So it was that the creaky old racetrack and the creaky old man found each other at a few minutes past seven Saturday evening in Maryland.

So it was that Pimlico and D. Wayne Lukas shared just less than two minutes and … together made each other meaningful. Each was too old, made young for a day -- and if you squint some more, the entire sport was, too.

Tim Layden NBC Sports

Preakness Stakes (Grade 1)

THE 149th Preakness Stakes became a perfect blend of the old and the new. The winner Seize The Grey was trained by D. Wayne Lukas, the 88-year-old US racing legend, whose first Triple Crown triumph came in the 1980 Preakness with Codex.

And he was owned by a ‘modern’ ownership model with over 2,500 ‘owners’ sharing the win via the My Racehorse ownership consortium.

With US racing under so much scrutiny, the debate on whether the Triple Crown, with three races in five weeks and just two between the Derby and Preakness, were too much for modern thoroughbreds was also silenced.

All of the first three had run at Churchill Downs on Derby day, with Seize The Grey winning the Pat Day Mile and second and third in the Derby.

In the 1980s, D. Wayne Lukas was the king of the track but by 2024, it was more likely that the likes of a Baffert, McPeek, Cox, and Brown would take the honours among those gathered for the 149th Preakness Stakes.

But Lukas staged yet another classic surprise as Seize The Grey, a son of Arrogate, recorded a front-running two and a quarter-length victory over Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan, shrugging off any concerns over a muddy track.

“People always ask which Preakness win is the best and the last one is the sweetest,” Lukas said after his seventh victory in the Preakness and 15th Triple Crown race win.

“What was significant to me, and maybe because I am getting older, is that as I walked across the racetrack every one of those in the race gave me a handshake. That meant more to me than any single thing. Baffert, Kenny McPeek, right on down the line,” he told media afterwards.

2,570 different owners

This was another big triumph for MyRacehorse which sells microshares of its horses, Seize The Grey having 2,570 different owners who bought up 5,000 shares of the colt at $127 a share. Founder Michael Behrens and about 300 owners were on track.

“This means everything for our business. What we tried to do when we started this four years ago was to allow anyone to experience the thrill of winning the biggest races, and we just had 2,570 people experience one of the great thrills,” Behrens was quoted on BloodHorse after MyRacehorse’s second classic win and first since Authentic won the Derby and Breeders’ Cup in 2020. “You saw the energy out there. There is so much excitement and tears.”

Seize The Grey, by the 2017 champion three-year-old Arrogate who died after just two years at stud, but got last year’s star Arcangleo out of the Smart Strike mare Smart Shopping, was bought for $300,000 by My Racehorse from the Mill Ridge Sales consignment at the Saratoga Sale, Fasig Tipton’s select yearling sale.

It was also an incredible first Grade 1 win for 25-year-old jockey Jaime Torres who was watching horse racing on television in his native Puerto Rico in 2019 when he decided he wanted to be a jockey.

Seize The Grey, who showed speed in winning the Grade 1 Pat Day Mile Stakes on Kentucky Derby day, had enough speed to grab the lead for Torres, with Frankie Dettori on Imagination following the leader but racing outside him.

Seize The Grey led by two lengths over Imagination after a half-mile in 47.33secs over the muddy track.

The leader extended his advantage after six furlongs in 1m11.95secs, and when the field turned for home, Imagination weakened, and Mystik Dan and Catching Freedom took up a chase that proved futile.

The winner travelled smoothly and despite Mystik Dan trying his best off the turn, the winner never looked like being overhauled and finished the nine and a half furlongs in 1m56.82secs in the field of eight. “When he hit the half-mile pole, I turned to my wife Laurie and said, ‘Watch out, we’re home free,” Lukas added.

Gave me everything

“He’s such an amazing horse. He relaxed for me and he felt the other horses coming close and then gave me everything to the wire,” said Torres.

Looking ahead, Lukas said he wanted to give his winner some time before deciding on whether to send Seize The Grey to Saratoga for the June 8th Belmont Stakes, run this year over a mile and a quarter.

“If we go, he’ll be tough. He can get a mile and a quarter. He would have gotten a mile and a quarter today.” He later in the week announced the colt will contest the third classic.

Kenny McPeek was also proud of the effort turned in by Mystik Dan. “I’m proud of him. It wasn’t his day. I thought we could run down Seize the Grey with the fractions, but he didn’t back up.”

McPeek later tweeted on the horse’s arrival to Saratoga for a possible run in the Belmont, “Mystik Dan arrived in good order. We will not be making any decisions any time soon. Myself and the team will have some time around him, then we will discuss with the owners about a plan for his summer and fall races.”

McPeek also suggested his impressive Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna is in the mix, with the Grade 1 Acorn also a possiblilty.

Among other possibilities for the final jewel in the Triple Crown are Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone, beaten Kentucky Derby favourite Fierceness, Antiquarian and The Wine Steward, the 1-2 in the Peter Pan Stakes, and Derby also rans Honor Marie and Dornoch.

Catching Freedom was a head behind Mystik Dan in third. “I thought it was an overall good effort,” said Cox, who plans to give the 7/2 second favourite time off.

Chad Brown said Tuscan Gold failed to handle the wet conditions. He finished fourth, over eight lengths behind the winner. Lukas also sent out Just Steel to finish fifth but the colt suffered an injury.

The victory took Seize The Grey’s earnings to $1,819,938. Wagering for the day was $98.8 million, with $50.5 million bet on the Preakness, a 5.6% increase from last year.