Seize the Grey: Lukas will look at competition before picking BC Dirt Mile or Classic

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said he will evaluate the potential competition before deciding whether to run Pennsylvania Derby winner Seize the Grey in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic or the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Both races are scheduled for Nov. 2 at Del Mar.

Lukas said Sunday he is not inclined to pre-enter Seize the Grey in both races. Pre-entries for the Breeders’ Cup are due on Oct. 21 and will be announced two days later.

“I think I’ll make up my mind before then,” Lukas said Sunday as he drove back to Louisville, Ky., from Pennsylvania.

Seize the Grey, who in May won the Preakness in front-running fashion, used those same tactics to win Saturday’s Pennsylvania Derby. He was put into the race from the outset by Jaime Torres, was able to set moderate fractions while getting token pressure from longshot Just Step On It, then ran away from Stronghold, who had headed him in the stretch, to win the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby by 3 3/4 lengths.

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Lukas said Seize the Grey came out of the race very well and was scheduled to leave Parx Racing on Monday bound for Churchill Downs, where he will train up to the Breeders’ Cup.

While Lukas doesn’t believe Seize the Grey has to have the lead, his best races have come when he’s gotten to the front early. The Classic portends to have ample speed in it with Arthur’s Ride, Highland Falls, Dornoch and Fierceness - all of whom like to be involved early on. National Treasure, a front-running winner of the Grade 1 Pegasus earlier in the year, is among the horses likely heading to the Dirt Mile.

“The beautiful part is we’re not one dimensional,” Lukas said. “This colt has really got his head in the right place and you can place him just about any place. The problem is I like to let him do his own thing. I told Jaime don’t get cute, don’t get creative, let him place himself. When he went into the [first] turn he had a three-quarter-length lead, he was on cruise control.”

Lukas said the stallion deal that MyRacehorse made with Gainesway Farm calls for an added bonus if Seize the Grey can win a Breeders’ Cup race. Lukas said that and the large disparity in the purse for both races are factors that figure to come into play in a decision that will likely be made by Lukas.

“I’ve been right so far in picking the spots,” Lukas said. “They indicated they feel comfortable with me making the decision. We’re not going to be first or second choice in either the Mile or the Classic. We’ll look at it and see what we can do that gives him the best chance.”

Lukas did say the short stretch at Del Mar makes the 1 1/4-mile Classic intriguing.

“If you’re ever going to get a mile and a quarter in a major race like that, I think Del Mar lends itself better than any of the other venues around the country,” Lukas said.

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