The storms had passed, and it was a perfect June morning Monday as Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas came off the track at Churchill Downs and rode to his nearby barn.
In his cozy, photo-filled office, he discussed Seize the Grey, the Preakness winner who is pointed to the Belmont, and other stakes winners for the latest in Horse Racing Nation’s Barn Tour feature.
Seize the Grey. After winning the Grade 1 Pat Day Mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard, the Arrogate colt led at every call in the Preakness to win by 2 1/4 lengths. “He actually rebounded from the Preakness better than we could have hoped,” Lukas said. “His energy level is really well up there, and he’s been very, very sound and working towards that next race in three weeks. I think it’s going to be no problem for him. We feel real good that we’re going to get another good effort. We should be optimistic from what we see. The mile and a quarter I always thought was a better distance anyhow. I never was a fan of the mile-and-a-half, so I definitely think that will help us.”
Lukas said Seize the Grey is laid back and really easy to be around. “That paddock at Pimlico is really bad, the glass is right there and people get excited and are pushing on the glass, right on top of the horses and everything. And he handles all that kind of stuff beautifully. They go across to get up on the infield grass course, and he walked over there flat-footed and probably thought we were going to graze him. He really is a joy to be around.”
Just Steel. The Justify colt entered the Kentucky Derby off a second-place finish to Muth in the Arkansas Derby (G1), but he was bumped hard early and finished 17th. After a fifth-place finish in the Preakness, he had surgery for a condylar fracture, and Dr. Larry Bramlage said it went well. “Dr. Brumlage was very optimistic that he will be OK. … Sixty days and we’re going to re-X-ray. It’s a pretty quick turnaround, not bad at all. … If he comes back like they think he will, we’ll put him in back into a race career.”
Lemon Muffin. The Collected filly won the Honeybee (G3) and went on to finish eighth in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and fifth in the Black-Eyed Susan (G2). “Lemon Muffin has been in and out. I’m not sure what causes that. She’s inconsistent. If she brings her A game, she’s very good. But she hasn’t always shown up, and I don’t know really why that is. She will go ahead and have a brilliant work in the morning. And you would say she’s on her target to put her in the race, and she gives half that effort. So we’re still trying to put the keys together on her. She’s a really nice filly and has got a lot of talent if I can get it directed in the right direction. She’s right here, she’s training every day – she worked today … I’m going to go a little further along with her and then probably pick out her race. I might even run her in her conditions, see if that gives her a little confidence.”
Lady Moscato. The 3-year-old Quality Road filly broke her maiden in March at Oaklawn on her ninth try and then scored in an optional-claiming allowance there. Then came off-the-board finishes in the Eight Belles (G2) and Miss Preakness (G3). “A lot of talent. She’s a little bit, I don’t want to say delicate, but she doesn’t want to have her races too close together. I’m trying to find out. She’s got a lot of ability. She ran a couple of real good ones, and then that next one wasn’t so good. So we’ll probably end up spacing her little bit. She’s definitely stakes-quality top to bottom. Beautiful filly, beautiful pedigree. And we’ll keep going into stakes brackets with her.”
Track Mate. The 4-year-old son of Union Rags tried stakes company after two wins at Oaklawn and finished eighth in the Churchill Downs (G1). “We’ll probably end up keeping him in that six- to seven-furlong type stakes. He’s a beautiful horse really. Conformation-wise, he’s just a knockout. And he’s got a lot of ability. When he brings his A game, he can run with any of them. And so we’ll pick a stake out here, maybe towards the end of the meet here or at Ellis and see if we can keep him going in that direction.”
Bourbon Bash. The 4-year-old gelding by City of Light finished second in a black-type stakes at Churchill Downs before trying graded company and finishing sixth in the Maryland Sprint (G3). “Very, very talented horse, but he doesn’t, I think, want to be pushed and have his races too close together. I’ve actually turned him out for a little bit. I thought at Pimlico, he lightened up and he got a little bit too light for me. If I think about it, going forward with him he might have got real light. So I kicked him out and we’ll put about 50 to 100 pounds on him and let him rest up a little bit, get some grass. And then we’ll bring him back.”
Backyard Money. The 5-year-old Midshipman mare has a record of 7: 1-2-1 this year and was scratched from Monday’s Winning Colors (G3). “Backyard Money is really solid. I’d like to have 10 of her. She shows up every time. She’s a really good, hard-trying filly, just a cut below the really good ones but really a moneymaker. Really a nice filly to have in the barn. I wish I had more like her.”
Like most trainers, Lukas was reluctant to discuss his 2-year-olds.
“I don’t like putting them out there and bragging on them until they show me a little something more,” he said.
But he said he has 14 juveniles at Churchill Downs with two more to come in. Their sires include Justify, Into Mischief and Gun Runner.
“We’re optimistic and feel great about them.”