Seize the Grey upsets Preakness foes to give Lukas seventh win

MyRacehorse’s Seize the Grey made all the running in Saturday’s $2 million Preakness (G1), sprinting forward at the break to establish a clear early lead and dominating the rest of the way over a muddy track at Pimlico.

Overlooked as the 9.80-1 sixth choice in the eight-horse field, Seize the Grey provided Hall of Famer trainer D. Wayne Lukas with his seventh Preakness win and delivered Jamie Torres a coveted Grade 1 victory in his first Triple Crown mount.

“I thought when he was cruising down the backside, I turned to my wife and said, ‘I think we’re home free,’” Lukas said. “He was running over that ground so easy. I didn’t know how he’d handle (the track). It doesn’t get old. It’s still the same. In 1980, I (won with) the first one here I ever ran, and it still feels the same.”

Mystik Dan performed admirably following his Kentucky Derby (G1) upset two weeks earlier, coming up 2 1/4 lengths short after trying to reel in the pacesetter in upper stretch. Off as the 2.40-1 favorite, Mystik Dan gamely repelled Catching Freedom by a head for second late.

Seize the Grey, who was exiting his first stakes win, a gutsy score in the Pat Day Mile (G2) on the Kentucky Derby undercard, led by a half-length through an opening quarter-mile in :23.98 and stretched the lead to a couple of lengths while establishing splits :47.33, 1:11.95, and 1:37.53.

The gray son of Arrogate remained clear while drifting out late, finishing the 1 3/16 miles in 1:56.82.

Known as the “Coach,” Lukas became the oldest trainer to win a Triple Crown race. The most recent Lukas-trained Preakness winner, Oxbow, sprung a similar frontrunning upset in 2013, and the 88-year-old living legend also won with Charismatic (1999), Timber Country (1995), Tabasco Cat (1994), Tank’s Prospect (1985), and Codex (1980).

A $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling purchase, Kentucky-bred Seize the Grey is the third foal produced from the stakes-placed Smart Strike mare Smart Shopping, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Power Broker. The 11-year-old mare has a reported 2024 filly by Life is Good.

Seize the Grey broke his maiden the second time out over a sloppy track at Saratoga. After opening 2024 with an allowance win at Oaklawn Park in mid-February, he followed with a third in the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) at Turfway and seventh in the Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland.

The improving colt has now earned more than $1.8 million from a 10-4-0-3 record.

Catching Freedom, the 3.70-1 third choice, loomed a threat behind runners on the far turn but lacked the necessary finishing kick to offer a serious challenge in the final furlongs. It was another six lengths to Tuscan Gold in fourth, and next came Just Steel, Uncle Heavy, Imagination, and Mugatu.

Seize the Grey earned a shot at the final leg of the Triple Crown, the June 8 Belmont (G1), which will be contested over 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga this year. Lukas counts four editions of the Belmont among his 15 Triple Crown race wins.