There will be no horse racing Triple Crown in 2024: Seize the Grey won the 149th Preakness Stakes at a muddy Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. on Saturday, edging out Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and six other horses to win.
Seize the Grey, who ran a 1:56.82, led from start to finish, with Mystik Dan the runner up. Catching Freedom finished third.
Two weeks after a photo finish at Churchill Downs, the margin in the second leg of the Triple Crown was a bit wider. Seize the Grey won by 2 1/4 lengths.
Seize the Grey paid out $21.60 to win the Preakness, $8.40 to place (top two) and $4.40 to show (top three). He had 9-1 odds to win.
The win makes 88-year-old Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas the oldest trainer to ever win a Triple Crown race. It’s his seventh career Preakness victory, tied for the second-most of all time -- one behind Bob Baffert, whose Imagination finished seventh and whose Muth was the favorite in the Preakness before he was scratched on Wednesday.
It’s Lukas’s 15th career win in a Triple Crown race overall.
“I think they’re trying to get rid of me,” Lukas said of the other trainers congratulating him at the Preakness. “They probably want me to retire. I don’t think that’ll happen.
“It never gets old at this level. I love the competition ... I thought [Seize the Grey’s] action down the back side was beautiful. And I knew that he was handling the track. I said, ‘Watch out, he’s not gonna quit.’”
Seize the Grey’s win made for quite the Triple Crown debut by jockey Jaime Torres.
“Very thankful to all the people that have been beside me, helping me,” Torres said, mounted atop Seize the Grey. “My family. I want to thank them. ‘Cause like a lot of people, a lot of jockeys, we came from the bottom. To afford flights and all those things to support me I know is hard. And they still do it because they love me. And I appreciate that a lot.”
Torres said his family was in attendance at Pimlico after making a surprise visit on Friday.
Seize the Grey is owned by MyRacehorse, which sells thoroughbred “micro-shares” to the general public. There are 2,570 people who own at least a share in Seize the Grey, hailing from 42 of the 50 states.
“Can you imagine how many people are gonna relish in this and enjoy it?” Lukas said. “I don’t even know how many people own this horse. It’s a lot of people, I know that. It’ll really be something.”
“We have an incredible team,” said MyRacehorse founder Michael Behrens. “It’s led by Mr. Lukas. He’s been incredible for us. This is the first horse we’ve ever given him. He was my hero growing up. The fact that he’s trained this horse for us, for 2,570 people who own this racehorse, it’s been incredible ... This is the race I’ve wanted to win for 2,570 people.”
Seize the Grey becomes the 18th winner out of the sixth post since 1909 (when the starting gate was introduced to the Preakness). No other post has produced more than 14 winners.
The win ends Mystik Dan’s shot at the Triple Crown, which began with a photo-finish victory at Churchill Downs two weeks ago.
“Wayne’s an amazing guy,” Mystik Dan trainer Ken McPeek said, emphasizing his pride in his own horse, too. “He’s a guy that I’ve always idolized. If I’m gonna get beat, it’s fine to get beat by him. Actually, over the years, I’ve been beat by him plenty of times. That’s why horse racing’s so hard. There’s no givens.”
Mystik Dan, the favorite at 2-1, paid out $4.20 to place and $2.80 to show. Catching Freedom paid out $3.20 to show.
A $2 exacta with the correct 1-2 returned $119.40. A $1 trifecta with the correct 1-2-3 netted $183.70. And bettors who placed a $1 superfecta with the correct 1-2-3-4 cashed in with $749.
Next up for Seize the Grey, should he compete, is the 156th Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Full Race Results for 2024 Preakness Stakes
1. Seize the Grey
2. Mystik Dan
3. Catching Freedom
4. Tuscan Gold
5. Just Steel
6. Uncle Heavy
7. Imagination
8. Mugatu
SCR. Muth