BALTIMORE -- His father was a mudder. His mother was a mudder. Yes, this horse loves the slop.
No, Mystik Dan doesn't need a sloppy track -- or "Seinfeld" character Cosmo Kramer's comedic endorsement -- in the Preakness on Saturday because the Kentucky Derby winner has raced and thrived in all kinds of conditions. But after initial favorite Muth was scratched mid-week and with rain in the forecast potentially mucking up the dirt, Mystik Dan looks like the horse to beat in the second leg of the Triple Crown.
To win, he'll have to contend with Bob Baffert-trained Imagination, Brad Cox's Catching Freedom and others in the field of eight.
"It's not a given: We've got to run a good race," Mystik Dan trainer Kenny McPeek said Thursday.
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