Seize the Gray crosses the finish line first at the Preakness Stakes, ending Mystik Dan’s run for the Triple Crown

BALTIMORE (CBS/AP) – Seize the Gray went wire-to-wire to win the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, giving Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, 88, a seventh victory in the race and ending to Mystik Dan’s Triple Crown bid. .

The gray colt took advantage of the muddy track as Lukas hoped, pulling off the surprise in a second consecutive impressive start two weeks after running wild in a race on the Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. Seize the Gray went 9-1, one of the longest shots on the board.

Mystik Dan finished second in the eight-horse field competing in the $2 million, 1 3/16-mile race. After failing to come back in a row following his victory 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.

Seize the Grey, a surprise winner, but don’t bet against Lukas

Seize the Gray was a surprise winner in the Preakness against tougher competition than in the Pat Day Mile on May 4. Although given the connection with Lukas, it should never come as 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 his debut in 1980. He had two this time, with Just Steel finishing fifth.

Lukas has now won the Preakness seven times, one shy of the record held by trainer and close friend Bob Baffert, a two-time Triple Crown winner, 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 due to fever.

“You look at him, he’s just brave and he’s constantly improving. He didn’t even make the derby – he was like a third alternate,” Seize the Gray co-owner Eric Barger told WJZ. “They ran him at the Pat Day Mile and he won and that was a little overwhelming, too. And then they brought him here and we’re so excited.”

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 this race’s first three-way photo finish since 1947. Instead, Jaime Torres rode Seize the Gray to victory. in his first Preakness.

This was the last Preakness held at Pimlico Race Course as it previously stood. demolition begins on the historic but deteriorating track, which will still organize its 150th circulation next year, mid-construction.

That process is already well underway at Belmont Park, which is why the final leg of the Triple Crown is being held for the first time at Saratoga and shortened to 1 1/4 miles due to the shape of the course. Sierra Leone, second place in the Kentucky Derby, half a step away from victory, should headline this field.

What is the Preakness?

The 1 3/16-mile race is the middle jewel of the Triple Crown of horse racing, which begins with the Kentucky Derby and ends with the Belmont Stakes. The event began at 10:30 a.m. on May 18 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.

The $2 million Preakness Stakes was the 13th of 14 races scheduled at Pimlico on Saturday.

Friday marked the 150th Black-eyed Susan Day, a race for 3-year-old fillies. The event has long been hailed as “Ladies Day Out” in Baltimore. Gun Song won the fillies’ race, beating Corposo by 3 1/4 lengths.