Preakness Stakes 2018 weather: Justify wins through mud and fog

Rain and thunderstorms have ravaged Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, and more wetness and mud threaten to define the 143rd running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday evening. A run of fog didn’t make things any easier in Justify’s win.

Here’s how Justify won:

Here’s a look at what the scene was like earlier:

Justify is the overwhelming favorite to win the second leg of the Triple Crown, and Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic also highlights the eight-horse field at Pimlico.

Friday was full of rain for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, and more rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast all day Saturday. The Preakness Stakes has a scheduled post time of 6:48 p.m. ET.

Don Markus of the Baltimore Sun spoke Friday with Maryland Jockey Club track superintendent Chris Bosley, staked with keeping the 1 3/16-mile track safe on Saturday:

“It’s holding as well as you can expect to in these type of conditions,” Bosley said. “People ask you with this weather, what’s the condition of the track. It’s sloppy, but sloppy can mean a lot of different things. You run the floats over and it’ll pack it down, and it will keep a good bottom to it. Everything is about the horses. You try to make it as fair and as safe as you possibly can.”

“It’s not ideal track conditions, but we’re doing everything we can.”

Television coverage of the Preakness starts on NBCSN from 2:30-5 p.m., then NBC will take over from 5-7 p.m. ET. Online streaming available through NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.