PIMLICO: BLACK-EYED SUSAN DAY STAKES PREVIEWS

By David Joseph —-

Multiple G1 Winner Shaman Ghost Takes Aim at Pimlico Special (G3)

One of Seven Stakes, Four Graded, Worth $1.15 Million in Purses Friday

Black-Eyed Susan Day Marks Return of Ultimate Girls Day Out

BALTIMORE – Boasting a resume that already includes some of the most prestigious races in the world, Stronach Stable’s Shaman Ghost will be favored to add one more in Friday’s $300,000 Xpressbet Pimlico Special at historic Pimlico Race Course.

The 47th running of the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special for 3-year-olds attracted a solid field of 10 as one of seven stakes, four graded, worth $1.15 million in purses on a 14-race Black-Eyed Susan Day program that includes the return of the Ultimate Girls Day Out, an entire afternoon dedicated to the spirit and strength of women. First race post time is 11:30 a.m.

Shaman Ghost enters the Pimlico Special off a three-quarter-length victory in the 1 ¼-mile Santa Anita Handicap (G1) March 11, his second start of the year. He opened his 5-year-old campaign finishing a decisive second to champion Arrogate in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park.

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens was particularly impressed with Shaman Ghost’s performance in California, given that he didn’t feel the bay son of Ghostzapper was enamored by Santa Anita’s main track.

“He ran good, and I didn’t really think he cared for it, either,” he said. “The track was kind of hard for him and I don’t think he was crazy about the track. It just shows his gameness.”

After the race Jerkens kept Shaman Ghost in a holding pattern until he and Frank Stronach, also Pimlico’s owner, determined where to run next. Shaman Ghost has worked six times following his return from California, five since leaving South Florida for New York.

“He came out of the last race good. We were kind of idling along and not knowing when his next start was going to be. Luckily I kept him kind of going, and we didn’t stop on him or anything like that,” Jerkens said. “I kept him breezing a little bit in case something popped up. Mr. Stronach decided he wanted to run at Pimlico. He’s been running every couple months and it’s kind of been working out so he wanted to stick to that. It was fine with me.”

Shaman Ghost raced only five times last year, winning the Brooklyn (G2) and Woodward (G1), where he Mubtaahij and Frosted were each separated by a head. As a sophomore he won the Queen’s Plate, Canada’s equivalent of the Kentucky Derby (G1), and was second by a neck in the second leg of its Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales, before ankle surgery ended his season. Still, he was voted the Sovereign Award as Canada’s champion 3-year-old colt.

“Knock on wood, everything’s good,” Jerkens said. “The mile and three-sixteenths shouldn’t be a big deal for him. He’s won going a mile and a half, he’s won going a mile and a quarter and he’s won going a mile and an eighth. I don’t see how a mile and three-sixteenths is that big a difference.”

Jerkens also entered Dede McGehee’s Dolphus, a 4-year-old half-brother to Hall of Fame mare and 2009 Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra. The son of 2010 Preakness winner Lookin At Lucky joined Jerkens after finishing last of nine in the Hal’s Hope (G3) Jan. 14 at Gulfstream and was fourth by 1 ½ lengths in the Stymie March 12 before a front-running allowance win going a mile April 23, both at Aqueduct.

“He won a two-other-than and then they ran him in [the Hal’s Hope] and he broke bad and rushed up and went too fast and stopped real bad. Then the lady sent him to me,” Jerkens said. “He ran very well in the Stymie, then he won the three-other-than going a mile out of the chute. We didn’t know where else to run him. Without any conditions it’s kind of tough to find a spot after that, so we thought he might lay up close and maybe get brave on the lead and get something.”

Hall of Famer-elect Javier Castellano will ride Shaman Ghost from Post 6 at highweight of 124 pounds. Rajiv Maragh has the call on Dolphus from Post 1 at 118.

John Oxley’s Grade 1 winner Noble Bird is entered to defend his title in the Pimlico Special, where he led all the way in an 11 ¼-length romp under Julien Leparoux. The 6-year-old son of 2004 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Birdstone is winless in four starts since taking the Fayette (G2) last fall at Keeneland.

Noble Bird is trained by Canadian Hall of Famer Mark Casse, who has 2016 juvenile champion Classic Empire set to go in the 142nd Preakness Stakes (G1) Saturday off a troubled fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.

On the day before he runs Illinois Derby (G3) winner Multiplier in the Preakness, Kentucky-based trainer Brendan Walsh will send out Conquest Windycity for the Pimlico Special. A son of two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner and Hall of Famer Tiznow, Conquest Windycity won a 1 1/16-mile second-level allowance at Keeneland by 4 ½ lengths in his prior start, his second of the year.

“His last run was very good,” Walsh said. “He ran a huge number. We think highly of him and we’re going to go there and take a shot. It seems like he’s training really well at the moment and doing really well. When they’re like that, you’ve got to take a shot.”

Godolphin Racing’s Watershed became a graded stakes winner in his most recent effort, a 2 ¾-length score in the 1 1/8-mile Ben Ali (G3) April 15 at Keeneland. The victory came one start after a failed turf experiment where the 5-year-old son of 2006 Preakness winner Bernardini got bottled up in traffic and ran ninth, beaten two lengths, in the Mac Diarmida (G2) at Gulfstream.

Watershed’s trainer, Kiaran McLaughlin, won the 2006 Pimlico Special with eventual Horse of the Year and 2013 Hall of Famer Invasor.

“We wanted to try the turf because he had never tried the turf out of an all-turf female family. He ran very well but we felt like his dirt races were better, so we went back to the dirt,” McLaughlin said. “He was willing last time and we were very happy with the race he ran. But, this one is going to be a little tougher with Shaman Ghost. We’re happy. He looks good and he’s doing well so we’re pointing that way.”

Trainer Neil Howard, trainer of 2003 Pimlico Special winner Mineshaft, returns with W.S. Farish’s Eagle, second to Watershed in defense of his 2016 Ben Ali victory, his best finish from three starts this year.

Rounding out the field are multiple stakes winners Bodhisattva, most recently fourth in the Charles Town Classic (G2) April 22, and Fellowship, an impressive allowance winner April 16 at Laurel in his first start in 11 months; Name Changer, a winner of two straight but unraced since the Richard W. Small Nov. 19 at Laurel Park; and Trin-Brook Stables’ Discreet Lover, a front-running allowance winner April 29 at Parx.

The Pimlico Special was created in 1937 by Alfred Vanderbilt, the master of Sagamore Farm, as the first major stakes in the United States set up as an invitational. War Admiral, carrying 128 pounds as a 3-year-old, won the inaugural running, then was upset by Seabiscuit the following year in what was termed the “Race of the Century” by Sports Illustrated.

The Special was discontinued after 1958 but revived in 1988 by the late Maryland Jockey Club president Frank De Francis. Its winners include Triple Crown champions Whirlaway, Citation and Assault and modern-day Horses of the Year Criminal Type, Cigar, Skip Away, Mineshaft and Invasor.

Team Casse Hoping for ‘Luck’ in $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2)

Summer Luck Aiming for First Graded Win in 3-Year-Old Filly Event

Summer Luck didn’t get the scratch she needed to run in the overflow Kentucky Oaks (G1), but her team is looking forward to Gary Barber’s 3-year-old filly getting the chance to become a graded-stakes winner in Friday’s $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) at historic Pimlico Race Course.

The daughter of 2010 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Lookin At Lucky won on her second attempt last fall in Kentucky, then had a pair of thirds and a close fourth in three stakes at Gulfstream. Summer Luck tried to close behind a crawling pace when fifth in Keeneland’s Ashland (G1).

“She’s doing really well,” said Norman Casse, son of and assistant to trainer Mark Casse, who also entered Barber and Bobby Flay’s Corporate Queen in the 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan. “We wanted to run her in the Kentucky Oaks. She came back and worked really well. The pace in the Ashland was probably too slow for her liking. We really think she’s a legit horse, and we’re excited to have the opportunity to run her in the Black-Eyed Susan.”

The 93rd running of the Black-Eyed Susan, Maryland’s premier event for 3-year-old fillies, highlights a 14-race program that features six stakes, four graded, worth $1.15 million, including the $300,000 Xpressbet Pimlico Special (G3), $150,000 Allaire DuPont (G3) and $150,000 Adena Springs Miss Preakness (G3). First post is 11:30 a.m.

Full House was third in Aqueduct’s 1 1/8-mile Gazelle (G2) behind a pair of Kentucky Oaks fillies in Miss Sky Warrior, the Gazelle’s 13-length winner, and Lockdown.

“The track was very speed-favoring,” said Jimmy Jerkens, trainer of Full House. “She got bothered pretty bad on the first turn. Paco (Lopez on Miss Sky Warrior) crossed over and was the favorite to get the lead. She won so easy that they’re not going to take a horse down that won by a pole, but she did saw us off pretty good. She got shuffled back and was unsettled, because when you’ve got a full head of steam and then get shut off it kinds of get them all discombobulated. It was a better effort that it looked on paper.”

Moana, stablemate of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Always Dreaming, will try to make the jump from maiden winner at Keeneland in her second start to graded-stakes winner. The daughter of Uncle Mo worked a half-mile in 48 4/5 seconds Sunday at Pimlico, with trainer Todd Pletcher getting her in splits of 13 and 25 2/5 and out in 1:01 1/5 under Nick Bush.
Video Moana Sunday morning: https://youtu.be/0N8O-bSGFiQ
“The main attraction here is the mile and an eighth distance; we feel like that’s what she’s looking for,” Pletcher said. “It’s kind of an ambitious move from a maiden race but we’ve always thought a lot of her.”

Pletcher also entered Lights of Medina, who earned an automatic berth in the Black-Eyed Susan by virtue of her victory in the Weber City Miss April 22 at Laurel Park in her stakes debut.

Churchill Downs-based Torrent comes into the Black-Eyed Susan off what trainer Ron Moquett calls a “deceptively good fourth” after being carried extremely wide in Oaklawn Park’s Fantasy (G3).

“I think she’s going to have a coming out party this race,” Moquett said.

Shimmering Aspen makes her stakes and two-turn debut after winning a pair of sprint allowance races at trainer Rodney Jenkins’ Laurel base. The daughter of Malibu Moon finished third in her first start last August, then easily won a maiden race before being off seven months.

The 122-pound highweight is Dancing Rags, winner of last year’s Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland. In her only start this year, Dancing Rags ran sixth in Keeneland’s Beaumont (G3).

Rounding out the field are Yorkiepoo Princess, winner of three stakes at Aqueduct over the winter but eighth in the Gazelle; Tampa Bay Downs’ Suncoast winner Tapa Tapa Tapa, and Actress.

Ben’s Cat Going for Fifth Straight Win in $100,000 Maker’s Mark Jim McKay

G1 Winner Victory to Victory Looks to Extend Streak in $100,000 Hilltop

Clipthecouponannie Back at Favorite Distance in $100,000 Skipat

Popular Maryland-bred multi-millionaire Ben’s Cat will have to end one streak to continue another as the 11-year-old gelding seeks his fifth straight victory in Friday’s $100,000 Maker’s Mark Jim McKay Turf Sprint at historic Pimlico Race Course.

The 12th running of Jim McKay for 3-year-olds and up at five furlongs on the grass is one of seven stakes, four graded, worth $1.15 million in purses on a 14-race Black-Eyed Susan Day program that includes the $100,000 Hilltop, also on turf, and $100,000 Skipat at six furlongs on dirt, both for females 3 and up.

Black-Eyed Susan Day also marks the return the Ultimate Girls Day Out, an entire afternoon dedicated to the spirit and strength of women. First race post time is 11:30 a.m.

Bred, owned and trained by Hall of Fame horseman King Leatherbury, Ben’s Cat has lost a career-high six straight races dating back to his neck triumph in last year’s Jim McKay, a race he has won five of the last six years. Previously, he had never lost more than three consecutive starts.

The storied career of Ben’s Cat includes 32 wins from 61 starts and 26 stakes victories, four of them in Grade 3 company, with a lifetime bankroll topping $2.6 million. Fifteen wins and more than $1.5 million have come at the McKay distance on a Pimlico course where he has won seven of 10 career starts.

“He’s a racehorse. He’s sound. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t run, unless he’s just getting beaten too badly,” Laurel Park-based Leatherbury said. “How can I pass up a race that he’s won five out of six times? You have to run just because he belongs in the race. It’d be a very pleasant surprise if he won it, but you never can tell.”

Ben’s Cat returned from his annual winter vacation to run fifth, beaten less than a length, in an open 5 ½-furlong allowance on Laurel’s world-class turf course April 16. He drew the rail and found himself in tight quarters until deep stretch, and was unable to utilize his late kick.

“He came out of the last race good. I wasn’t satisfied with the race because the one post hurt us. We couldn’t get out to make a move. He had to sit there so long and were able to make a move at the end, but it was too late,” Leatherbury said. “It wasn’t the horses that I was worried about as much as the trip. We should have beat those kind of horses, so I was disappointed we didn’t. Now we’ll go on to the race. It’ll be very difficult because he’s not supposed to win this all the time.”

Jockey Trevor McCarthy, who took over as Ben’s Cat’s regular rider last year and won his 1,000th career race May 13 at Monmouth Park, will be aboard from Post 5 at 118 pounds.

Ben’s Cat will have to contend with an overflow field of 16 entered including South Florida-based stakes-winning speedball Pay Any Price, trained by Ralph Ziadie. He will run in the name of Tampa-based trainer Gerald Bennett, in town to run R Angel Katelyn in the $150,000 Adena Springs Miss Preakness (G3) Friday.

Claimed for $25,000 last summer, Pay Any Price has won three of four starts this year, all in front-running fashion at Gulfstream Park. The 7-year-old Wildcat Heir gelding upset six-time stakes winner and two-time defending champion Power Alert and 2015 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) winner Mongolian Saturday in the Silks Run March 11, rolling to a 3 ¼-length victory in a track-record 53.61 seconds. He returned to take a starter optional claimer by 1 ¾ lengths April 14 last time out.

“I thought it was a pretty good race that he ran [in the Silks Run]. I didn’t expect him to set the track record but I wasn’t surprised with the way he ran. I was expecting him to run a good race,” Ziadie said. “We’re hoping to win, let’s put it that way. He’s been doing pretty good. A big field shouldn’t affect him too much, hopefully. He’s pretty quick.”

Edgard Zayas ships in from Florida to ride Pay Any Price from Post 4 at 118 pounds.

Amelia’s Wild Ride, a Grade 3 winner in 2015 that has gone unraced in 14 months; stakes winners Take Cover and Richard’s Boy; Alpha Slew, Grandiflora, Grand Candy, Uncle Youdge, Triple Burner, Made Bail, Black Jet, M C Squared, Platinum Prince, Tale of E Dubai and Cyclogenesis are also entered. Tale of E Dubai and Cyclogenesis need late defections to draw into the field.

G1 Winner Victory to Victory Looks to Extend Streak in $100,000 Hilltop

Live Oak Plantation’s Victory to Victory, upset winner of the Natalma (G1) last fall at Woodbine in what would turn out to be her final race of 2016, goes after her third straight triumph in the $100,000 Hilltop.

Each of Victory to Victory’s last two wins have come at the Hilltop’s one-mile distance. Trained by nine-time Sovereign Award winner Mark Casse, Victory to Victory was a good-looking gate-to-wire winner of a Keeneland allowance to open her 3-year-old campaign April 23.

The race was the first for Victory to Victory since the Natalma, after which she had to be scratched from a planned start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) with a hoof abscess.

“We were really impressed with her allowance race at Keeneland,” said Casse’s son and top assistant Norman. “We knew she’d run well, and she certainly didn’t disappoint. And she’s trained great since then. We’re really excited to get her back in stakes company and think she’s really primed to have a big year.”

Among her challengers are a pair of horses from Glyndon, Md.-based Sagamore Racing, Chubby Star and Follow No One. Off the board in a pair of stakes tries last fall, Chubby Star has a third, a second and a half-length entry-level allowance win April 7 at Keeneland in three starts this year.

Follow No One is coming off a runner-up finish in a Gulfstream Park allowance March 12, her first try against winners following a 1 ¾-length maiden claiming win Feb. 1 at the South Florida track, which came at the Hilltop’s one mile.

The Hilltop attracted a field of 13 including Dance Queen, unbeaten in two career starts; stakes winner Compelled, coming off back-to-back Grade 3 placings; stakes winners Dynatail and Happy Mesa; Romantic Music, stakes-placed My Sweet Stella from six-time Preakness winner D. Wayne Lukas, Corporate Queen, Priss, Grade 3-placed Sweeping Paddy, and maiden winner Mercy Ann.

Clipthecouponannie Back at Favorite Distance in $100,000 Skipat

One day before he saddles Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Always Dreaming in the 142nd Preakness Stakes (G1), trainer Todd Pletcher cuts Repole Stable’s Clipthecouponannie back to her favorite distance in the $100,000 Skipat.

The 4-year-old daughter of Uncle Mo is undefeated in three tries at six furlongs, winning the Franklin Square against fellow New York-breds last February at Aqueduct. She saw her overall win streak end at four with her first career loss in the seven-furlong Distaff Handicap (G3) April 9, just her second start in 14 months.

“I thought she ran well. It was her first time in open company stakes. I thought she ran hard,” Pletcher said. “She might be a little better suited for this distance. Essentially she’s run well every time and I thought she did last time, as well, despite not winning. Six furlongs seems to be her forte.”

Multiple stakes winner Lovable Lady, based at Pimlico with trainer Mary Eppler, has never been worse than third in 10 lifetime tries at six furlongs, winning four times, three of them in Laurel stakes including one turf. She won her last race on her home track, a third-level optional claimer also at three-quarters of a mile.

Completing the field are Absatootly, upset winner of the Primonetta April 22 at Laurel; multiple stakes winner Sweet On Smokey, fourth in the Primonetta; Grade 3-placed Stormy Sky; multiple stakes-placed Summer Reading, Chanteline and Disco Chick; and Pleasant Tales.

About Pimlico Race Course
Historic Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness® Stakes, the middle jewel in horse racing’s famed Triple Crown, first opened its doors on October 25, 1870, and is the second oldest racetrack in the United States. Pimlico has played host to racing icons and Baltimoreans have seen the likes of legendary horses such as Man o’ War, Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Affirmed and Cigar thunder down the stretch in thrilling and memorable competition. For more information on Pimlico, visit www.pimlico.com.
Pimlico Race Course is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida and is one of North America’s top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is also a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.