After his horses won the Preakness Stakes, D. Wayne Lukas worked his way to Capture the Grey, but he was repeatedly interrupted by well-wishers congratulating him.
” I think they’re trying to get rid of me”, Lukas said. ” They definitely want me to leave. I do n’t think that’ll happen”.
Not when the 88- yr- ancient Hall of Fame coach keeps winning.
Capture the Grey ended , Kentucky Derby winner , Mystik Dan’s Triple Crown pay by going wire to line to get the Preakness on Saturday, giving Lukas his eighth victory in the race, one little of the record held by , excellent friend Bob Baffert.
Jaime Torres, atop Seize The Grey, crosses the finish line to earn the Preakness Stakes horses race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. ( AP Photo/Julio Cortez )
” I thought his motion down the side was lovely, and I knew that he was handling the track”, Lukas said. ” I said,’ Watch out, he’s not going to abandon.'”
Mystik Dan finished second in the field of eight horses running in the$ 2 million, 1 3/16- hour culture. It would be surprising if he ran in the Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga Race Course after losing by a head in the Kentucky Derby.
” My horse’s a great horse and happy of him”, instructor Kenny McPeek said. ” It just was n’t his day, but he’ll live to race again”.
On May 4, Seize the Grey was a shock Derby winner who had to face more difficult challenges than in the Pat Day Mile. Even though it is based on the Lukas connection, it should n’t come as a surprise when one of his horses is covered in Black-Eyed Susan flowers.
No one in the event’s 149-year story has saddled more animals in the Preakness than Lukas, who won with Codex and 48 when the race first started off in 1980. Capture the Grey, owned by 2, 570 people affiliated with the MyRacehorse group, won the battle, with Only Steel coming in second.
Jaime Torres, atop Seize The Grey, leads and reacts after winning the Preakness Stakes animal contest at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. ( AP Photo/Nick Wass )
According to MyRacehorse founder and CEO Michael Behrens,” I just could n’t be happier for each and every one of them.” ” We had some great expectations, but this exceeds all those anticipation”.
Seize the Grey paid$ 21.60 to win,$ 8.40 to place and$ 4.40 to show. Mystik Dan paid$ 4.20 and$ 2.80, while third- place Catching Freedom paid$ 3.20 to show.
Baffert, who was looking for a document- extending seventh Derby success, was supposed to possess two horses in the field, but dawn line favorite , Muth was scratched , before in the week because of a fever. Baffert’s Imagination finished eighth.
” He is also learning”, Baffert said. ” I believe we are acquiring his design. I learned a lot from now that I may improve. I do n’t think he wants to run like that. We did n’t really have a plan. We believed in Wayne or us.
Muth’s presence made Mystik Dan the 2- 1 favourite, but he and performer Brian Hernandez Jr. were unable to get the event’s first three-way photo finish since 1947. Jaime Torres won his second Triple Crown culture of any kind on Seize the Grey instead.
Puerto Rican native Torres, who did n’t begin racing until seeing it on TV in late 2019, said,” I have no words. ” I’m very excited, quite excited, and very grateful to all the people who have been supporting me,” he said.
This was Pimlico Race Course’s final Preakness before demolition of the traditional but defunct track, which will also host the 150th running of it next year while it is still in construction.
Due to the course’s condition, the last leg of the Triple Crown is taking place in Saratoga for the first time and has been shortened to 1 1 / 12 km. Because of this, that approach is already well underway at Belmont Park. Sierra Leone, a half-advisor to winning, is expected to lead the field of the Kentucky Derby, though Lukas said he would n’t know if Seize the Grey would be running as well.
