Plans call for Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Seize the Grey to contest the Belmont Stakes (G1) June 8 at Saratoga Race Course, in what would be his third start in five weeks.
Kentucky Derby (G1) winner and Preakness runner-up Mystik Dan is being considered for the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Should the Derby winner join the Preakness winner for the Belmont it would fit right into place for this year's Triple Crown where frequent runners have fared well.
After four straight years in which the Preakness winner had at least four weeks off from racing, this year's Preakness saw Seize the Grey grab the middle jewel after taking the Pat Day Mile Stakes (G2) two weeks earlier at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard. In landing his 15th classic victory, trainer D. Wayne Lukas effectively used the race formerly known as the Derby Trial Stakes as a Preakness prep.
This year's wrinkle saw Seize the Grey emerge from a victory in a one-turn mile test. Lukas said he had considered entering Seize the Grey in the Kentucky Derby—in part to give his 2,570 owners a chance to experience the Derby dream—but because he would have landed on the also-eligible list, Lukas ultimately decided it wasn't worth the risk of completely missing out on a race that first Saturday in May.
If they'd entered the Derby, Seize the Grey would not have been allowed to also be entered in the Pat Day Mile. Lukas talked it over with Michael Behrens of owner MyRacehorse and they decided the Pat Day Mile would be the way to go. It would prove a perfect prep for the two-turn, 1 3/16-mile Preakness.
"I firmly believe that the Pat Day Mile put us in position to win this today," Lukas said after the Preakness win.
The Preakness winner was followed home by two other horses off two weeks rest in Derby winner Mystik Dan and Derby fourth-place finisher Catching Freedom.
The outcome emphatically ended a stretch in which National Treasure won the 2023 Preakness six weeks after finishing fourth in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), Early Voting won the classic in Baltimore six weeks after finishing second in the 2022 Wood Memorial Stakes (G2), Rombauer won the Preakness six weeks after finishing third in the 2021 Blue Grass Stakes (G2), and under a schedule altered by COVID, filly Swiss Skydiver won the Preakness about four weeks after finishing second in the 2020 Kentucky Oaks (G1).
Keep in mind that in recent history the 2020-23 stretch has not been standard. In the 13 editions of the Preakness from 2007-19, a dozen winners raced either in the Kentucky Derby (11 winners) or the Kentucky Oaks (one winner).
Mystik Dan, by Goldencents , has started eight times overall, including three juvenile starts. Seize the Grey, by Arrogate, has raced 10 times in his career, with half of those starts coming as a 2-year-old.
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