Seize The Grey Spoils Mystik Dan's Shot At A Triple Crown

Mystik Dan took a chance at the second leg of the Triple Crown — the Preakness Stakes — but while the Kentucky Derby champ came on strong at the tail end of the race, Seize The Grey was too much for him to handle.

But before we talk any more about it, please allow Baltimore Ravens legend Ray Lewis to give the riders-up command.

With the signature dance to top it off. Nice. 

Anyway, back to the race…

After a big 21-horse field for the Kentucky Derby, there were just 8 competing in the Preakness after Bob Baffert-trained favorite Muth was scratched earlier in the week with a fever.

On a muddy track, Seize The Grey — with 25-year-old Jaime Thomas in his Triple Crown debut as his jockey and trained by 88-year-old (soon-to-be 89-year-old) D. Wayne Lucas  — was in control virtually the entire race.

Jockey Jaime Torres riding Seize the Grey celebrates after winning the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Seize The Grey took the win, with Mystik Dan and Catching Freedom coming across the line in a photo finish for place and show, respectively.

As OutKick's Geoff Clark noted, the muddier conditions played into Mystik Dan's hands a little but the three-year-old Colt's quest for a Triple Crown is over.

The Kentucky Derby champ came into the race at 5-2 and started from post position 5. However, it was never a given that the horse would compete, with trainer Kenny McPeek concerned about the short, two-week turnaround between races.

The most recent Triple Crown winner — the 13th in history —  was Justify who accomplished the feat in 2018. American Pharoah did it in 2015, and that was the first time since 1978 when Affirmed did it.

The Belmont Stakes is in three weeks on June 8, but will be run at Saratoga instead of Belmont Park this year because of construction at the normal venue.