2024 Preakness date and time: When is the race, how to watch, odds, horses and weather

The 2024 Preakness Stakes (Saturday, May 18 on NBC/Peacock) will be the 149th running of the annual horse race in Baltimore. It’s the yearly second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown pursuit. Mystik Dan will be running in this year’s Preakness after some doubt that he would run in the race due to the short turn around between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 Preakness Stakes.

What is the Preakness Stakes?

The Preakness Stakes is the second race in the Triple Crown series and is running for the 149th time this year. A blanket of yellow flowers is draped on the winner each year and the weather vane at Pimlico is painted with the silk’s colors immediately after a winner is declared. The field is much smaller than the 20 horses that start the Kentucky Derby each year. This year, only eight horses will run in the Preakness. Only horses that are three years old are eligible to race in the Preakness Stakes, and it is open to both male and female horses. Swiss Skydiver, a filly, won the Preakness Stakes in 2020 and Rachel Alexandra won in 2009.

When is the 2024 Preakness Stakes?

The 2024 Preakness Stakes will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

What time does the 2024 Preakness Stakes start?

The post-time for the Preakness Stakes is set for 7:01 p.m. ET.

How long is the Preakness Stakes?

The race is 1 3/16 miles long. Secretariat owns the Preakness Stakes record at 1:53, although he wasn’t credited with the record until a 2012 meeting of the Maryland Racing Commission. Smarty Jones owns the record for margin of victory with a 11 1/2 length victory in 2004. Trainer Bob Baffert has won the Preakness Stakes eight times, most recently in 2023.

Who won the 2023 Preakness Stakes?

In 2023, National Treasure won the Preakness Stakes by a head over Blazing Sevens. National Treasure was 4-1 on the morning line odds. Mage, the 2023 Kentucky Derby winner, finished third.

What is the weather forecast for the 2024 Preakness Stakes?

The forecast for Saturday calls for a high of 66 degrees and a low of 58 degrees. The bigger news is there’s an 80 percent chance of rain on Saturday throughout the day with an accumulation of around half an inch.

How can I watch and stream the 2024 Preakness Stakes?

Television coverage for the 2024 Preakness Stakes starts at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Preliminary coverage starts at 1:30 p.m. on CNBC. All coverage can also be streamed on Peacock.

Who is the favorite for the 2024 Preakness Stakes?

Mystik Dan is the 5-2 favorite for the 2024 Preakness Stakes. Muth, who is trained by Bob Baffert, was the morning line favorite when the post positions were drawn on Monday evening, but Muth scratched due to a high-fever.

Catching Freedom (6-1) and Imagination (6-1) have the second best odds.

What does morning line mean?

It is the first set of odds, released after the post positions were announced. Horse racing is parimutuel betting, meaning you can buy a ticket on the horse you want to win (or place or show, etc) but the odds are going to fluctuate up until the start of the race and eventually land on final odds as the horses go off, based on what everyone else is betting. In regular sports betting, you can buy a ticket at 5-to-1 odds and even if it’s down to 2-to-1 by the start of the game, your bet will pay out at 5-to-1. In horse racing, those 5-to-1 odds moving to 2-to-1 means you get stuck with those 2-to-1 odds like everyone else, no matter when the ticket was purchased (but, on the bright side, the odds can always go in the other direction, too).

What is the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes?

The Black-Eyed Susan Stakes is held on the Friday before the Preakness at Pimlico. It puts the best 3-year-old fillies against each other. The event is a Grade II race and offers $300,000 purse. It will stream starting at 4:30 p.m. ET Friday on Peacock.

How does betting on the Preakness Stakes work?

There are many different ways to bet on the Preakness Stakes, and it can be confusing to understand what an exacta, trifecta and superfecta are. It’s also confusing on how actually to place a bet on them.

The easiest way is to bet on the winner of the race. We explained all of the different types of horse racing bets here.

(Top photo: Rob Carr / Getty Images)