D. Wayne Lukas worked his way to Seize the Grey after his horse won the Preakness Stakes and kept getting interrupted by well-wishes offering congratulations.
"I think they're trying to get rid of me," Lukas said. "They probably want me to retire. I don't think that'll happen."
Not when the 88-year-old Hall of Fame trainer keeps winning big-time races.
Seize the Grey ended Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan's Triple Crown bid Saturday by going wire to wire to win the Preakness, giving Lukas his seventh victory in the race, one short of the record held by good friend Bob Baffert.
"I'm only one behind him — I warned him already," Lukas said. "It never gets old at this level, and I love the competition. I love to get in here with the rest of them."
The strapping grey colt took advantage of the muddy track just as Lukas hoped he would, pulling off the upset in a second consecutive impressive start two weeks after romping in a race on the Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. Going off at 9-1 as one of the longest shots on the board, Seize the Grey moved to the lead immediately out of the starting gate and never looked back, finishing in 1:56.82.
"I thought his action down the backside was beautiful, and I knew that he was handling the track," Lukas said. "I said, `Watch out, he's not going to quit."'
Your 149th <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Preakness?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Preakness</a> champion, <a href="https://twitter.com/jaimetorresjcky?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jaimetorresjcky</a>! <a href="https://t.co/MWAhN4TAI0">pic.twitter.com/MWAhN4TAI0</a>
Mystik Dan finished second in the field of eight horses running in the $2 million US, 1 3/16-mile race. After falling short of going back to back following his win by
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Bob Baffert