Bob Baffert will gun for a ninth Preakness Stakes with morning line favorite Muth, given the nod over Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan.
Tuscan Gold is “in good shape” for Preakness 149, trainer Chad Brown said, and has a similar resume to Brown’s two other Preakness winners.
Catching Freedom, a rallying fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, will contest the Preakness, trainer Brad Cox said.
Grade 3 Withers winner posted a sharp half-mile workout at his Parx Racing base Saturday in his final move in preparation for the May 18 Preakness.
Kentucky Derby winner galloped Saturday morning and afterwards his trainer, Ken McPeek, said it was on to Baltimore for the Preakness.
Tuscan Gold will aim at the May 18 Preakness, while Kentucky Derby 4th-place horse Catching Freedom also is eyeing the Middle Jewel.
Mystik Dan, trending towards a start in the 149th Preakness Stakes, has been teamed up with Preakness-winning jockey Robbie Albarado as his morning pilot.
Grade 3 Withers Stakes winner Uncle Heavy will run in the May 18 Preakness, trainer Butch Reid told Pimlico officials.
The Maryland-sired Mugatu, a Kentucky Derby also-eligible who did not draw in, will point to the Preakness for his next start.
More than $7.5 million in bonuses will be offered horsemen over Preakness weekend, along with races serving as qualifiers to international G1 events.