BALTIMORE (CBS/AP) – Seize the Gray went wire-to-wire on Saturday to win the Preakness Stakes, giving 88-year-old Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas a seventh win of the race and ending the Triple Crown bid from Mystik Dan .
The gray colt took advantage of the muddy track just as Lukas had hoped, handling the upset in a second consecutive impressive start two weeks after romping in a race on the Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. Seize the Gray went off at 9-1, one of the longest shots on the board.
Mystik Dan finished second in the field of eight horses competing in the $2 million, 1 3/16-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.
Seize the Gray is a surprise winner, but don’t bet against Lukas
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 since his debut in 1980 than Lukas with 48. This time he had two, with Just Steel finishing fifth.
Lukas has now won the Preakness seven times, one shy of the record held by two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer and close friend Bob Baffert, whose Imagination finished seventh. Baffert would also have two horses in the field and perhaps the best, but morning line favorite Muth was scratched earlier this week due to fever.
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 Preakness.
This was the last Preakness held at the Pimlico Race Course as it previously appeared the demolition begins at the historic but deteriorating circuit, which will still hold its 150th edition next year, halfway 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 1 1/4 miles 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.
What is preakness?
The 1 3/16-mile race is the middle jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown, which begins with the Kentucky Derby and ends with the Belmont Stakes. The event started on May 18 at 10:30 am at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.
The $2 million Preakness Stakes was the 13th of 14 races scheduled for Saturday at Pimlico.
Friday was the 150th Susan Day with black eyes, a running race for 3-year-old fillies. The event has long been hailed in Baltimore as “Ladies Day Out.” Gun song won the fillies race, where Corposo was defeated by 3 1/4 lengths.
