Preakness winner Seize The Grey will run the Belmont Stakes, Mystik Dan undecided
The expected field of contenders for the Belmont Stakes could make this the most anticipated race of the season
The winners of the Preakness Stakes and Kentucky Derby are headed to Saratoga ahead of the 2024 Belmont Stakes, but only one has been confirmed for the final leg of the Triple Crown.
After winning the Preakness on a muddy track at Pimlico, Seize The Grey will run the $2 million race on June 8.
“We’re going to go in the Belmont,” Seize The Grey trainer D. Wayne Lukas told reporters. “He’s great, recovered remarkably well.”
Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan has already arrived in New York to train for the Belmont, though just like after the Run for the Roses, his team is taking things slowly.
Mystik Dan arrived in good order. We will not be making any decisions any time soon. Myself and the team will have some time around him, then we will discuss with the owners about a plan for his summer and fall races https://t.co/F4UiJHeVWO
— Kenny McPeek (@KennyMcPeek) May 20, 2024
If both Seize The Grey and Mystik Dan — who finished second at the Preakness — are able to run, there’s a chance the Belmont could be the most anticipated race of the big three. That’s thanks to a field likely to include Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone and Derby contenders Dornoch, Fierceness and Honor Marie. Preakness contender Tuscan Gold may also wind up in the field.
If for some reason Mystik Dan is unable to run, McPeek may enter Thorpedo Anna, the fillie who won the Kentucky Oaks.
“That might the best race of the three,” Lukas said of the Belmont.
Traditionally held at Belmont Park, the famed track’s spring/summer meet has relocated to the iconic Saratoga Race Course due to renovations in Elmont. The Belmont Stakes will run at 1 1/4 miles on June 8.