Muth likely would have been one of the top contenders at the Kentucky Derby. However, Baffert is serving a suspension from Churchill Downs due to Medina Spirit (the initial 2021 Derby winner) testing positive for betamethasone.
Baffert can enter horses into races at Pimlico, though, and he did last year, when he won the Preakness for the eighth time as National Treasure raced to victory. No trainer has as many Preakness wins as Baffert, so it's no surprise that Muth is the betting favorite this year.
Not only did Muth win the Arkansas Derby in March (his most recent race), but he beat Mystik Dan, who finished third in the race. The second-place finisher was Just Steel, who ended up 17th in the Kentucky Derby and will look for a bounce-back performance at the Preakness.
Before winning the Arkansas Derby, Muth had three previous victories. He's never finished worse than second in any of his six career races.
There are expected to be two Baffert-trained horses in the Preakness field. In addition to Muth, Imagination is also slated to compete in the race and could be among the top contenders to win as well.
Like Muth, Imagination has finished either first or second in each of his first six career races. He is coming off a second-place finish at the Santa Anita Derby in April, while his most recent win occurred at the San Felipe Stakes in March.
Mystik Dan will be looking to keep McPeek's Triple Crown hopes alive by outracing the pair of Baffert's horses and the rest of the Preakness field. Mystik Dan won the Kentucky Derby in a photo finish, narrowly edging Sierra Leone and Forever Young at the line.
It wasn't a sure thing that Mystik Dan was going to race the Preakness. However, McPeek opted to enter the horse who has a chance to become the first Triple Crown champion since Justify in 2018.
"All systems go," McPeek recently said, per Scooby Axson of USA Today. "The horse is doing fantastic."
Another horse to keep an eye on at the Preakness could be Tuscan Gold. The Chad Brown-trained colt doesn't have a ton of experience, having ran only three races. He most recently finished third at the Louisiana Derby in March.
McPeek and Brown are both former Preakness-winning trainers. McPeek won the race in 2020 (Swiss Skydiver), while Brown was victorious in both 2017 (Cloud Computing) and 2022 (Early Voting).
