Mystik Dan comes up short at Preakness, denied shot at Triple Crown

Jamie Torres, who'd recently graduated jockey school after first seeing the sport in 2019, rode Seize the Grey to victory. After clinching the win Saturday, Torres said his strategy was to play to his horse's strengths by getting to the front and dictating things from there. 

"He likes to be there, and I just tried to put him into a position that he feels good, and thank god we made it," Torres told Joaquin Jaime of FanDuel Racing. 

Seize the Grey's trainer, 88-year-old Dean Wayne Lukas, notched his seventh win at the Preakness Stakes, the most ever.

After gaining an early lead, Seize the Grey held off Mystik Dan, who then had to fight off Catching Freedom to take second place. 

Afterward, Brian Hernandez, Mystik Dan's jockey, said he believed they had a good chance of pulling out a win at the Preakness. However, he tipped his cap to Seize the Grey, adding, "That horse ran a monstrous race today." 

"Turning for home, I thought we were going to be able to rundown Seize the Grey, but he found another gear, and we weren't able to get to him today," Hernandez said. 

Meanwhile, trainer Kenny McPeek had a similar take on the result, telling reporters, "That's horse racing." 

"He ran good. I like the fact that he fought off the other horse for second," McPeek said. "We'll regroup, come out of here and play again." 

After 37 years without a Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018) eventually broke the streak, adding two Thoroughbreds to the elite and small list. But since then, no one else has accomplished the feat. 

As it stands now, there have been just 13 Triple Crown winners and only five since 1948.