2024 Preakness Stakes horses, futures, odds, date: Expert who hit last year’s superfecta divulges picks

The 2024 Preakness Stakes will mark the 149th Run for the Black-Eyed Susans and the middle jewel of the Triple Crown is often one of the most difficult to predict. At 1 3/16 miles, it’s shorter than the Kentucky Derby (1 1/4 miles) and well shorter than the Belmont Stakes (1 1/2), but the two-week turnaround is a challenge for Derby runners. The 2024 Preakness Stakes field is made up of three horses that competed in the Kentucky Derby and six 2024 Preakness Stakes horses that will make their Triple Crown debuts. Bob Baffert horses weren’t eligible to run in the Kentucky Derby, but he’ll have a pair of 2024 Preakness Stakes entries as he tries to win his ninth Preakness Stakes on Saturday.

Arkansas Derby winner Muth is the 8-5 favorite in the 2024 Preakness Stakes odds, while Santa Anita Derby runner-up Imagination is 6-1. The 2024 Preakness Stakes post time is 7:01 p.m. ET. Before making any 2024 Preakness Stakes picks, be sure to see the horse racing predictions and futures bets from SportsLine’s elite horse racing expert Jody Demling.

A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling enters the 2024 Kentucky Derby having nailed the winner of the Belmont Stakes four of the last six years, including an exacta in 2022 with Mo Donegal and Nest. He also called Flightline’s win at the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November of that year. 

Demling is at his best in the biggest horse races in the world like the Preakness Stakes 2024. In fact, he has hit 11 of the last 16 Derby-Oaks doubles at Churchill Downs. He’s also called 10 of the last 19 Preakness winners, including nailing his Preakness winner, exacta, trifecta and superfecta picks in 2023. He keenly understands when the Kentucky Derby winner was poised for victory or a massive upset in the second leg of the Triple Crown. Anyone who has followed him is up huge.

Now, with the 2024 Preakness Stakes quickly approaching, Demling is sharing his picks and 2024 Preakness Stakes predictions over at SportsLine. Go here to see them.

Top 2024 Preakness Stakes predictionsOne of Demling’s surprising 2024 Preakness Stakes picks: He is high on Catching Freedom, even though he’s a 6-1 longshot. The Louisiana Derby winner went into the Kentucky Derby as the third favorite at 8-1 and wound up finishing fourth, 1 3/4 lengths behind a three-way photo finish. Sire Constitution was a Florida Derby winner who likely would have been a factor in that year’s Triple Crown races if not for an injury, and damsire Pioneerof the Nile was a four-time graded stakes winner who ran second in the 2009 Kentucky Derby.

Trainer Brad Cox was initially hesitant to run the horse back at Pimlico, but he was impressed by his recovery and ultimately the decision was made to enter him into the 2024 Preakness Stakes field. Cox has won the Kentucky Derby (2021), Belmont Stakes (2021) and Breeders’ Cup Classic (2021). Jockey Flavien Prat won the 2021 Preakness Stakes on Rombauer and he’ll look to guide Catching Freedom into a position to use his closing speed after drawing the No. 3 post. See which other horses to back at SportsLine.

How to make 2024 Preakness Stakes picks, bets Demling is especially high a dark-horse who could have a leg-up on the competition because of extra rest. Demling is sharing which horse it is, and his surprising prediction for Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan, along with his entire projected 2024 Preakness Stakes leaderboard, over at SportsLine.

Which horse wins the Preakness Stakes 2024, and which dark-horse is a must-back? Check out the latest 2024 Preakness Stakes odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Demling’s picks for the Preakness Stakes, all from the expert who nailed 11 Derby-Oaks doubles and hit last year’s Preakness Stakes superfecta.

2024 Preakness Stakes odds, futures, horsesPrg #HorseOddsProjections1Mugatu20-1SEE PICKS2Uncle Heavy20-1SEE PICKS3Catching Freedom6-1SEE PICKS4Muth8-5SEE PICKS5Mystik Dan5-2SEE PICKS6Seize The Grey15-1SEE PICKS7Just Steel 15-1SEE PICKS8Tuscan Gold8-1SEE PICKS9Imagination6-1SEE PICKS