By Tim Wilkin
It was back to work for GI Preakness S. winner Seize the Grey (Arrogate) on Wednesday at Churchill Downs as he prepares for the GI Belmont S. at Saratoga Race Course June 8.
With regular jockey Jaime Torres on board, Seize the Grey had his first workout since his upset win the Preakness. He went six furlongs in 1:13 (1/1).
“I asked [Torres] if he was responsive, and he said, 'very,'” Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said by phone from Louisville. “He said he could have let him run at any minute. He was full of good energy and that is what we wanted to see. I wanted to do a little more with him. This horse really enjoys the mornings; he enjoys going out there and working out.”
Seize the Grey, owned by MyRacehorse, won the Preakness by 2 1/4 lengths over a muddy track at Pimlico on May 18. He went off at odds of 9-1. When the field is drawn for the Belmont on Monday, Lukas expects Seize the Grey won't be one of the morning line favorites.
Come race day, he said he figured the price will be juicy on the colt who gave him his seventh career Preakness win.
“I would think he would be about fourth choice; he might even be fifth,” Lukas said. “I don't think they are convinced. I look for him to be north of 10 [-1 odds]. I love it.”
Lukas said the plan is still for Seize the Grey to van to Saratoga on Saturday June 1. The only other horse from the Lukas barn making the trip is his pony, Bucky. Lukas said Seize the Grey will walk the shedrow Sunday and then go the track, most likely the Oklahoma Training Track, on Monday.
Seize the Grey has won three of five starts this year. Before the Preakness, he won the GII Pat Day Mile S. on May 4 at Churchill. After winning an allowance to start his season, he was third in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park on and then seventh in the GI Blue Grass S. at Keeneland.
He ran twice at Saratoga as a 2-year-old breaking his maiden in his second career start–on a sloppy track–and then finishing third on a muddy track in the Skidmore S., a race originally carded for turf.
“He is ready,” Lukas said. “I have no reason to think I am not going to get a good effort out of him.”
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