Seize the Grey works; will skip Haskell, run in Jim Dandy

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer D. Wayne Lukas brought Seize the Grey over to the main track to work six furlongs in 1:11.90 early Tuesday morning at Saratoga, after which he announced his intention to bypass Saturday’s $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park to run the Preakness winner in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy here a week later.

Working over a track packed down a bit by some light rain overnight, Seize the Grey was full of run from the outset, posting early splits of 11.30 seconds, 23.00, and 45.97 for the opening half-mile before weakening a bit during the latter stages of the drill. The work was the fourth for Seize the Grey since his disappointing seventh-place finish in the Belmont Stakes and his first ever over the main track at Saratoga.

“What we wanted to do was give him a chance to stretch his legs over the main track,” said Lukas. “Normally we train on the Oklahoma all the time. I wanted him to do something a little bit more serious than we probably would have done on the training track, and it was an excellent work.

“Anytime you break 1:12, that’s serious. Especially in the morning with an exercise rider. We were pleased. I think we got what we needed. We’ll get another work in at Oklahoma before the Jim Dandy and move forward off of this. I feel good about it.”

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Lukas said he was glad to see Seize the Grey get over the main track so well following his effort here last month in the Belmont Stakes.

“I didn’t care too much for the way he ran on the main track in the Belmont,” said Lukas. “They tell me it was a lot deeper and looser that day, but it’s much tighter now that they got the water in it. So I was really pleased to see the way he moved over the track today. His action over it this morning was excellent.”

Lukas then explained his decision to bypass the richer Haskell to keep him at Saratoga for the Jim Dandy as a prep for his main goal this summer, the Grade 1 Travers, on Aug. 24.

“Since the breeding rights have gotten involved with this horse, there’s so much more involvement in far as the bonus’s and incentives are concerned, so the Jim Dandy and Travers makes more sense,” Lukas noted. “And we don’t have to travel. I kind of like that too.”

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