Imagination was considered the "other Bob Baffert horse" entering Preakness week, playing second fiddle to his more heralded stablemate, Muth. But with the scratch of Muth on Wednesday, Imagination becomes Baffert's only hope to add to his record number of Preakness wins (eight). To do so, Imagination will need a career-best effort against the toughest field he has ever faced.
9 Imagination (6-1)
- Trainer Bob Baffert
- Jockey Frankie Dettori
- Last race Second in the Santa Anita Derby by a neck
- Career record 6 starts: 2 wins, 4 seconds
- Career earnings $406,800
- Best career Beyer Speed Figure 96 (2024 San Felipe Stakes)
- Sire Into Mischief
What to know about Imagination
If you're looking for a horse to most likely finish in the exacta, perhaps that horse is Imagination. In six career starts, he has never finished outside of the top two, earning two wins and four seconds.
But what exactly has Imagination been facing? Two starts ago, he had his best career performance, winning the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes by a head over Wine Me Up, a horse who has not won since breaking his maiden in September. Maybe the best horse Imagination has faced is Stronghold, who beat Imagination by a neck in the Santa Anita Derby. Stronghold finished a well-beaten seventh in the Kentucky Derby. (Because of trainer Bob Baffert's suspension at Churchill Downs, Imagination was ineligible to run in Louisville.)
Imagination also has a bad habit of keeping other horses in the race. Four of his last five races were decided by a neck or shorter. The best horses typically run away from their competition, and Imagination certainly does not do that.
But his early speed fits nicely in a Preakness Stakes that, on paper, does not have much speed. With Muth's scratch from the race on Wednesday, Imagination could very well be the one setting the pace or, at the worst, pressing it from the two-path.
Supporters of Imagination will like that he is coming off a sharp six-furlong workout with Muth on May 10. Very little separated the pair in that drill, which suggests that Imagination could be sitting on a career-best effort. But will it be enough against the best field he has ever faced?
Post draw analysis
Imagination arguably has the best early speed in the race, which makes the far outside draw interesting. Does jockey Frankie Dettori drag race from the start to get to the front and risk tiring out Imagination early? Or does Dettori allow Seize the Grey or Just Steel go the lead and let Imagination sit off him? Either way, the scratch of Muth dramatically helps his cause.
