Jockey Tyler Gaffalione made his debut in the Preakness Stakes in 2019 and achieved instant glory, riding War of Will to victory. He has been unable to return to the winner’s circle, however, after he finished eighth with both Thousand Words in 2020 and Happy Jack in 2022. Gaffalione will make another attempt at his second win when he guides Tuscan Gold in the 2024 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday. The 29-year-old nearly won his second Triple Crown race earlier this month, but Sierra Leone lost by a nose to Mystik Dan in the Kentucky Derby. Tuscan Gold, who finished third in the Louisiana Derby in March, is 9-2 and Mystik Dan is the 8-5 favorite in the 2024 Preakness Stakes odds. Catching Freedom (7-2) and Imagination (3-1) round out the top four 2024 Preakness Stakes horses.
Post time for the second leg of the Triple Crown is 7:01 p.m. ET. With an accomplished field set to enter the starting gate on Saturday, you’ll want to see what SportsLine writer Gene Menez has to say before making any Preakness Stakes picks or horse racing predictions, given the success he had in last year’s race.
A former reporter and editor at Sports Illustrated, Menez covered an array of sports, including horse racing, for the magazine and its website for almost 14 years. Between 2010 and 2012, he served as SI’s handicapper for the Triple Crown races and correctly predicted Super Saver to win the Kentucky Derby in 2010.
In 2015, while writing for Sports on Earth, Menez accurately gave out the Kentucky Derby superfecta (American Pharoah, Firing Line, Dortmund and Frosted), which paid $1,268.20 for $2. Then in 2017, he tweeted out his Kentucky Derby picks, including Always Dreaming to win, and hit the Pick 4, which paid almost $6,900 on a $1 bet.
In a span of seven races last year for SportsLine, he cashed the winner of the Lecomte Stakes, the exacta in the Southwest Stakes, the winner of the Holy Bull Stakes, the winner of the Sam F. Davis Stakes, and the trifecta in the Jenny Wiley Stakes. Most importantly, he correctly called National Treasure to win last year’s Preakness.
For Saturday, Menez has handicapped the 2024 Preakness Stakes field, made his picks and constructed his best bets. You can head to SportsLine now to see them.
Top 2024 Preakness Stakes predictions
One surprise: Menez is completely tossing Mystik Dan, even though he is the Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness 2024 favorite. There are several 2024 Preakness Stakes horses capable of giving Mystik Dan a strong challenge for the win, including Just Steel. Trained by Hall-of-Famer D. Wayne Lukas, Just Steel was 17th in the Kentucky Derby, but finished second in his previous three starts and crossed the finish line ahead of Mystik Dan in two of them.
A lack of rest also could be a problem for Mystik Dan. The only other time the colt had only two weeks between starts occurred in November, when he posted his first career win at Churchill Downs and finished a distant fifth at the same track 13 days later. “To me, this is a red flag,” Menez told SportsLine. Menez will not be using Mystik Dan in any of his wagers. You can see all of Menez’s 2024 Preakness Stakes bets here.
How to make 2024 Preakness Stakes picks
Moreover, Menez’s top pick is a horse who is “set up to run a career-best race.” He also is high on a double-digit longshot who should “come running late.” He is including these horses in his wagers, and so should you. He’s sharing which horses to back at SportsLine.
So who wins Preakness Stakes 149? What double-digit longshot has a big chance, and how has Menez constructed his wagers? Visit SportsLine to see Menez’s picks for the Preakness Stakes, all from the expert who nailed last year’s winner, and find out.
