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Seize the Grey and Jaime Torres capture the Preakness (Anika Miskar/Past The Wire)
David Joseph/Maryland Jockey Club
BALTIMORE – MyRacehorse’s Seize the Grey stole the day for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas Saturday at Pimlico Race Course, delivering a seventh career Preakness Stakes (G1) for the 88-year-old trainer.
“It doesn’t get old. It’s still the same. In 1980, I had the first one here I ever ran, and it still feels the same,” said Lukas, whose first Preakness win came in his 1980 debut with Codex. He also won with Tank’s Prospect (1985), Tabasco Cat (1994), Timber Country (1995), Charismatic (1999) and Oxbow (2013).
Seize the Grey, owned by 2570 shareholders in MyRacehorse, broke sharply from the starting gate to take a lead he would never relinquish on his way to a 2 ¼-length triumph over Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan in the 149th running of the $2 million Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
“Isn’t that something, to make that many people happy? It’s a helluva concept. It really is. To see that many people happy in racing is really special,” Lukas said. “I’m happy, but I love the fact I could make them happy.”
The Preakness Stakes, a 1 3/16-mile classic for 3-year-olds, headlined Saturday’s 14-race blockbuster program that offered nine stakes, five graded, worth $3.3 million in purses.
Lukas, who has saddled the winners of 4,930 races and more than $295 million in purses, is the winner of 15 races in the Triple Crown series. The four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer, who still gets up on his pony during morning training hours, was inducted into Thoroughbred Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1999 for producing many, many moments like Seize the Grey’s 9-1 upset victory over a muddy track at Pimlico Race Course.
Seize the Gray, who won the Pat Day Mile (G2) on the May 4 Kentucky Derby (G1) undercard at Churchill Downs, set solid fractions of 23.98 and 47.33 seconds for the first half mile under jockey Jaime Torres, who was participating in his first Triple Crown race. Imagination, who was saddled by eight-time Preakness winner Bob Baffert, was closest in pursuit along the front stretch and around the first turn followed by Lukas’ other trainee Just Steel. Mystik Dan, ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., saved ground in fifth before slowly advancing on the backstretch.
Seize the Grey continued to lead by open lengths along the backstretch as Imagination weakened and Mystik Dan and Catching Freedom loomed as the most serious dangers to the Lukas trainee. The son of Arrogate, however, would seemingly get stronger as he went in the stretch before crossing the finish line with speed to spare. Mystik Dan was unable to pose a serious threat while finishing along the inside but the 5-2 favorite was able to hold off Catching Freedom by a head.
“He ran good. Wayne’s amazing. What can you say? Stolen on the front. He said he was going to go,” Mystik Dan’s trainer Kenny McPeek said. “I think Brian made the right move. Obviously, speed held. That’s why they call it horse racing, right?”
Seize the Grey, who brought a record of one win and a third on wet tracks into the Preakness, ran 1 3/16 miles in 1:56.82.
Lukas said he would wait 48 hours before deciding if Seize the Grey would run in the June 8 Belmont Stakes (G1), the third jewel of the Triple Crown that will be run at Saratoga.
Tuscan Gold ran fourth, followed by Just Steel, Uncle Heavy, Imagination and Mugatu.
A syndicate that sells micro-shares in the horses it buys, MyRacehorse offered a total of 5,000 shares in Seize the Gray for $127 a share, which sold out in a matter of weeks. Seize the Grey’s ownership group numbers 2,570 people from 42 states including 48 from Maryland.
Seize the Grey’s ownership group will be eligible to win a $5 million bonus, should the Preakness winner go on to win the $1 million California Crown (G1) Sept. 28 at Santa Anita and the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 25, 2025 at Gulfstream Park.
