CRAWFORD | Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan is confirmed for Preakness Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan will take a shot at the second leg of the Triple Crown next weekend, trainer Ken McPeek said on Saturday morning.

The Goldencents colt went through a routine 1.5-mile gallop at Churchill Downs under retired jockey Robby Albarado, who will be part of his travel team to Baltimore.

”All systems go,” McPeek told the Preakness publicity team. “He’ll ship out in the morning.”

Mystik Dan won the Derby as an 18-1 shot last Saturday, slipping along the rail under jockey Brian Hernandez to give McPeek, a Kentucky native, his first Derby victory.

Among those who called to congratulate McPeek was the winningest modern Derby trainer, and a rival in the Preakness, Bob Baffert, whose Muth will be the morning line favorite for the race.

”I want to tell you, Bob was one of the first people to call me,” McPeek said. “World of respect for Bob Baffert. And he and I had just (talked) from horseman to horseman — and not everybody calls you after you win a big race like that — but Bob’s great. And we had a good chat about it. And he was over the moon for me. And any notion that Bob Baffert isn’t special guy, he is.”

McPeek had been non-committal about the Preakness in the days after Mystik Dan’s Derby win. But he was more positive about the possibility on Monday. He said he just wanted to take his time with the decision and make sure the colt was up to the challenge.

Mystik Dan had an endoscopic exam and underwent bloodwork. When those came back clean, McPeek gave the green light.

”The horse is doing fantastic,” McPeek said. “I’ve already kind of arranged the logistics of it all.”

Mystik Dan and Muth have faced each other before, in the Arkansas Derby. Muth was the winner, and Mystik Dan finished third, in his first race off a seven-week layoff, and over a sloppy track.

But McPeek was playing for the Derby all along, he said, having skipped the Rebel Stakes and hoping to run well enough at Arkansas to get into the Derby.

”Well, we purposely skipped the Rebel (Stakes), because we didn’t want a horse that was overdone, by the time we got to Kentucky,” he said. “And we gambled on the Arkansas Derby points, that if he got the points, he’d be good. But the outside draw that day was probably what got him beat, more than anything. He really got hung out there, and then he got bumped pretty good. And it was one of those things, well, you know, it wasn’t a terrible race, but it wasn’t exactly what we wanted. And it’s fortunate that we got the points to get us into the Kentucky Derby, and obviously, we know the result.”

Now, McPeek will see if his colt is fresh enough to keep moving forward in the second leg of the Triple Crown.