BENSALEM, Pa. - About 125 miles north from where he stole the Preakness Stakes on the front end four months ago, Seize the Grey pulled off another front-running heist Saturday, this time at Parx Racing, taking the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby by 3 3/4 lengths.
Stronghold, who headed Seize the Grey leaving the quarter pole, yielded in the final sixteenth, and just held on for second by a head over Dragoon Guard.
Uncle Heavy finished fourth, followed by Unmatched Wisdom, Doc Sullivan, Timeout, Who’s the King, Lonesome Boy, Protective and Just Step On It.
Seize the Grey, trained by 89-year-old D. Wayne Lukas, is owned by MyRacehorse Stable, a partnership that sells microshares in horses to investors. There are approximately 2,500 partners in Seize the Grey and about 500 were in attendance Saturday. The winner’s circle picture had to be taken on the track and the trophy presentation was delayed by numerous MyRacehorse partners taking cellphone videos of Lukas, jockey Jaime Torres while chanting “Seize the Grey! Seize the Grey!”
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been involved with that many people that are crying and hugging and jumping up and down,” Lukas said. “Racing has gotten callous a little bit, but not with these people; they’re driving all night to get here, hugging each other and crying, it’s unbelievable.”
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Chris Ransom, the head of strategy for MyRacehorse, said: “This is what we wanted to do. MyRacehorse came in to bring people to big races on big days.”
In between the Preakness and the Pennsylvania Derby, Seize the Grey had flopped on a couple of racing’s big days. He finished seventh in the Belmont Stakes and fourth in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy, both at Saratoga.
Lukas and MyRacehorse took a lot of time determining Seize the Grey’s next race, choosing the Pennsylvania Derby over the Travers on Aug. 24 at Saratoga and next week’s $1 million California Crown at Santa Anita.
Lukas kept Seize the Grey in Saratoga to train following the conclusion of that meet on Labor Day. Though Seize the Grey may not have liked Saratoga’s main track, Lukas believed he really did well training over the Oklahoma training track before shipping to Parx on Tuesday.
“The thing about him is after the debacle in Saratoga he trained brilliantly ever since that race to here,” Lukas said. “He was doing it at home, when he got here, it never changed. He was really sharp every day, very sharp.”
Lukas said he instructed Torres to get back to what worked for Seize the Grey in the Preakness - send him away from the gate and get a forward position. On paper, it looked like he would have plenty of company. While 76-1 Just Step On It was within a half-length of Seize the Grey early, the latter was able to clear that rival while only having to run a half-mile in 49.25 seconds and six furlongs in 1:13.81.
Unmatched Wisdom, under Flavien Prat, picked up the chase going into the far turn, but he began to spin his wheels at the quarter pole. Stronghold, under Antonio Fresu, rallied outside of him and seemed to have dead aim on Seize the Grey turning for home. But due to the slow pace, Seize the Grey had plenty left and ran away from Stronghold in the stretch.
Seize the Grey, a son of Arrogate, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.89 and returned $10.60 as the third choice. He was given a 97 Beyer Speed Figure.
"I told Jaime if he breaks smooth, don’t get cute, don’t get creative, let him run his race, if they run us down at the end so be it,” Lukas said. “I don’t want you to change anything, you may be third, you may be fourth, put [him] on the bit and let him run his race, don’t get creative. … When they threw up 49-and one, I felt pretty good.”
Torres, 25, said he didn’t expect to get the lead so easily.
“He gave me the same feeling as the Preakness, the way he was moving and his ears,” Torres said. “He was comfortable in there and I knew I was going to have a lot of horse at the end.”
Lukas gained an even greater appreciation for the performance when he stepped out on the main track and his boots sunk into the surface.
“When I walked out there for that picture, that was a shock, that damn thing was deep,” Lukas said. “I was really surprised how deep it was and how well he handled it.”
Phil D’Amato was shocked how slow the early pace was and acknowledged that benefitted Seize the Grey.
“The speed on paper didn’t show up, they went [1:13.81],” D’Amato said. “Hats off to the Hall of Famer, his horse rebroke in midstretch. Just happy to hold on for second.”
D’Amato said Stronghold will likely point to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 2.
One of the expected pacesetters in the Pennsylvania Derby, Dragoon Guard, the slight 5-2 favorite coming off victories in the Indiana and West Virginia derbies, didn’t get away that well and was seventh early on under Florent Geroux.
“He’s a big horse that just didn’t get away quite as well as we expected or hoped,” trainer Brad Cox said. “It was a good effort, just not the trip we needed to get the job done. They went 49-and-one, Seize the Grey, when you let him do that, he’s going to be hard to pass and he was.”
Seize the Grey will ship to Churchill Downs in the coming days and Lukas and MyRacehorse principals will get together to decide whether to run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic or the Dirt Mile. Both races are on Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
“I’m thinking mile, but they may think of something different,” Lukas said. “I think a mile and a quarter is well within his scope, especially on that track. The thing about Del Mar, when you turn for home, you’re 110 yards to the wire, bam you’re right there. If you’re ever going to get a mile and a quarter, you’ll get it there.”
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