McPeek: ‘If I had a do-over,’ no Preakness for Mystik Dan

Trainer Kenny McPeek said Friday that if he could run back 2024, he would not have raced his Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan in the Preakness.

“If I could have a do-over, I wouldn’t have gone last year,” McPeek said on the Tony Kornheiser Show podcast. “I think it was a mistake on my part.”

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Speaking by phone from Kentucky, McPeek said Mystik Dan was spent after finishing first in the Derby, second in the Preakness and eighth in the Belmont Stakes. The Goldencents colt who finished second Saturday in the Lake Ouachita Stakes at Oaklawn was the only horse to run in all three Triple Crown races in 2024.

“He was taxed at the end of the three,” McPeek said. “He ran horrible in the Belmont. He made an effort, but he was over the top. Hindsight is 20-20 with a lot of these things. ... I wished I could have done it over, because it took a long time to get him back. He actually had a great race last weekend, but if I had skipped the Preakness, would my horse have been fresher and stronger and maybe not taken as much steam out of him for later in the year? I believe (so).”

Between the Triple Crown and the Lake Ouachita, Mystik Dan finished sixth in the Dec. 26 Malibu (G1) at Santa Anita and ninth in the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park. 

McPeek said he spoke with trainer Bill Mott about the decision not to run Sovereignty back in next weekend’s Preakness only two weeks after winning Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.

“He said, ‘Kenny, there’s no incentive. What’s the incentive to come back in two weeks?’ ” McPeek said. “He said years back, when Visa had the $5 million bonus, he said there was real incentive then. He doesn’t really get any pressure at all from Godolphin. Of course, that’s a fantastic outfit to work for. He just felt like coming back for the Belmont at Saratoga, this horse is based there, really knows that racecourse, I think he’s wise.”

McPeek said he would like to see the Triple Crown spread across the first Saturday of May, June and July. Before he saddled Render Judgment’s 17th-place finish in the Derby, McPeek knew Sovereignty would be a daunting rival.

“I actually thought this was the easiest Derby to handicap ever,” McPeek said. “I thought he was so easy to see that this horse could win. It wouldn’t surprise me if he went basically Belmont, maybe he runs a prep (like) the Jim Dandy (G2), comes back in the Travers (G1). It’s hard to say. But then it’s right on to the (Breeders’ Cup) Classic. This is a real serious horse.”