Seize the Grey Wins Preakness, Ends Hope of Triple Crown

The loss of Muth to a pre-race scratch did not open the door for Mystik Dan to continue his attempt at the Triple Crown. The Kentucky Derby winner went off as the favorite, but Seize the Grey at 9-1 was the winner. 

It was a good start for Mystik Dan, but Seize the Grey moved into an early lead, and then held off a late charge by Mystik Dan to win the race and the $1.2 million prize, the largest in Preakness history.

Mystik Dan finished second.

Preakness Payouts

Seize the Grey (9-1)

Win $21.60, Place $8.40, Show $4.40

Mystik Dan (5-2)

Place $4.20, Show $2.80

Catching Freedom (7-2)

Show $3.20

$1.00 Exacta paid $59.70

$1.00 Trifecta paid $183.70

D. Wayne Lukas Makes More History

Even if you don’t regularly place bets on horse racing, you likely know the name of trainer D. Wayne Lukas. He’s been in the United States Racing Hall of Fame for 25 years, he’s a four-time Kentucky Derby winner, he’s won the Belmont Stakes four times, and he’s now won the Preakness seven times. 

In 2013, when Lukas won the Preakness, he set the record for most Triple Crown wins by a trainer with his 14th triumph. The win in 2024 was his 15th, and at 88-years-old, he now has the record for the oldest trainer to win a Triple Crown race.

“I think they’re trying to get rid of me,” joked Lukas when talking about the other trainers who congratulated him on the victory. “They probably want me to retire. I don’t think that’ll happen.”

Lukas’s first win at a Triple Crown race was at the Preakness in 1980. Some 44 years later, he is still at the top of the profession.

“Wayne’s an amazing guy,” said Kenny McPeak, the trainer for Mystik Dan. “If I’m going to get beat, it’s fine to get beat by him. Over the years, I’ve been beaten by him plenty of times.”

A Shorter Race at Belmont

The Belmont Stakes is usually a 1 1/2-mile race. But for the next two years, it’s being hosted at Saratoga Race Course while Belmont Park undergoes reconstruction, and the smaller track means a shorter 1 1⁄4-mile race.

Lukas hasn’t committed Seize the Grey to the Belmont yet. But having held on to win at the 1 3/16-mile race at Pimlico, the shorter distance is more in line with Seize the Grey’s strengths. The same thing for Mystik Dan, who won the 1 1/4-mile race at Churchill Downs.

Like the Preakness, the overall purse at Belmont is $2 million, which also makes it desirable for the owners and trainers of the top horses. Lukas has yet to make the commitment, but he tells reporters that he is “strongly leaning” toward having Seize the Grey in the field at Saratoga.

None of the horses in the field have been finalized for the June 8 race. But the horses listed as probable include Seize the Grey, Mystik Dan, third-place finisher at the Preakness Catching Freedom, Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone, Honor Marie, who finished eighth at the Kentucky Derby, and Fierceness, who finished a disappointing 15th at the Kentucky Derby.

Bob Baffert hasn’t officially ruled out entering Muth in the Belmont. But it’s unlikely that he will run.