The second jewel in thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown is up for grabs this weekend as the 149th Preakness Stakes takes place at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday. A field of eight 3-year-old colts will vie for the blanket of Black-Eyed Susans, which goes to the winner. Their connections will compete for $2 million in purse money, $1.2 million of which will go to the winners.
While The Preakness is often overshadowed by the other Triple Crown races, it is still a big event in racing and Maryland sports betting, and a big day for the sport’s fans. BetMaryland wanted to see where the interest is the highest for Preakness 2024. We used Google Trends to see what states are most excited about the 1-3/16th mile race, which will air on NBC. Post time is set for 7:01 p.m. Eastern.
States Most Excited for the Preakness
Rank | State | Search Interest Score |
1 | Maryland | 100 |
2 | Kentucky | 65 |
3 | Delaware | 63 |
4 | District of Columbia | 46 |
5 | Pennsylvania | 41 |
6 | New Jersey | 39 |
7 | Arkansas | 32 |
8 | Connecticut | 31 |
9 | New York | 27 |
10 | Rhode Island | 27 |
The scores above are based on 24-hour searches conducted on Monday.
The top six states should not come as a surprise. Obviously, interest is at its peak in Maryland, where the race takes place. Kentucky is the top state for thoroughbred racing, while Delaware, D.C., Pennsylvania and New Jersey are all in the Mid-Atlantic region, just a short drive from Baltimore. Those states all have online sports wagering, as does the Old Line State with its Maryland sportsbook apps.
Arkansas is another big racing state, and the Arkansas Derby held on March 30 at Oaklawn Park. This year’s running featured Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan, who finished third in the prep race, and Just Steel, who followed up his second-place finish in the Arkansas Derby by running 17th in at Churchill Downs on May 4.
Top Threats For Mystik Dan In Preakness 149
Muth, who won the Arkansas Derby in convincing fashion, was entered to run Saturday. However, trainer Bob Baffert scratched chose to scratch his colt on Wednesday after Muth came down with a high fever. He was the 8-5 morning-line favorite for Preakness 2024 after Monday’s post-position draw (see the best Maryland sports betting promos at BetMaryland.com for deals you can get on any sport, then settle in for the horse racing action).
Now Mystik Dan will likely be the favorite on Saturday to win. If he pulls it out, he’ll almost assuredly head to New York to try to complete the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes on June 8. The Kenny McPeek-trained colt’s morning-line odds were 5-2 after he drew the fifth gate on Monday. He’ll now move inside one spot after Muth was scratched.
Another Kentucky Derby horse, Catching Freedom (ML: 6-1), will break from the third gate. The Louisiana Derby winner finished fourth two weeks ago, two lengths behind Mystik Dan, the horse that edged Sierra Leone and Forever Young in a photo finish.
Aside from Catching Freedom, Mystik Dan’s biggest challengers will likely come from the outside. Imagination (ML: 6-1) will break from the outside post. Another Baffert-trained horse, he’s finished no worse than second in all six of his races. Two months ago, he won the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park and followed that up with a second-place showing last month in the Santa Anita Derby. (Neither Muth, Imagination nor any other horse trained by Baffert were eligible to run in the Kentucky Derby due to Churchill Downs’ ongoing suspension of the Hall of Fame trainer in light of Medina Spirit’s failed drug test after the 2021 Kentucky Derby.)
Another horse expected to give Mystik Dan a race is Tuscan Gold, who will break from the seventh gate. Trained by Chad Brown, Tuscan Gold (ML: 8-1) has only raced three times. In his most recent race, he finished third in the March 23 Louisiana Derby.
How To Wager On The Preakness
Horse racing differs from wagering on other sports such as football, basketball and baseball. You cannot wager on the Preakness using a Maryland sports betting app. To place a bet, you need to do so at the track, an off-track betting parlor, or use an advance-deposit wagering platform, like 1/ST BET or TwinSpires.
The FanDuel Maryland Sportsbook offers its customers a way to wager on the Preakness and other races by having its ADW platform connected to its online sports betting app. That means bettors can use funds from their sports betting account to place their bets.
Also, for those unfamiliar with horse racing, the wagering system is known as parimutuel. This is different than the fixed odds which you will see for betting on other sports. You’re not guaranteed to receive the odds of your horse at the time you place the bet. Rather, since all money is pooled together, you would be paid based on the odds at the time the race starts.
Check out our Preakness Stakes odds page for the latest updates.
USA Today photo by Mitch Stringer
