Seize the Grey wins the Preakness for D. Wayne Lukas and ends Mystik Dan’s Triple Crown bid

BALTIMORE (AP) — D. Wayne Lukas worked his way to Seize the Grey after his horse won the Preakness Stakes and kept getting interrupted by well-wishers offering congratulations.

“I think they’re trying to get rid of me,” Lukas said. “They probably want me to retire. I don’t think that’ll happen.”

Not when the 88-year-old Hall of Fame trainer keeps winning big-time races.

Seize the Grey ended Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan's Triple Crown bid Saturday by going wire to wire to win the Preakness, giving Lukas his seventh victory in the race, one short of the record held by good friend Bob Baffert.

“I’m only one behind him — I warned him already,” Lukas said. “It never gets old at this level, and I love the competition. I love to get in here with the rest of them.”

The strapping grey colt took advantage of the muddy track just as Lukas hoped he would, pulling off the upset in a second consecutive impressive start two weeks after romping in a race on the Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. Going off at 9-1 as one of the longest shots on the board, Seize the Grey moved to the lead immediately out of the starting gate and never looked back, finishing 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Mystik Dan in 1:56.82.

“I thought his action down the backside was beautiful, and I knew that he was handling the track,” Lukas said. “I said, ‘Watch out, he’s not going to quit.'"

Mystik Dan finished second in the field of eight horses running in the $2 million, 1 3/16-mile race. After falling short of going back to back following his win by a nose in the Kentucky Derby, it would be a surprise if he runs in the Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga Race Course.

“My colt’s a fantastic colt and proud of him,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “It just wasn’t his day, but he’ll live to race again.”

Seize the Grey was a surprise Preakness winner facing tougher competition than in the Pat Day Mile on May 4. Though given the Lukas connection, it should never be a surprise when one of his horses is covered in a blanket of Black-Eyed Susan flowers.

No one in the race’s 149-year history has saddled more horses in the Preakness than Lukas with 48 since debuting in 1980 and winning that one with Codex. He had two in this time, with Just Steel finishing fifth, but Seize the Grey — owned by 2,570 people involved in the MyRacehorse group — delivered the victory.

“I just couldn’t be happier for every single one of them,” MyRacehorse founder and CEO Michael Behrens said. “We had some big expectations, but this exceeds all those expectations."

Seize the Grey paid $21.60 to win, $8.40 to place and $4.40 to show. Mystik Dan paid $4.20 and $2.80 after finishing a head in front of third-place Catching Freedom, who paid $3.20 to show.

Baffert, who was looking for a record-extending ninth Preakness victory, was supposed to have two horses in the field, but morning line favorite Muth was scratched earlier in the week because of a fever. Baffert's Imagination finished seventh.

“He is still learning,” Baffert said. “I think we are learning his style. I saw a lot today that I can change going forward. I don’t think he wants to run like that. We didn’t really have a plan. We thought it would be Wayne or us.”

Muth’s absence made Mystik Dan the 2-1 favorite, but he and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. could not replicate their perfect Derby trip to win that race’s first three-way photo finish since 1947. Instead, Jaime Torres rode Seize the Grey to a win in his first Triple Crown race of any kind, just two years after starting to ride.

"I have no words," said Torres, a native of Puerto Rico who did not begin racing until seeing it on TV in late 2019. “I’m very excited, very excited and very thankful to all the people that have been behind me, helping me.”

This was the last Preakness held at Pimlico Race Course as it stands before demolition begins on the historic but deteriorating track, which will still hold the 150th running of it next year mid-construction.

That process is already well underway at Belmont Park, which is why the final leg of the Triple Crown is happening at Saratoga for the first time and is being shortened to 1 1/4 miles because of the shape of the course. Kentucky Derby second-place finisher Sierra Leone, a half step from winning, is expected to headline that field, though Lukas said he'd wait to see about Seize the Grey also running.

AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing

Brian Hernandez, Jr., right, atop Mystik Dan, and Flavien Prat, atop Catching Freedom, finish the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course in second place and third place, respectively, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

A woman wears a decorative hat ahead of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Women wear decorative hats ahead of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Harrows work on the track ahead of the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Women wear decorative hats ahead of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Spectators walk through the mud to get to the grandstand ahead of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, far right, claps as jockey Jaime Torres, left, Seize The Grey part owner Michael Behrens, founder and CEO of MyRacehorse, and trainer D. Wayne Lukas hold the Woodlawn Vase after winning the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Jaime Torres, left, kisses the Woodlawn Vase, as Seize The Grey part owner, Michael Behrens, center, founder and CEO of MyRacehorse, and trainer D. Wayne Lukas, right, look on after winning the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Seize The Grey's trainer D. Wayne Lukas, center, reacts after his horse won the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Jaime Torres, atop Seize The Grey, reacts after winning the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Jaime Torres, left, atop Seize The Grey, leads the pack while winning the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Jaime Torres, center, atop Seize The Grey, leads reacts after winning the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Jaime Torres, left, atop Seize The Grey, leads the pack while winning the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Jockey Jaime Torres, atop Seize The Grey, reacts after winning the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Jaime Torres, atop Seize The Grey, leads reacts after winning the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Jaime Torres, atop Seize The Grey, reacts after crossing the finish line to win the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Jaime Torres, atop Seize The Grey, reacts after crossing the finish line to win the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Jaime Torres, atop Seize The Grey, reacts after crossing the finish line to win the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Jaime Torres, atop Seize The Grey, crosses the finish line to win the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Preakness Stakes entrant Seize the Grey works out ahead of the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Spectators walk on mud as they head to the grandstand ahead of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Graphic shows silks, horses, trainers, jockeys and odds for the entries in the Preakness Stakes; 4c x 3/4 inches

A woman takes shelter from light rain under an umbrella ahead of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Irad Ortiz, Jr., left, atop Frost Free, edges out the competition to win the sixth undercard race ahead of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Super Chow, second from left, with jockey Jorge Delgado, wins the Maryland Sprint undercard horse race ahead of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

An outrider rides a horse on a muddy track following morning rain ahead of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

A contender in an undercard turf race is walked after competing ahead of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Osvaldo Hernandez bathes Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness Stakes entrant Mystik Dan after a workout ahead of the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness Stakes entrant Mystik Dan leaves the track after a workout ahead of the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Market Street is bathed ahead of the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Andy Blair, of Louisville, Ky,. looks on ahead of the Black-Eyed Susan horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Horse trainers D. Wayne Lukas, left, and Bob Baffert talk ahead of the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Jennifer Cobb, of Chesapeake, Va., looks on ahead of the Black-Eyed Susan horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Preakness Stakes entrant Tuscan Gold works out ahead of the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Preakness Stakes entrant Catching Freedom works out ahead of the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Preakness Stakes entrant Imagination works out ahead of the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness Stakes entrant Mystik Dan works out ahead of the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

An outrider rides a horse on the track as horses work out ahead of the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes horse racing weekend at Pimlico Race Course, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu worked to mend ties with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday and offered measured optimism about progress toward a cease-fire deal for Gaza as he neared the end of a contentious U.S. visit that put on display the growing American divisions over support for the Israeli-Hamas war.

At Trump's Florida Mar-a-Lago estate, where the two men met face-to-face for the first time in nearly four years, Netanyahu told journalists he wanted to see U.S.-mediated talks succeed for a cease-fire and release of hostages.

“I hope so,” Netanyahu said, when reporters asked if his U.S. trip had made progress. While Netanyahu at home is increasingly accused of resisting a deal to end the 9-month-old war to stave off the potential collapse of his far-right government when it ends, he said Friday he was "certainly eager to have one. And we’re working on it.”

As president, Trump went well beyond his predecessors in fulfilling Netanyahu’s top wishes from the United States. Yet relations soured after Netanyahu became one of the first world leaders to congratulate Joe Biden for his 2020 presidential victory, which Trump continues to deny.

The two men now have a strong interest in restoring their relationship, both for the political support their alliance brings and for the luster it gives each with their conservative supporters.

A beaming Trump was waiting for Netanyahu on the stone steps outside his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida. He warmly clasped the hands of the Israeli leader.

“We’ve always had a great relationship,” Trump insisted before journalists. Asked as the two sat down in a muraled room for talks if Netanyahu’s trip to Mar-a-Lago was repairing their bond, Trump responded, “It was never bad.”

For both men, Friday’s meeting was aimed at highlighting for their home audiences their depiction of themselves as strong leaders who have gotten big things done on the world stage, and can again.

Netanyahu’s Florida trip followed a fiery address to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday that defended his government’s conduct of the war and condemned American protesters galvanized by the killing of more than 39,000 Palestinians in the conflict.

On Thursday, Netanyahu had met in Washington with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who appears on track to becoming the new Democratic presidential nominee after Biden decided to step out of the race. Both pressed the Israeli leader to work quickly to wrap up a deal to bring a cease-fire and release hostages held by Hamas.

Trump’s campaign said he pledged in Friday's meeting to “make every effort to bring peace to the Middle East” and combat antisemitism on college campuses if American voters elect him to the presidency in November.

Netanyahu handed Trump a framed photo that the Israeli leader said showed a child who has been held hostage by Hamas-led militants since the first hours of the war. “We’ll get it taken care of,” Trump assured him.

In a speech later Friday before a group of young Christian conservatives, Trump said he also asked Netanyahu during their meeting how “a Jewish person, or a person that loves Israel” can vote for Democrats.

He also laced into Harris for missing Netanyahu's speech and claimed she “doesn’t like Jewish people” and “doesn’t like Israel." Harris has been married to a Jewish man for a decade.

For Trump, the meeting was a chance to be cast as an ally and statesman, as well as to sharpen efforts by Republicans to portray themselves as the party most loyal to Israel.

Divisions among Americans over U.S. support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza have opened cracks in years of strong bipartisan backing for Israel, the biggest recipient of U.S. aid.

For Netanyahu, repairing relations with Trump is imperative given the prospect that Trump may once again become president of the United States, which is Israel’s vital arms supplier and protector.

One gamble for Netanyahu is whether he could get more of the terms he wants in any deal on a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release, and in his much hoped-for closing of a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, if he waits out the Biden administration in hopes that Trump wins.

“Benjamin Netanyahu has spent much of his career in the last two decades in tethering himself to the Republican Party,” said Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. diplomat for Arab-Israeli negotiations, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

For the next six months, that means “mending ties with an irascible, angry president," Miller said, meaning Trump.

Netanyahu and Trump last met at a September 2020 White House signing ceremony for the signature diplomatic achievement of both men’s political careers. It was an accord brokered by the Trump administration in which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to establish normal diplomatic relations with Israel.

For Israel, it amounted to the two countries formally recognizing it for the first time. It was a major step in what Israel hoped would be an easing of tensions and a broadening of economic ties with its Arab neighbors.

In public postings and statements after his break with Netanyahu, Trump portrayed himself as having stuck his neck out for Israel as president, and Netanyahu paying him back with disloyalty.

He also has criticized Netanyahu on other points, faulting him as “not prepared” for the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that started the war in Gaza, for example.

In his high-profile speech to Congress on Wednesday and again Friday at Mar-a-Lago, Netanyahu poured praise on Trump, calling the regional accords Trump helped broker historic and thanking him “for all the things he did for Israel.”

Netanyahu listed actions by the Trump administration long-sought by Israeli governments — the U.S. officially saying Israel had sovereignty over the Golan Heights, captured from Syria during a 1967 war; a tougher U.S. policy toward Iran; and Trump declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel, breaking with longstanding U.S. policy that Jerusalem's status should be decided in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

“I appreciated that,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” on Thursday, referring to Netanyahu's praise.

Trump has repeatedly urged that Israel with U.S. support “finish the job” in Gaza and destroy Hamas, but he hasn’t elaborated on how.

Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, Adriana Gomez Licon in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Jill Colvin in New York contributed. Knickmeyer reported from Washington. Price reported from New York.

Follow the AP's coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the Turning Point Believers' Summit, Friday, July 26, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens as he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks while meeting with Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - President Donald Trump, right, meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office, Sept. 15, 2020, at the White House in Washington. Trump is due to talk face-to-face with Netanyahu for the first time in nearly four years. The meeting Friday, July 26, 2024, at Mar-a-Lago will mend a break that has lasted since 2021. Trump at the time blasted Netanyahu for being one of the first leaders to congratulate President Joe Biden for his election victory. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)