Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan will run in the $2 million Preakness Stakes next Saturday at Pimlico, trainer Ken McPeek confirmed Saturday. Mystik Dan was scheduled to arrive at Pimlico by mid-afternoon Sunday after leaving Churchill Downs by van at 5 a.m. Sunday, McPeek said. Mystik Dan will be accompanied on the trip by fellow 3-year-old Gould’s Gold, who is being pointed to the Sir Barton Stakes on the Preakness undercard. In the days immediately following Mystik Dan’s nose victory over Sierra Leone in last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, McPeek was non-committal about running back in two weeks in the Preakness. But after watching the horse gallop Saturday at Churchill – his fourth straight morning of training following the Derby – and having the under horse undergo a blood test and an endoscopic examination, McPeek announced his intention to run. :: DRF's Preakness Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, and more “This goes back to the lesson learned from Tejano Run years ago,” McPeek said, referring to the 1995 Kentucky Derby runner-up who ran ninth in the Preakness. “He was a horse who ran second in the Derby. In hindsight, as a young trainer, I shouldn’t have gone [to the Preakness]. In hindsight, he was a little dehydrated, I ended up going there and running bad. “I scoped this colt this morning, he’s clean as a pen,” McPeek added. “Drew blood and there were no inflammation markers, his bloodwork was perfect. We threw his feed in and he drilled it, that’s a good sign.” Mystik Dan will be trying to become the first Kentucky Derby winner to win the Preakness since Justify did it in 2018 on his way to winning the Triple Crown. At Belmont Saturday morning, Tuscan Gold, who figures to be one of Mystik Dan’s main challengers in the Preakness, worked a half-mile in 49.78 seconds, according to Daily Racing Form. Tuscan Gold, trained by Chad Brown, worked in company with and inside of 2023 Preakness runner-up Blazing Sevens. DRF clockers timed Tuscan Gold in splits of 12.84 seconds and 24.74 while catching him out six furlongs in 1:15.07 over a track that was probably on the good side of fast. “I though the horse worked great, I thought he galloped out really big, I was very happy with the way horse galloped out and came back to the barn,” Brown said. “He looked strong to me.” Tuscan Gold, a son of Medaglia d’Oro, has one win from three starts. He is coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Catching Freedom. Tuscan Gold wintered in Florida and trained at the Payson Park training center where he breezed four times following the Louisiana Derby. Tuscan Gold shipped to New York in late April and Brown has been impressed with his two breezes at Belmont. Brown scratched Tuscan Gold from Saturday’s Grade 3 Peter Pan just one day after entering him. “He’s always been a solid work horse, steady, strong gallop outs, not snappy,” said Brown, who won the Preakness in 2017 with Cloud Computing and 2022 with Early Voting. “Last week, the work was above average for him. Our first instinct was right with [running in] the Preakness. … I just hope he gets a better trip in the Preakness than he did in the Louisiana Derby.” At Belterra Park in Ohio Saturday, Mugatu, fifth in the Blue Grass Stakes, worked five furlongs in 59.60 seconds, according to trainer Jeff Engler. “He did it easy, by himself, just looked great, stride looked great, came back great,” Engler said. “Everything was good. We’re set, we’re ready to roll.” At Parx, in Bensalem, Pa, Uncle Heavy worked a half-mile in 47.34 seconds by himself. “He went really well,” trainer Butch Reid said. “He’s been very sharp lately, we didn’t want him in company. He went nice and easy the first part and finished really strong. Came back couldn’t blow out a match and only took a couple of sips of water.” Reid said Uncle Heavy will ship Tuesday morning along with others he plans to run at Pimlico including potentially Jeanne Marie in Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan. As of Saturday, there were eight confirmed starters for the Preakness – Imagination (Frankie Dettori), Just Steel (Joel Rosario), Mugatu (Joe Bravo), Muth (Juan Hernandez), Mystik Dan (Brian Hernandez Jr.) Seize the Grey (Jaime Torres), Tuscan Gold (Tyler Gaffalione), and Uncle Heavy (Irad Ortiz Jr.). Catching Freedom, fourth in the Kentucky Derby, and Copper Tax, winner of the Federico Tesio, are still considered possible. The post position for the Preakness will take place Monday afternoon in downtown Baltimore. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.