All was properly Sept. 22 with traditional winner Seize the Gray after his authoritative 3 3/4-length win within the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing the night earlier than.
“He got here out very properly,” Corridor of Fame coach D. Wayne Lukas stated. “It was an awesome effort and he bounced out of it good. He’s actually, actually good.”
The Traditional-winning grey or roan 3-year-old colt will return to Lukas’ residence base of Churchill Downs in Louisville Sept. 23. As soon as settled in, he’ll start preparations for a begin within the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar. Lukas stated he has no plans but on how he’ll get the horse there when it comes to the frequency of morning breezes over the subsequent six weeks.
“I don’t look that far forward,” Lukas stated. “I’ll let him inform us when he’s able to do one thing extra critical.”
Which Breeders’ Cup race for Seize the Gray is also but to be decided with each the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Traditional and $1 million Huge Ass Followers Grime Mile in play.
Seize the Gray’s 4 victories this season have ranged from one mile to 1 3/16 miles within the Preakness Stakes on each dry and moist tracks. At his two potential Breeders’ Cup distances, he was victorious within the one-turn Pat Mile Day Mile offered by SAP by 1 1/4 lengths and seventh, crushed 12 3/4 lengths, within the 1 1/4-mile Belmont Stakes. Though, the Belmont was his third begin in 5 weeks.
“We’ll look it over, see who’s going the place and what our chances are high. I believe we have now the choice of being in both one and being efficient” Lukas stated. “The mile-and-a-quarter doesn’t hassle this horse. We’ll look it over and examine the competitors.”
MyRacehorse founder and CEO Michael Behrens stated that the unique plan following Seize the Gray’s fourth-place effort within the July 27 Jim Dandy Stakes offered by Mohegan Solar was to go to the Grime Mile, however he would preserve an open thoughts to working within the Traditional ought to Lukas need to run there.
“All the pieces with our journey with Lukas has been, ‘Let’s see how he comes out of the race.’ He stunned us with the Preakness, so we reassessed,” Behrens stated. “I noticed how properly he ran [in the Pennsylvania Derby] and my first thought was Lukas goes to need a while to assume on this one. He’s extraordinarily considerate about every race.”
The Traditional would carry a bigger ‘kicker’ to MyRacehorse’s stallion take care of Gainesway, including an additional $4 million to the ultimate worth in contrast with $2 million from profitable the Grime Mile. The Pennsylvania Derby netted an additional $2 million to the deal. Successful the Eclipse Award for high 3-year-old male would additionally add $1 million.
“I don’t assume [the kickers] will play that a lot of a job,” Behrens stated of the choice. “We’re actually simply going to search for the one the place [Lukas] thinks we have now the very best likelihood to thrive.
“We’re at a degree proper now the place we actually need to exit on high and have a giant second. To finish this yr with a giant efficiency and a win within the Breeders’ Cup could be the cherry on high. No different colt has gained greater than two Grade 1s this yr; to complete that marketing campaign robust goes to be vital.”
Whatever the race wherein he runs, Lukas is hopeful that, just like the Preakness, the colt can ship one other massive celebration of the MyRacehorse shareholders on one other of the game’s largest levels: the Breeders’ Cup.
“That might actually be one thing, it would actually say one thing to the Breeders’ Cup about how we get these followers pumped up,” Lukas stated. “There have been extra of them at Parx than there have been within the Preakness, I believe, they usually had been each bit as vocal. I needed to have three safety guards get me to the automobile, in any other case I’d nonetheless be signing issues.”
Parx arrange a particular tent space for MyRacehorse homeowners that featured an opportunity to take pictures with the Preakness trophy. As well as, almost each shareholder in attendance had the possibility to go on the monitor for the winners’ circle image. Behrens praised Parx administration for his or her hospitality all through the day.
“They arrange a spot for us and made it so accommodating for everyone,” Behrens stated. “We had been so appreciative of [Parx COO] Joe Wilson and his group. It made it very, very particular. We had such constructive suggestions from everybody who got here out.”
Behrens stated they’re starting to plan occasions for the shareholders at Del Mar and have already obtained messages from a number of about planning a “journey of a lifetime.” Nonetheless, the Breeders’ Cup may not be the final time that the legion of Seize the Gray homeowners grace the aprons of a monitor in the US.
“We’ll reassess [after the Breeders’ Cup],” Behrens stated about whether or not the colt will retire on the finish of the season. “After we initially did the deal [with Gainesway], we agreed that we might be given the chance to run the 3-year-old marketing campaign that we needed to run and Gainesway was superior about that. It’s all about ensuring he has the chance to be as important as we hope he will be in his second profession.
