The Preakness Stakes field is getting shaken up as one of the top horses won't be running. Trainer Bob Baffert announced on Wednesday that his horse, Muth, the morning-line favorite in the 2024 Preakness Stakes, has been scratched from the race due a spiked temperature.
Muth registered a temperature of 103 degrees when the horse arrived at Pimlico in Baltimore on Tuesday evening.
"We are sick about this. The horse had been doing really well," Baffert said. "But we have to do what's right by the horse."
Muth debuted at Santa Anita on June 18 last year and won that particular race. The horse also finished second in the Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 13 and won the American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 7.
Muth's biggest claim to fame is winning the Arkansas Derby on March 30.
The three-year old colt was the 8/5 favorite to win the Preakness Stakes with Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan close behind at 5/2. Without Muth now in the field at Pimlico, the Preakness Stakes field is down to just eight horses.
Muth was also scratched from a race in the past as he was scratched from 2023's Hopeful at Saratoga on Sept. 4.
As a trainer, Baffert has won the Preakness Stakes on eight different occasions. Baffert's horses were ineligible from running at the Kentucky Derby due to a ban from Churchill Downs.
Which horse wins the Preakness Stakes, where does Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan finish, and which dark-horse is a must-back? Visit SportsLine to see Jody 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.
