Horse racing fans may have been hoping for a Triple Crown run this year by Mystik Dan after that horse won the Kentucky Derby, but Seize the Grey and legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas were not about to have any part of that story. Seize the Grey took the lead at the start and battled hard when challenged by Mystik Dan and won the Preakness Stakes.
Seize the Grey earned his victory by going wire to wire on the muddy track at Pimlico Race Course. The 9-1 shot was able to run on the inside portion of the track and gain a comfortable footing, which was just what Lukas wanted to see from his charge. Seize the Grey was able to save ground as a result of the route he took. The 88-year-old Lukas is the oldest trainer to win the Preakness.
Mystik Dan also stayed on the rail through much of the race, and that’s just what he did in the Kentucky Derby when he rallied to win that classic race. He made up ground along the far turn and had Seize the Grey in his sights when when he reached the top of the stretch, but Seize the Grey had more than enough stamina to hold on for the win.
The 1 3/16th-mile race is slightly shorter than the Kentucky Derby, which is contested at 1 1/4 miles. The stretch run at Pimlico is considerably shorter than the home stretch at Churchill Downs.
Seize the Grey had earned his position with a win on the Kentucky Derby undercard
A couple of weeks ago, Seize the Grey was a competitor in the Pat Day Mile on Derby Day at Churchill Downs. He won that race and that gave Lukas the impetus to enter him in the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
Lukas has won the Preakness seven times, one short of the record held by Bob Baffert. That trainer was scheduled to have two horses in the field. However, Baffert had to scratch Muth, the best of those horses because he had a fever in the middle of the week.
Mystik Dan was the 2-1 favorite in the race, and if he had been able to pass Seize the Grey and win the race, the sport would have had an opportunity to have another Triple Crown winner. However, the loss means that the Derby winner has not been victorious in the second jewel of the Triple Crown for six consecutive years.
Seize the Grey was ridden by jockey Jaime Torres, who was riding in his first Triple Crown race. Torres has made an incredibly quick march up the ladder to prominence. He was in jockey school just two years ago and now he has his first Triple Crown victory in his first attempt.
It is not known if Seize the Grey or Mystik Dan will compete in the Belmont Stakes in June. That race is normally held at Belmont Park, but it has been shifted to Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York because of construction at Belmont.
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