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O’Neill enjoyed the victory by his filly Miss Lizzy and jockey Antonio Fresu in the $100,000 Mizdirection Stakes, a sprint down the hillside turf course, in front of a Preakness day crowd Saturday at Santa Anita.

The trainer best known for winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness with I’ll Have Another in 2012, and a second Derby with Nyquist in 2016, also seemed to enjoy watching the Preakness on TV and seeing D. Wayne Lukas-trained Seize the Grey score an upset.

“It’s fun to watch,” O’Neill said. “More fun to be there, but it’s a lot of fun to watch.”

O’Neill took the Preakness result as “validation” for his lightly raced colt Vlahos, who finished a close third to Seize the Grey in the Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby day.

At age 55, O’Neill also was pleased to see Lukas win his seventh Preakness at 88.

“It’s the beauty of being a trainer,” O’Neill said. “We can do it ’til … ’til we can’t.”

O’Neill, leading trainer at the Santa Anita Classic Meet that ran from December to April, and 18th in the nation in purse earnings with $2.4 million in 2024, won his barn’s fifth stakes of the year when Miss Lizzy won the first of her career.

Four-year-old Miss Lizzy rallied from last in the field of eight in the about 6 1/2-furlong Mizdirection to win by 1 3/4 lengths and pay $12.

Favorite Getthemoney finished second after she and jockey Juan Hernandez were unable to shake clear early. Chismosa and Lucky Girl were third and fourth. Those four all came out of the April 6 Monrovia Stakes, where they’d run second, third, sixth and fourth behind Ag Bullet.

O’Neill gave credit to Fresu, who rode his third winner of the afternoon. Fresu replaced Hector Berrios on Miss Lizzy and replicated their last-to-first win together in February.

“He kind of found a lane and pushed her on through,” O’Neill said. “She’s not a real big filly. I didn’t know if she’d have the guts to do that. (Fresu) showed that she did.”

Maybe a year from now O’Neill will be back at Pimlico.

“You want to be there (at a Triple Crown race) with a horse that’s got a chance,” O’Neill said. “This year we didn’t have one, but hopefully next. That’s the beauty of this sport. It’s hard to get depressed. You come to the barn and you think, ‘That could be the one.’

“We’ve got a few ‘That could be the ones.’”

“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 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, while third-place Catching Freedom 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.

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No, Mystik Dan doesn’t need a sloppy track – or “Seinfeld” character Cosmo Kramer’s comedic endorsement – in the Preakness on Saturday because the Kentucky Derby winner has raced and thrived in all kinds of conditions. But after initial favorite Muth was scratched mid-week and with rain in the forecast potentially mucking up the dirt, Mystik Dan looks like the horse to beat in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

To win, he’ll have to contend with Bob Baffert-trained Imagination, Brad Cox’s Catching Freedom and others in the field of eight.

“It’s not a given: We’ve got to run a good race,” Mystik Dan trainer Kenny McPeek said Thursday. “It’s still not an easy race. There’s no guarantees, and it’s a very humbling sport, but right now we’ve got everything in line.”

All eyes are on Mystik Dan after winning May 4 in the Derby’s first three-way photo finish since 1947, back when horse racing was the sport of kings and captured national attention more than a few times a year. A victory on Saturday would bring absurd hype if a Triple Crown is on the line June 8 in the Belmont Stakes, which is being held at historic Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York for the first time.

MUD MADNESS

That’s three weeks away and far from the minds of those around Mystik Dan, who are focused on putting all the pieces in place for another strong race in the Preakness. And while McPeek insists he is not worried about the weather because he cannot control it, exercise rider and two-time Preakness winner Robby Albarado is “doing a rain dance all this week” because Mystik Dan blew away the competition in the mud in the Southwest Stakes on Feb. 3.

“This colt, the only time he ran on an off track, he excelled,” assistant trainer Ray Bryner said. “It takes other horses’ races away from them. Usually if you’ve god a mudder, they don’t get slowed down much, whereas a lot of horses, they don’t take to kickback that well. They don’t feel as sure-footed in it, and they slip and slide a little bit.”

NO MUTH

Mystik Dan slipped into the favorite role after Muth, also trained by Baffert, who is looking for his record-extending ninth Preakness victory, was ruled out Wednesday for spiking a fever. Baffert said Friday Imagination is “going to have to step it up” to win.

Muth was expected to go out to the lead and set the pace for the others to follow, and Cox acknowledged his absence doesn’t necessarily help Catching Freedom, whose style is to come from behind as a closer.

“(Muth) was going to be right there, if not on the lead,” Brad’s son and Catching Freedom assistant trainer Blake Cox said. “It changes the pace scenario, and we’re going to need a setup to come running and hopefully some other people send out of (the gate quickly) and we can get a setup.”

It might benefit Mystik Dan, with jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. looking to again stalk the leaders from the inside and get another ground-saving trip along the rail.

“Brian’s a very talented, talented rider,” said Albarado, who won the Preakness for McPeek in 2020 with filly Swiss Skydiver and anticipates Hernandez taking a similar path. “He’ll have a couple audibles just in case something happens.”

The 1 3/16-mile distance may be just what Mystik Dan needs after almost being caught at the wire by hard-charging Sierra Leone and Forever Young in the Kentucky Derby, which is another quarter of a mile longer.

LONG-SHOT CHALLENGERS

NBC Sports’ Britney Eurton liked Mystik Dan’s chances all along, seeing consistent improvement from him race to race. Her upset pick is Chad Brown-trained Tuscan Gold.

“He knows how to win with a horse that did not run in the Kentucky Derby, and I know this horse is lightly raced,” Eurton said. “He really fits the profile.”

Brown has won the Preakness twice – Cloud Computing in 2017 and Early Voting in 2022 – and finished second once over the past seven years with a non-Derby horse. Butch Reid has his first Triple Crown starter in Uncle Heavy, who also was not at Churchill Downs.

The last horse to win the Preakness after falling short in the Derby was War of Will in 2019. Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas will try to replicate that with Just Steel and is also saddling Seize the Grey and figures the latter would perform better if it’s sloppy, while hoping it is not.

“I would prefer a dry track for both of them or at least a drying-out track,” the 88-year-old Lukas said. “I don’t care for the mud.”

It took him over a decade to secure victory No. 5, but when it happened, Gun Song made it look pretty easy down the stretch.

Velazquez rode Gun Song to a 3¼-length win Friday at Pimlico Race Course, taking the Black-Eyed Susan for the first time since 2012 with In Lingerie. He also won in 2005, 2003 and 1998.

Longshot Jeanne Marie showed early speed and was still challenging for the lead around the second turn, but after she finally weakened, nobody else provided much of a challenge for Gun Song toward the end of the 1-1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies, which takes place the day before the Preakness Stakes.

“She’s a horse that kind of waits, and I wanted to make sure to keep her mind running, and she actually opened up,” Velazquez said. “I didn’t know she was going to open up that much, but she did it nicely. I thought it was going to be a much faster pace, but it didn’t show up.”

Corposo and Call Another Play finished second and third, respectively.

There was no prohibitive favorite in the race, which was the 100th running of the Black-Eyed Susan. The morning line had Corposo (5-2) with the shortest odds, followed by Recharge (7-2), D. Wayne Lukas-trained Lemon Muffin (4-1) and Gun Song (9-2). By the time the race began, Gun Song was favored, followed by Corposo.

Recharge, trained by Steven Asmussen, finished last after bumping with Corposo early.

“I am very proud of her,” said Peter Eurton, Corposo’s trainer. “I thought she was done inside the quarter pole. She got a little more focused. She tends to look around and check things out. We are thinking she can build off this one.”

Gun Song, trained by Mark Hennig, paid $6.60, $3.80 and $2.80. She won in 1 minute, 51.39 seconds. Gun Song hadn’t raced since a fourth-place showing in the Gulfstream Park Oaks — her stakes debut — on March 30.

“Turning for home I could see she was pretty strong,” Hennig said. “Other than her last race, she always finishes very well. In my heart, I felt she was a good horse.”

Gun Song is the chestnut daughter of Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year who was elected to the Hall of Fame last month.

Other stakes winners Friday at Pimlico included Shotgun Hottie in the Allaire Dupont Distaff, She Feels Pretty in the Hilltop and Mystic Lake in the Miss Preakness. Future Is Now took the The Very One Stakes, and Pyrenees prevailed in the Pimlico Special.

For those on hand for the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, the fun starts with the weeklong buzz around that single barn housing every Preakness horse and horseman, and the old grandstand’s ramshackle charm, and the event’s place in the city’s rich sports history, and the crab dinners.

For bettors everywhere, it starts with the classic handicapping challenge of predicting if the Kentucky Derby winner and his rivals will handle the new track, new distance and new tactical dynamics, and if one of the “fresh” horses will spring a surprise.

A favorite Preakness handicapping memory, because it involves the best win bet I ever made on a major race: In the 2013 Kentucky Derby, an ultra-fast early pace tired the leaders and allowed Orb to rally from 17th and win. But in the Preakness two weeks later, fewer early speedsters were entered, and Oxbow took advantage by setting a comfortable pace to win and reward some of us with a 15-1 payoff while Orb clunked home fourth at 3-5.

“What I like most about wagering on the Preakness is how heavily the Kentucky Derby winner is wagered on (irrationally),” said Tom Quigley, Santa Anita’s VIP player concierge, host of the track’s simulcast handicapping seminars, and publisher of the old HorsePlayer Magazine.

Quigley noted in an email that horses who missed the Derby have won the past four runnings of the Preakness, and no betting favorite has won the Preakness since Triple Crown winner Justify in 2018.

I asked several horse-racing analysts, familiar to Southern California fans, about the Preakness handicapping puzzle in general and Saturday’s 149th Preakness specifically. Can Derby winner Mystik Dan and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. do it again? Is there an upset candidate after Bob Baffert-trained ?

Jon Lindo, the veteran public handicapper, radio broadcaster and horse owner, said you can tell a lot about the Preakness chances of a Derby winner like Mystik Dan by reading “trainer intent.”

“We know connections running in the Kentucky Derby have been pointing to that specific race for months, for the most part. The Preakness can be an afterthought,” Lindo said. “His trainer, Kenny McPeek, is on record saying the one time he wheeled Mystik Dan back quickly, he ran poorly, and that he believes he is best with time between starts.”

Frank Scatoni, the Santa Anita online handicapper, Del Mar seminar host and “Six Secrets of Successful Bettors” author, offered another caveat about Mystik Dan’s chances after .

“He was terrific in the Derby, but he was also very lucky,” Scatoni said. “And now he’ll have a target on his back.”

Jon White, the Santa Anita and Del Mar morning-line oddsmaker, pointed to yet another reason for bettors to cast a wide net: All eight Preakness horses will be racing at Pimlico for the first time.

“This makes it a guessing game as to whether or not a horse is going to like running on that particular surface,” White said.

Mystik Dan is the 8-5 favorite on Pimlico’s morning line, revised after original favorite Muth was scratched. Here are the odds for all of the horses, from the rail out: Mugatu 20-1, Uncle Heavy 20-1, Catching Freedom 7-2, Mystik Dan 8-5, Seize the Grey 12-1, Just Steel 12-1, Tuscan Gold 9-2 and Imagination 3-1.

Scatoni likes Tuscan Gold (ridden by Tyler Gaffalione for trainer Chad Brown), who finished third to Catching Freedom in the Louisiana Derby last time out and could improve in only his fourth career start.

“I’m a little disappointed that Muth has been scratched from the race because I was going to try and beat both him and the Derby winner,” said Scatoni, who liked the look of Tuscan Gold’s original 8-1 morning-line odds.

FanDuel TV racing commentator Kurt Hoover likes Imagination (with Frankie Dettori riding), who lost the Santa Anita Derby to Stronghold by a hard-fought neck and then missed the Kentucky Derby because of Churchill Downs’ ban on Baffert horses.

“The scratch of Muth obviously changes things dramatically, not only for storylines but also because I thought he’d be very tough to beat,” Hoover said. “I’m going to pick Imagination. I like the fight and tenacity he’s shown in all six of his starts. I’m a big fan of battle-tested horses.

“Also, the form of the Santa Anita Derby has held up very well. Stronghold ran fairly well in the Derby (coming in seventh) and two horses who finished off the board both came back to win their next start.”

In his weekly blog on Xpressbet.com, White also picked Imagination, seeing the son of leading North American sire Into Mischief as a consistent and improving horse in the hands of eight-time Preakness winner Baffert and an ownership group similar to that of 2023 Preakness winner National Treasure.

“Imagination’s tactical speed could be a major asset this Saturday in a race that isn’t expected to have a fast pace,” White wrote. “Breaking from the outside post, Imagination can race on or just off the early lead without it taking a toll on him.”

I’m with White, Hoover and Imagination.

The 1¼-mile Kentucky Derby saw a contested pace; the four horses who raced within a length of the early lead tired to finish 11th, 17th (Just Steel), 15th and 14th, while the top five finishers rallied from eighth, 17th, 16th, 15th (Catching Freedom) and 18th. The 1-3/16-mile Preakness is likely to be run quite differently, and the horse who can benefit most is Imagination, the only entrant who has won at the stakes level after racing close to the lead.

Such textbook Preakness handicapping has paid off before.

My picks: 1. Imagination, 2. Mystik Dan, 3. Just Steel.

Follow Kevin Modesti on X (formerly Twitter) @Kevin Modesti

(Through Thursday)

Jockeys / Wins

Kyle Frey / 13

Juan Hernandez / 12

Hector Berrios / 10

Umberto Rispoli / 10

Edwin Maldonado / 10

Antonio Fresu / 10

Trainers / Wins

Mark Glatt / 9

Jeff Mullins / 6

Librado Barocio / 6

Phil D’Amato / 6

Richard Baltas / 5

Craig Lewis / 5

Peter Miller / 5

John Sadler / 5

WEEKEND STAKES

SANTA ANITA

Saturday

• $100,000 Mizdirection Stakes, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, about 6½ furlongs on turf

Sunday

• $100,000 Desert Code Stakes, 3-year-olds, about 6½ furlongs on turf

LOS ALAMITOS

Sunday

• $30,000 Adequan California Derby Challenge, 3-year-old quarter horses, 400 yards

DOWN THE STRETCH

• Corposo, third in the Santa Anita Oaks for trainer Peter Eurton, is a 5-2 morning-line favorite with jockey Tyler Gaffalione for the $300,000, Grade II Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico on Friday. Among Californians entered on the Preakness undercard Saturday, Phil D’Amato has Beer Can Man seeking a repeat in the Jim McKay Turf Sprint and Balnikhov in the Dinner Party Stakes, and Bob Baffert has Mirahmadi in an allowance race.

• Miss Lizzy, Getthemoney, Lucky Girl and Chismosa – all of whom chased Ag Bullet in the Grade III Monrovia – are hard to separate going into the Mizdirection Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday. Get the Money and Juan Hernandez may control the pace.

• Eagles Flight, a 3-year-old by Curlin out of Feathered – and thus a half-brother of Flightline – is likely to debut before the end of the Santa Anita meet June 16, trainer John Sadler told a track publicist. Eagles Flight recorded his second fastest-of-the-morning workout Saturday, going 5 furlongs in 58-3/5 seconds. Flightline himself raced for the first time in April of his 3-year-old season in 2021 and went on to be Horse of the Year at 4 and retire undefeated in six starts.

• Turf Paradise will continue racing from November to May through at least 2027 under an agreement between owner Jerry Simms and horsemen, the Daily Racing Form was first to report. Simms said last year he planned to close the Phoenix track, but he was unable to sell the property.

• Golden Gate Fields, in Albany, California, is struggling to attract entries as it nears its permanent closing day on June 9. Cancellation of Friday racing on May 17 and 24, and Sunday racing on May 19, makes five days lost in the past two months.

• Cedar Hill and jockey Oscar Peinado won the Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity in a 13-1 upset at Los Alamitos on Sunday. Trained by Oklahoma-based Eddie Willis, the 2-year-old quarter horse broke fast and held off My Budd by a neck, while favorite Fear N Fridays had a rough start and came in ninth.

• There might not be an upset all year bigger than the win at 208-1 odds by Ten Happy Rose and unheralded jockey Akihide Tsumura in the $2 million, Group 1 Victoria Mile in Tokyo on Sunday. The 6-year-old mare, who had never won at close to this level, earned a “win and you’re in” entry in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 2.

— Kevin Modesti

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Mystik Dan is coming off winning the Derby by a nose in that race’s closest finish since 1947. Bob Baffert-trained Imagination and Brad Cox’s Catching Freedom appear to be the most formidable challenges in the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. Muth, who , was scratched Wednesday .

When is the race?

Post time for the Preakness is 3:50 p.m. PT Saturday.

What’s the forecast?

Rain throughout the early morning through afternoon hours Saturday, making a sloppy, muddy track a strong possibility. It’s expected to be about 60 degrees when the horses leave the starting gate.

How to watch

Coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. PT Friday, headlined by the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for 3-year-old fillies just before 3 p.m. (available on Peacock).

Coverage Saturday starts with undercard races beginning at 10:30 a.m. PT (CNBC, Peacock). The broadcast shifts to NBC at 1:30 p.m., with NBC Sports Audio (channel 85 on SiriusXM radio and the SiriusXM app) also beginning at that time. Telemundo Deportes will have Derby coverage in Spanish starting at 3:30 p.m. on Universo, and streaming on TelemundoDeportes.com and the Telemundo app.

What to watch

The Preakness has long been just as much a party as an American classic horse race. The infield, a scene that varies from Kentucky Derby-esque with fancy dresses, hats and cocktails to a concert stage and food and beer stands, will also have a post-race performance by Jack Harlow.

Who are the favorites?

Muth, who was ineligible to run in the Derby because of Churchill Downs’ ban on Baffert, was installed as the 8-5 favorite but spiked a 103-degree fever upon arriving at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

Mystik Dan, initially the 5-2 second choice, figures to become the favorite with Imagination and Catching Freedom, who has been feisty on the track this week, not far behind after each opening at 6-1.

What does the winner get?

The purse was upped this year to $2 million from $1.5 million, with the winner also taking home the Woodlawn Vase.

Go deeper

Horse racing continues to try to find solutions to a spate of deaths that stunned the sport last year, including one trained by Baffert who died at Pimlico hours before National Treasure gave him a record-breaking eighth Preakness victory.

The sport is at a crossroads because of safety questions and with reforms already underway, and Pimlico and Belmont Park are being torn down and rebuilt in the coming years as state-of-the-art facilities. And while racing is trying to adapt to the modern era with smaller tracks, viewership is still strong for the big days, including the biggest TV audience for the Kentucky Derby in 35 years.

Those viewers watching from afar or at Churchill Downs saw jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. deliver a flawless, rail-skimming ride to just ahead of Sierra Leone and Forever Young. He will look for a second victory in a Triple Crown race back aboard in the Preakness.

This is the final Preakness before a massive $400 million Pimlico reconstruction project begins early next year. The race will be held in Baltimore again next year in whatever state the track is in before moving to Laurel Park in 2026 with a return to Pimlico scheduled for 2027.