Just Steel goes around for the Coach at Churchill Downs. (Jenny Doyle/Past The Wire)
David Joseph/Maryland Jockey Club
BALTIMORE, Md. – It’s a rare spring that Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas misses out on Preakness Weekend at Pimlico, but the spring of 2023 was one. However, the transformative trainer will be back this year with two horses in the 149th Preakness (G1) May 18, one in the 100th Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3-year-old fillies and possibly others for undercard stakes.
The Churchill Downs-based Lukas expects to run both his Pat Day Mile (G2) winner Seize the GreyandJust Steel, who was part of a strong pace in the Kentucky Derby (G1) before weakening to 17th, in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness. He said Lemon Muffin, winner of Oaklawn Park’s Honeybee (G3) earlier in the year, is on course to run back in the $300,000 Black-Eyed Susan on Preakness Eve.
“It’s a wonderful, wonderful event,” Lukas said of the stakes-packed weekend at Old Hilltop. “Really, of all of them (Triple Crown races), it’s probably the most enjoyable. Not as pressure packed. Everything about it is nice.”
MyRacehorse’s Seize the Grey earned his first stakes victory with a stalking, 1 ¼-length victory over favored Nash in Saturday’s Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs. Just Steel earned his Kentucky Derby berth with a second-place finish in the Arkansas Derby (G1) behind the Bob Baffert-trained probable Preakness favorite Muth, with Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan finishing third that day.
“I don’t think any the less of him off his last race,” Lukas said of Just Steel, who is owned by BC Stables LLC and Henry Schmueckle. “Seize the Grey obviously was impressive. The other horse went way too quick the first half-mile, the first quarter, actually. I think you’ve got to give him another chance and look at (the Preakness). I’m counting on getting a good race out of him. The favorite is probably going to be Baffert’s horse, and we were very contentious with him the last time. We can’t be too far off a good effort.”
Seize the Grey (#5) scoring the Pat Day Mile. (Jenny Doyle/Past The Wire)
He said running back in two weeks is not ideal, but the risk/reward ratio makes sense for a horse that is doing well.
“It depends on the horse, his physical status, of course, and the way they respond to a two-week rest,” Lukas said. “None of us as trainers think the two weeks (spacing) is perfect. I’ve had good luck with it in the past. My horses have responded well, and I see no reason why these two won’t either.”
Five of Lukas’ six Preakness winners ran in the Derby, the most recent Oxbow, who was sixth at Churchill Downs in 2013. His only Preakness winner who didn’t contest the Derby was his first, Codex, in 1980. Back then, each Triple Crown race had its own nominating procedures, and Codex was not nominated to the Derby.
Lemon Muffin finished eighth over a sloppy, sealed track in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) after breaking last in the 14-horse field.
“We’re going to try to get a real positive trip like we got in the Honeybee,” Lukas said. “I don’t think she cared for the racetrack, frankly. You try to find a reason why they don’t run to your expectations, and you try to analyze it and don’t penalize them for a bad race here and there when the track was like that. I thought we’d give her another chance.”
Join the Coach at the Alibi Breakfast Thursday, May 16 to ‘Boast, Toast and Roast!’
The Alibi Breakfast features an annual gathering of horsemen and media to celebrate the Preakness and to solicit interesting race predications. It has also become an opportunity for the Maryland Jockey Club to recognize those who have made significant contributions to the racing industry. Click for tickets.
