05/18/24 06:35:00
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05/18 18:31 CDT Seize the Grey wins the Preakness for D. Wayne Lukas and ends
Mystik Dan's Triple Crown bid
Seize the Grey wins the Preakness for D. Wayne Lukas and ends Mystik Dan's
Triple Crown bid
By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Sports Writer
Seize the Grey went wire to wire to win the Preakness Stakes on Saturday,
giving 88-year-old Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas a seventh victory in the
race and ending Mystik Dan's Triple Crown bid.
The gray colt took advantage of the muddy track just as Lukas hoped he would,
pulling off the upset in a second consecutive impressive start two weeks after
romping in a race on the Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. Seize the Grey
went off at 9-1, one of the longest shots on the board, moved out to the lead
and never looked back.
"I thought his action down the backside was beautiful, and I knew that he was
handling the track," Lukas said. "I said, ?Watch out, he's not going to quick.'"
Mystik Dan finished second in the field of eight horses running in the $2
million, 1 3/16-mile race. After falling short of going back to back following
his win by a nose in the Kentucky Derby, it would be a surprise if he runs in
the Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga Race Course.
"My colt's a fantastic colt and proud of him," trainer Kenny McPeek said. "It
just wasn't his day, but he'll live to race again."
Seize the Grey was a surprise Preakness winner facing tougher competition than
in the Pat Day Mile on May 4. Though given the Lukas connection, it should
never be a surprise when one of his horses is covered in a blanket of
Black-Eyed Susan flowers.
No one in the race's 149-year history has saddled more horses in the Preakness
than Lukas with 48 since debuting in 1980. He had two this time, with Just
Steel finishing fifth, but Seize the Grey --- owned by thousands of investors
involved in the MyRacehorse group --- delivered the victory.
"Can you imagine how many people are going to relish in this and enjoy it?"
Lukas said. "I mean I don't even know how many people own this horse. I don't
know. It's a lot of people, I know that."
Lukas has now won the Preakness seven times, one short of the record held by
two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer and close friend Bob Baffert, whose
Imagination finished seventh. Baffert was also supposed to have two horses in
the field and arguably the best, but morning line favorite Muth was scratched
earlier in the week because of a fever.
"I think they're trying to get rid of me," Lukas said. "They probably want me
to retire. I don't think that'll happen. It never gets old at this level, and I
love the competition. I love to get in here with the rest of them."
Muth's absence made Mystik Dan the 2-1 favorite, but he and jockey Brian
Hernandez Jr. could not replicate their perfect Derby trip to win that race's
first three-way photo finish since 1947. Instead, Jaime Torres rode Seize the
Grey to a win in his first Triple Crown race of any kind.
"I have no words," said Torres, a native of Puerto Rico who did not begin
racing until seeing it on TV in late 2019. "I'm very excited, very excited and
very thankful to all the people that have been behind me, helping me."
This was the last Preakness held at Pimlico Race Course as it stands before
demolition begins on the historic but deteriorating track, which will still
hold the 150th running of it next year mid-construction.
That process is already well underway at Belmont Park, which is why the final
leg of the Triple Crown is happening at Saratoga for the first time and is
being shortened to 1 1/4 miles because of the shape of the course. Kentucky
Derby second-place finisher Sierra Leone, a half step from winning, is expected
to headline that field.
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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
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