SEIZE THE GREY Born and Raised at Mill Ridge Farm
Saturday, May 18th, 2024 will be a day our family will remember for a long time. My six-year-old daughter, Caroline begged me to let her sit on my knee during the race, propped against the half wall, overlooking the muddy Pimlico track. As the field for the Preakness (Grade 1) galloped by us the first time around, I couldn’t help but feel a little confidence rise as SEIZE THE GREY took a comfortable lead going into the first turn.
Down the backside of the race, my attention turned to the infield televisions, the drum line of excitement started to crescendo at the top of the stretch, seeing a clean Jaime Torres and a SEIZE THE GREY, responding to his encouragement. With a sixteenth of a mile to go and a MYSTIK DAN wanting to threaten, Caroline flew from my knee to be bounced, squeezed, and celebrated under my arm as the yelling and rooting transitioned to high-fives and hugs as SEIZE THE GREY won and became the 149th Preakness Champion! If you can imagine how Baloo carries Mowgli under his arm, that’s the image I have of how Caroline was held, backward and just along for the ride!
Born, raised, and sold by the Mill Ridge Farm team and mated by Mill Ridge’s consulting arm, Nicoma Bloodstock, SEIZE THE GREY is our 39th Grade 1 winner raised or sold by Mill Ridge and second Preakness winner (POINT GIVEN) since 2000. The colt by ARROGATE out of SMART SHOPPING was bred by Audie Otto’s JAMM, LTD, a commercial breeding enterprise started by her mother Tolie decades ago.
From the stands, we made our way across the track to see SEIZE THE GREY return and be celebrated with his blanket of black-eyed susans. Standing with my family and Audie, who is like family, was such a proud moment as I knew I was there on behalf of the hundreds of people who worked together as an unrecognized collective to make this dream a reality.
In the days that have followed, we have had many requests to understand how SEIZE THE GREY came to be a Classic winner. In the words of Paul Harvey, I will try and describe “the rest of the story…”
1. The Mating
My dad, Headley Bell, started his Bloodstock Agency-Nicoma Bloodstock in the late 1970s. He has had a phenomenal career with his matings, which is the recommendation of a stallion to a mare’s owner. Dad has produced two Horses of the Year, two Kentucky Derby winners, and now, one Preakness winner, all within the last 20 years. Bloodstock agents combine a rich understanding of horse pedigree, conformation, and racing industry knowledge to match horses with the best chance of developing successful progeny.
Dad worked with Tolie Otto, the matriarch of the Otto family, to purchase the grandmother of SEIZE THE GREY, SHOP AGAIN, in 2007. She was a successful producer from the beginning. When SMART SHOPPING was born in 2013 the intention was to race her and dream of breeding from her someday.
SMART SHOPPING demonstrated great ability on the track, winning as a two-year-old at Churchill Downs. In fact, she inspired her trainer Brendan Walsh so much that she was training for the Kentucky Oaks before being sidelined by injury. Once retired Dad, Tolie, and Audie set out to find the right stallion to breed to this promising young mare.
When ARROGATE retired to stud, like many we were very excited. He was a brilliant racehorse with an exciting and complementary pedigree. Physically, he was a very fast, tall, big, and handsome horse. When Dad recommended to mate SMART SHOPPING with ARROGATE, he was trying to breed some size to complement her physically. From a pedigree standpoint, we loved the ingredients his pedigree provided as a complement to SMART SHOPPING. Finally, it was a year in which ARROGATE’s stud fee was reduced, which is customary as stallions progress in their careers to have a fee reduction in their third crop. This reduction felt like value because we believed so much in the stallion.
2. The Breeder
My grandmother’s Mill Ridge legacy wasn’t just about her understanding of the horse and her dedication to the industry. It was also her ability to form lifelong bonds and friendships with breeders, clients, and her beloved Lexington community.
Tolie Otto, a thoroughbred horse breeder who formed JAMM Ltd., was one such friend. So close in fact, that Tolie moved to Lexington in order to be closer to my grandmother and grandfather. Audie Otto, Tolie’s daughter, has carried on her mother’s legacy of maintaining a highly curated boutique broodmare band. SEIZE THE GREY is Audie’s first Grade One winner bred, since her mother’s passing in 2023. To see the culmination of the careful planning so many years earlier is quite remarkable.
3. Time on the Farm
Our farm is comprised of 900 acres in Lexington Kentucky, and a team of forty people. Our team’s philosophy is that horses are allowed to be horses. We understand that nature and nurture both play significant roles in the lives of horses, just like people.
Seize the Grey was born on April 20th, 2021. At birth, he was a lovely chestnut (red/blond), grey color, with a long narrow white blaze on his face. We teach young horses daily to work with humans while balancing their natural instinct to compete. Since horses are both herd and prey animals, our team has patient hands and a guiding touch to help all horses on the farm trust us. It is this foundation of trust and confidence in the herd that we strive for at the farm.
SEIZE THE GREY as a foal, with his mother, SMART SHOPPING at Mill Ridge Farm
By late August 2021, SEIZE THE GREY had matured to the point of being separated from SMART SHOPPING. He and his other 2021-born friends like Kentucky Derby starter, ENDLESSLY, moved to the yearling side of the farm where they would enjoy their first winter and spring together.
4. Sale
The Otto family are commercial breeders. This means they breed horses to sell to buyers who race. There are a variety of sales options for yearlings. Because of SEIZE THE GREY’s size and athleticism, we were led by the team at Fasig Tipton to offer him at the Saratoga Select sale in 2022. He arrived on a Wednesday morning in early August and by the following Monday, he had been shown to 164 groups and was purchased by Roderick Wachman on behalf of the MyRacehorse company for $300,000.
This was a great sale because it well exceeded our reserve price. We were excited that he was purchased by MyRacehorse so we could share the farm and journey along with the thousands of owners. Many owners of SEIZE THE GREY are Mill Ridge fans, from our pandemic-era virtual tours, so to share the Preakness victory with so many Mill Ridge fans who are now owners of SEIZE THE GREY is just icing on the cake.
5. Learning to be a Racehorse
After MyRacehorse purchased SEIZE THE GREY, he went on to train at Wavertree Stables in Ocala, Florida. Ocala is known for pre-training in the same way that Lexington is known for thoroughbred breeding.
In a Bloodhorse interview, MyRacehorse Experience Manager (and daughter of Wavertree Stables owners) Caitlin Dunne said of SEIZE THE GREY, "He was kind of a chubby little ARROGATE colt. I think for a little bit my dad got nervous that he wouldn't grow."
In this phase of their development, horses learn to be ridden. The process of accepting a rider on their back is all about patience and trust. The team at the Dunne Family’s Wavertree stables is as good as it gets at developing young racehorses. I will often use the analogy that if you want to play in the NFL you want to play SEC football first. Wavertree can certainly be compared to Alabama or any other SEC football program in their development of young talent to prepare them for “the big leagues”.
6. Trainer
There is no trainer like D. Wayne Lukas. With 15 Triple Crown race victories, 88-year-old Lukas has trained winners of the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and The Preakness. SEIZE THE GREY became Lukas’ seventh Preakness win to his name.
Lukas is such a good trainer because of his understanding of horses, of athletes, and how to lead a team to develop the best in any athlete. As athletes, horses win races when they are happy and healthy. The difference between trainers is the quality of horses they have to work with and their ability to help their horses be happy and healthy. D. Wayne Lukas is second to none.
7. Jockey
Jockey Jaime Torres and SEIZE THE GREY after winning the (G2) Pat Day Mile on May 4, 2024, at Churchill Downs.
Jaime Torres rode SEIZE THE GREY to perfection. I can only equate his ride to Michael Jordan demanding the ball as a freshman to win the NCAA tournament. Jaime just started riding horses a handful of years ago. It’s really unfathomable that last weekend’s Preakness was his first-ever Triple Crown race, let alone his first G1 win!
When the gates opened, Jaime sat very still and gave a subtle encouragement for SEIZE THE GREY to go forward to seek the lead. Once in position, he stayed very calm and steady. He gave subtle encouragement when competition approached and SEIZE THE GREY would separate– ever so slightly–from any challengers.
This is the perfect ride for a speed horses because it frustrates the horses behind trying to pass. He saved enough energy that when they turned for home, SEIZE THE GREY was able to kick clear and win with ease!
8. What’s next?
SEIZE THE GREY exited the Preakness in great order. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has been most complimentary of his energy level and confidence since the race. He has returned home to his base in Louisville, at Churchill Downs, where he will likely continue to train for the next several days before heading to Saratoga Springs, for the Belmont on June 8th! If you would like to learn more and follow along with the journey please subscribe to our newsletter.
Visit us!
Want to experience the thoroughbred racehorse journey firsthand? Have you ever fed a carrot to a thoroughbred broodmare or foal, like SMART SHOPPING and SEIZE THE GREY? Here’s your chance! We schedule group tours and private showings through Visit Horse Country. We’d love to see you at Mill Ridge Farm.