The seventh race at Saratoga Race Course on the July 29 card was billed as the coming out party for the full brother to Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mage , a 2-year-old colt named Dornoch .
Instead, the juvenile sprint became another in a long list of maiden races at the Spa with Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas in the spotlight as the sport’s living legend sent out MyRaceHorse’s Seize the Grey to take the $105,000 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race for 2-year-olds by 1 1/4 lengths over a game Dornoch in a result that was highly popular with a segment of the crowd.
Even on wet day at the Spa, about 60 MyRaceHorse microshare owners jammed into the winner’s circle for a scene that, as Lukas explained, “is going to make a lot of photographers happy with the pictures they sell to the 1,000 owners.”
Gamblers were caught a bit off guard as the son of Arrogate was sent off at 16-1 odds in cruising over a sloppy and sealed track in 1:17.95 with jockey Jaime Torres aboard.
Bred by Jamm LTD in Kentucky, the son of the Smart Strike mare Smart Shopping was eighth in his July 1 debut at Ellis Park.
“I thought he might run better the second time. He was a little green and he didn’t like the pressure. I worked him on an off-track and maybe that helped. He looked very professional through the whole thing and that’s encouraging,” Lukas said.
Seize the Grey ($34.80) is the third of four foals from Smart Shopping and is a half brother to the stakes-placed Shoppingforpharoah . He was bought for $300,000 from the Mill Ridge Sales consignment at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton’s New York Sale of Select Yearlings. Smart Shopping has also produced a yearling Justify filly.
As for Dornoch, the 5-2 second choice, trainer Danny Gargan was pleased with the son of Good Magic ‘s effort on a wet track that he probably did not relish. The $325,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale buy owned by West Paces Racing, Randy Hill, Belmar Racing and Breeding, and Two Eights Racing was bumped at the start and broke slowly, then rushed up along the inside to be third after the opening quarter-mile.
“He was a little green along the inside. (Jockey Luis Saez) said he had a ton of a horse but he took the worst of it on the inside. We’re really pleased with him. First-time starters don’t have to win at Saratoga. I just wanted to get a race in him so he can go longer next time and show his natural talent. He’s not a sprinter.”
Gargan said he’s hopeful of finding a mile race for the son of the Big Brown mare Puca before the meet ends.
Lukas, on the other hand, could target a stakes like the closing day Sept. 4 Hopeful Stakes (G1) for Seize the Grey.
“You’re in a tough spot when you win a maiden race here because there are no allowance races for 2-year-olds,” said Lukas, an eight-time winner of the Hopeful. “So, you either run in a stakes or ship him out. We’ll talk with the thousand people involved with the horse and go from there.”
