BALTIMORE — D. Wayne Lukas has said it for years. There is just something special about the Preakness.
"The thing here, there is a lot of camaraderie and it’s fun to be here," said the 88-year-old hall of fame trainer. "It seems like a little bit of the tension and intensity of the Kentucky Derby leaves and we come in here and we have a little bit more fun with the whole thing."
Fun is something Lukas hopes he has plenty of on Saturday. He has two horses running in the 149th Preakness: Just Steel and Seize the Grey.
"Seize the Grey probably will be up with the pace setters. I look for him to get into the race and probably dictate a little bit of that," said Lukas. "The other horse, Just Steel, should be fairly close."
Just Steel finished 17th in the Kentucky Derby. This weekend he won’t have to battle as many competitors.
"We are only talking about an eight horse field, dropping back from 20 horses in the Derby. So, it’s going to change everything a little bit with that for the better. I would rather run in a smaller field," said Lukas.
Lukas added he thinks it should be an honest race. But it won’t be one run with Muth. The Bob Baffert trained horse was the morning-line favorite and was scratched on Wednesday because of a fever.
"I would have liked to have seen him in here. I would have liked to have seen Muth take on the Derby winner (Mystik Dan) and our horses, too," said Lukas. "I have never shied away from competition. Frankly, I wish he would have been okay. But, a temperature, he’ll overcome that and he’ll be back."
Lukas has won the Preakness six times. The last time was in 2013 with Oxbow.
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