Catherine Rusoff
BALTIMORE (CBS/AP) – Seize the Gray went wire-to-wire to win the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, giving 88-year-old Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas a seventh victory in the race and ending his Triple bid. Mystik Dan’s Crown.
The gray colt took advantage of the muddy track exactly as Lukas had hoped, pulling off the comeback in an impressive second consecutive start, two weeks after running in a race on the Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. Seize the Gray came out 9-1, one of the longest throws on the board.
Mystik Dan finished second in the eight-horse field running in the $2 million, 1 3/16-mile race. After failing to come back 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.
Enjoy Gray as a surprise winner, but don’t bet against Lukas
Seize the Gray was a surprise winner of the Preakness facing stiffer competition than in the Pat Day Mile on May 4. Though given Lukas’ connection, 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 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 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 because of a fever.
Muth’s absence made Mystik Dan the 2-1 favorite, but he and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. were unable to replicate their perfect trip to the Derby to win that race’s first three-way 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 Pimlico Race Course as it stands before demolition begins at the historic but deteriorating track, which will still hold its 150th race next year, in the midst of construction.
That process is already well underway at Belmont Park, which is why the final leg of the Triple Crown is taking place in Saratoga for the first time and is being shortened to 1 1/4 miles due to the shape of the course. Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone, a half-step away from victory, is expected to headline this field.
What is the Preakness?
The 13/16-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 started at 10:30 am on May 18th at Pimlico Racecourse 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 gain the fillies race, beating Corposo by 3 1/4 lengths.
