D Wayne Lukas worked his way into Seize the Gray after his horse won the Preakness Stakes and kept getting interrupted by congratulations.
“I think they’re trying to get rid of me,” Lukas said. “They probably want me to retire. I don’t think that will happen.”
Not if the 88-year-old Hall of Fame trainer continues to win big races.
Seize the Gray ended Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan’s Triple Crown bid on Saturday by going wire-to-wire to win the Preakness, giving Lukas his seventh win of the race, one shy of the record friend Bob Baffert.
‘I’m just one behind him. I already warned him,” Lukas said. “It never gets boring at this level and I love the competition. I enjoy coming here with the rest.”
The stout gray colt took advantage of the muddy track, just as Lukas had hoped, making a second consecutive impressive start, two weeks after racing on the Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. Going off at 9-1 as one of the longest shots on the board, Seize the Gray immediately moved into the lead out of the starting gate and never looked back, finishing in 1:56.82.
“I loved his action from the back and I knew he was driving on the track,” Lukas said. “I said, ‘Watch out, he won’t stop.'”
Mystik Dan finished second in the field of eight horses that ran in the $2 million, one-and-three-sixteenths mile race. After failing to go back-to-back following his victory by a nose in the Kentucky Derby, it would be a surprise if he competes in the Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga Race Course.
“My foal is a fantastic colt and I am proud of him,” said trainer Kenny McPeek. “It just wasn’t his day, but he will live to race.”
Seize the Gray was a surprise Preakness winner who faced tougher competition than he did in the Pat Day Mile on May 4. Although given the Lukas connection, it should never be a surprise if 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 and winning it with Codex. He had two in this time, with Just Steel finishing fifth, but Seize the Gray – owned by 2,570 people involved in the MyRacehorse group – secured the win.
“I just couldn’t be happier for each and every one of them,” said Michael Behrens, founder and CEO of MyRacehorse. “We had great expectations, but this exceeds all those expectations.”
Seize the Gray paid $21.60 to win, $8.40 to post and $4.40 to show. Mystik Dan paid $4.20 and $2.80, while third-place Catching Freedom paid $3.20 to show.
Baffert, who was looking for a record-extending ninth Preakness victory, was set to have two horses in the field, but morning line favorite Muth was scratched earlier this week due to a fever. Baffert’s Imagination finished seventh.
“He’s still learning,” Baffert said. “I think we are learning his style. I saw a lot today that I can change in the future. I don’t think he wants to run like that. We didn’t really have a plan. We thought it was going to be Wayne or us.”
Muth’s absence made Mystik Dan the 2-1 favorite, but he and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. were unable to repeat their perfect Derby trip, winning that race’s first triple photo finish since 1947. Instead, Jaime Torres rode Seize the Gray to a victory. in his first Triple Crown race of any kind, just two years after he started driving.
“I have no words,” said Torres, a Puerto Rico native who didn’t start racing until he saw it on TV in late 2019. “I’m very excited, very excited and very grateful for all the people who have stood behind me, helping me.”
This was the last Preakness held at the Pimlico Race Course as it stands today before demolition begins on the historic but deteriorating track, which is still set to host its 150th running next year midway through construction.
That process is already well underway in Belmont Park. That’s why the final stage of the Triple Crown will take place in Saratoga for the first time and will be shortened to one mile due to the shape of the course. Second-place Kentucky Derby Sierra Leone, a half-step away from victory, is expected to headline that field, although Lukas said he would wait to see if Seize the Gray would also run.