Mystik Dan 5-2 favorite in early Preakness wagering

BALTIMORE, Md. – Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan was favored for tomorrow's Preakness Stakes after a day of advanced wagering.

Wagering on the Preakness Stakes opened on Friday morning, and as of 6:10 p.m., Mystik Dan was the 5-2 favorite, with $695,624 in the win pool. The colt, who returned $39.22 for his victory in the Derby, inherited 8-5 morning-line favoritism with the scratch of Muth, the original morning-line favorite when posts were drawn Monday, two days ago.

Following Mystik Dan, in odds order in the remaining field of eight 3-year-olds, are Tuscan Gold at 7-2, Imagination at 9-2, Catching Freedom at 3-1, Uncle Heavy at 7-1, Seize the Grey at 8-1, Just Steel at 9-1, and Mugatu at 20-1. Uncle Heavy's odds have changed the most dramatically from the morning line, on which he was listed at 20-1. Seize the Grey and Just Steel, both 12-1 on the morning line, have also dropped, with Size the Grey's odds change likely partially due to the several thousand shareholders behind him in the MyRacehorse micro-share ownership group.

Those who zeroed in on Preakness prospects early have a solid chance to cash in on the Preakness future wager, which debuted last year and had two pools this year. In the first pool, which ran from Feb. 29 to March 2, Mystik Dan closed at 30-1 as one of the individual wagering choices, for a $63 will-pay. Catching Freedom was 70-1, for a $156.80 projected payout. The rest of the Preakness field would be included under "all others," which closed at 5-1, for $13.30.

In the second pool, which opened April 26 and closed on May 4, about an hour before the running of the Derby, Mystik Dan had drifted to 45-1, for a $93.40 will-pay. In odds order, "all others" were 12-1 ($26.60), Catching Freedom was 14-1 ($31.20), Tuscan Gold was 17-1 ($36.60), Imagination was 17-1 ($37.20), Seize the Grey was 25-1 ($55), Just Steel was 35-1 ($78.60), and Uncle Heavy was at least 99-1 ($268.20).

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The Preakness Stakes is linked in a two-day double to the weekend's major event for 3-year-old fillies, the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on Friday evening. The race was won by Gun Song, who returned $6.60 as the post-time favorite.

The will-pay for the double, combining the two favorites with Gun Song and Mystik Dan, was listed as $35.20 on a $2 wager shortly after the Black-Eyed Susan was made official. There was $970,357 in the pool.

The other projected will-pays on the double, in payout order, were $30 with Gun Song combined with Tuscan Gold; $30.60 with Catching Freedom; $34.20 with Imagination; $98 with Just Steel; $114.40 with Seize the Grey; $204.60 with Uncle Heavy; and $708.40 with Mugatu.

Following Friday’s 14-race card highlighted by the Black-Eyed Susan, there were two carryovers into Saturday’s 14-race card that begins at 10:30 a.m. There is an $85,870 carryover in the Pick 6 Jackpot, and a $26,616 carryover in the Super High Five.

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