 miles, which is a tad shorter than the Kentucky Derby (1 1/4) and quite a bit shorter than the Belmont (1 1/2).
How does your favorite horse stack up? Check out the live odds below, as of Tuesday, May 14:
Best Bet: Muth (+125) (1 unit)
As much as it pains me to say it, sometimes the favorite is the best way to go! I think that'll be the case at The Preakness, where Muth is the overwhelming favorite. While Mystik Dan will be a popular heart pick for most folks who want to see another Triple Crown winner, I'm going with the more rested horse.
As most folks know, Muth is trained by Bob Baffert. The legendary trainer was still serving a suspension from Churchill Downs, so none of his horses could compete in the Kentucky Derby. You can bet (pun-intended) that Baffert has a little extra motivation to crush the competition on Saturday with the hopes of winning his 9th Preakness Stakes.
There's no denying Muth's ability to run away from this field. Muth won the 2024 Arkansas Derby earlier this year and should be rested and raring to go since he didn't run in the Kentucky Derby. Muth also bested Mystik Dan in that Arkansas Derby victory, so we'll put a full unit on him in this spot.
Best Bet: Imagination +700 (1/2 unit)
Baffert's other horse isn't getting as much attention as Muth, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Imagination gets the win on Saturday evening. His post position of 9 isn't ideal, but it's not enough to keep me from betting on him.
Imagination isn't quite as fast as Muth or Mystik Dan, but he has 2 wins and 4 runner-ups in 6 career races. That's just the type of consistency I look for when betting on Triple Crown events.
Imagination placed 2nd in the Santa Anita Derby a few weeks ago and should also be in peak condition after skipping the Kentucky Derby. A lot of experts expect Imagination to set the pace early, but the key question will be if he can hold off Muth down the stretch.
Long Shot: Seize the Grey +1700 (1/4 unit)
For best long shot in this field, I'm riding with Seize the Grey. Not only does this horse have a super-cool name, but he's trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who is one of the best in the industry.
Lukas has won The Preakness six times, so it wouldn't be that big of a shocker to see one of his horses take home the grand prize. Seize the Grey took home 1st place at the Pat Day Mile his last time out.
Even though that was a G2 race, I still prefer Seize the Grey over Lukas's other horse, Just Steel. Since this is a long shot, I'm only playing it for a quarter of a unit.