May, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Successful Claim Last Judgment Leads Every Step Of Pimlico Special

The run of successful claims by trainer Mike Maker continued on Friday at Pimlico Race Course when Last Judgment, picked up for $62,500 last October, led at every point of call to win the Grade 3 Pimlico Special.

The 5-year-old Congrats gelding was taken straight to the lead from the outside post by jockey Jose Ortiz, and he crossed the wire for the first time a length and a half ahead of closest challengers Modernist, Cordmaker, and Treasure Trove. Last Judgment took the field into the first turn through an unrushed and untested opening quarter in :23.83 seconds, while the challengers continued to wait their turn.

Longshots Cordmaker and Treasure Trove started to draw closer to the leader on the outside through the first turn, but they soon retreated as they entered the back straightaway through a half in :47.60 seconds.

Ortiz continued to stand calmly in the irons across the backstretch as he was tracked by Treasure Trove and Modernist, and Cordmaker started to weaken, replaced by favorite Fearless.

Ortiz looked behind him started to ask for a little more with his hands as he entered the final turn with Last Judgment after six furlongs in 1:11.54. Modernist and Fearless remained as the only viable challengers as the field turned for home, and Ortiz brought out the crop for some mild urging in the final eighth of a mile, but it was hardly a panicked maneuver.

Neither of the challengers were able to find enough momentum to approach Last Judgment, and the gelding kicked on under a hand ride to win by 1 3/4 lengths. Modernist carried on for second, a neck ahead of Fearless, while Cordmaker continued on to finish fourth, 4 1/4 lengths further back.

Last Judgment completed the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special in 1:54.37 over a fast main track, paying $11.80 to win.

Maker saddled Last Judgment for the partnership of Michael Dubb, Steve Hornstock, Bethlehem Stables, and Nice Guys Stables. The Pimlico Special was Last Judgment's fifth start for his new owners since being claimed last October at Belmont Park. Since then, he's tallied wins in the Sunshine Classic Stakes, and the G3 Challenger Stakes, while also finishing second in the G3 Ghostzapper stakes at Gulfstream Park prior to the Pimlico Special.

Friday's race improved Last Judgment's record to eight wins in 18 starts for earnings of $502,965.

Last Judgment was bred in Florida by Woodford Thoroughbreds, out of the Forestry mare Fantasy Forest.

To view the race chart, click here.

$250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) Quotes

Winning Trainer Mike Maker (Last Judgment): “Very classy horse. We like the way he's responded on that stretch out. Fabulous [claim] by these guys (co-owners Steve Hornstock and Steve Spielman).”

“He's run well for us going a mile and an eighth. I was glad to stretch him out and hoped to get a softer pace going longer.”

“I was a little concerned about the outside post, but he doesn't care for the dirt in his face, so he was going to be in the clear anyway. If someone was hell-bent on the lead, so be it.”

“To be honest, I've never really thought about anything further than today. But with a nice horse, you always have a lot of options.”

Winning Jockey Jose Ortiz (Last Judgment): “I thought I was going to get [to the lead], but I knew that if somebody else wanted to get there, I could sit off him, too. It was not like the last time, I cooked in front in 46 [seconds] and that cost me the race for sure. I had a good position. I knew that if he broke well from the gate I could get to the lead nicely. Or if he didn't break well I could sit second. But he broke really good.”

“It was a nice job by Mike [Maker]. He had him ready. The horse relaxed well. When I asked him he was there for me. That's all you can ask for.”

Jockey Junior Alvarado (Modernist; 2^nd): “I had a beautiful trip. The horse that won the race was the only one with the speed, and I was tracking behind him the whole way. Turning for home, I took my shot at it, but that horse in front just kept going. I was in a beautiful spot. If I had to do it 100 times, I would have picked the same spot I was in. I was traveling very beautifully. The horse in front got away with a nice pace and he kept going.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher (Fearless; 3^rd): “I thought he ran well. He got shuffled back a bit. He tried to move him outside into the clear, but it's tough when there's no pace to try to close much ground. I thought he put in a long sustained run. They just didn't come back.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. (Fearless; 3^rd): “On the backside, I knew the other horse [Last Judgment] was in control, so I started letting my horse pick it up. He made a long run. It was hard to get there. On the backside, he [Last Judgment] was running comfortable. I knew he was going to be hard to catch, so I started moving. It was a long run.”

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‘Rising Star’ Stage Raider Makes It Two Straight at Belmont

8th-Belmont, $89,240, Alw (NW1$X), Opt. Clm ($80,000), 5-14, 3yo, 1m, 1:38.22, ft, 3 lengths.
STAGE RAIDER (c, 3, Pioneerof the Nile–Stage Magic {Broodmare of the Year, GSP, $133,981}, by Ghostzapper) would have given those who backed him into 1-20 favoritism a bit of a scare in upper stretch, but he rallied through a tight spot at the fence to clear his first allowance condition Friday at Belmont. The half-brother to Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy, Horse of the Year, Ch. 3yo Colt, MGISW, $3,798,000); and to The Lieutenant (Street Sense), GSW, $345,882, was popped away from the stalls by Eric Cancel, but then was eased back and rated along from fourth. A joint-last passing halfway, the Gunther homebred was slipped a bit of rein at the three-eighths and was just off the leaders' heels nearing the stretch. Though there appeared to be an option to ease back and around pacesetting Purple Hearted (Normandy Invasion) with a furlong and a half to travel, Cancel gambled up the paint, and though it took a few strides, Stage Raider hit the gap and kicked home to score by three lengths. A $950,000 buyback out of the 2019 Keeneland September sale, Stage Raider was a distant second to 'TDN Rising Star' Prevalence (Medaglia d'Oro) in a seven-furlong Gulfstream maiden Jan. 23 before earning the 'Rising Star' nod for a 10 3/4-length defeat of Harvard (Pioneerof the Nile) in the Keeneland slop Apr. 10. The latter, a full-brother to champion Classic Empire, returned to graduate easily at Indiana Grand May 13. Stage Magic, a Grade III-placed daughter of GI CCA Oaks third-place getter Magical Illusion (Pulpit), is the dam of a yearling filly by Curlin and was most recently bred back to thatstallion. Sales history: $950,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, $106,170. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O/B-John D Gunther (KY); T-Chad C Brown.

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Judge in Navarro, Servis Case Denies Motion to Recuse

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York angrily dismissed a motion from attorneys representing defendants in the wide-ranging doping scandal involving Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro that she recuse herself from the case. The lawyers had brought up conflict of interest concerns because she was the co-breeder of two horses that competed a total of four times against horses trained by Navarro and Servis between 2006 and 2009.

Vyskocil lashed out at the lawyers Friday, calling the motion “frivolous” and “meritless.”

“This meritless motion appears to be calculated to divert attention from the serious crimes with which the defendants have been accused and to obstruct and delay the orderly administration of the case,” she said. “The motion is denied as frivolous, an obvious tactful gambit to delay the determination of the defendants' motion to dismiss.”

Vyskocil's comments came during a status conference held Friday morning. The conference was intended to update attorneys from both sides on the status of discovery evidence and to pin down a date for trail. But the first 15 minutes or so of the conference involved only the motion to recuse and Vyskocil's forceful retort.

“The bad-faith motion is frivolous and was clearly calculated to generate diversionary press coverage, which it clearly already has,” Vyskocil said. “The motion contained multiple, plainly false statements which officers of the court should not have made in a public filing and which are not entitled to be dignified with point-by-point commentary.”

Equibase records list Vyskocil, a former member of New York Thoroughbred Breeders Inc., as the co-breeder, along with Barry Ostrager, of horses who had faced Servis and Navarro trainees during their careers. The defendants argued that because of her role in the industry Vyskocil could be biased and should step down. She was never listed as the owner or co-owner of the horses in question.

“There is no conflict here and no reasonable person would perceive one,” she said.

The case has slowly worked its way through the system since March, 2020 when indictments were announced against 27 individuals for their role in a scheme to dope horses with performance-enhancing drugs. Vyskocil made it clear that she was eager for the matter to proceed and head to trail. She called for the defendants to be divided into three separate groups with the trial for the first group to commence during the fourth quarter of 2021 with the other two trials set to begin early next year.

“We need this case to be moving toward a trial,” she said.

The possibility of superceding indictments that would include additional charges for those already indicted or, perhaps, charge individuals not yet named was discussed. Vyskocil addressed that possibility with Andrew Adams, the lead prosecutor in the case, who did not give a precise answer.

“With respect to new people who may or may not be added , as I have said all along, as the government continues to investigate this case and to investigate other related cases, there may well be other people who are charged,” Adams said. “There may be co-conspirators in this case, but the government would not expect that somebody added to the case today would be on the same schedule as the people who have been in the case. But that, again, would have no impact on the defendants that are currently in the case…It's also speculative. It is not our intention to announce a superceder next week or next month. As we sit here today I am not able to say that we are certainly or even likely to add charges in this case. It is all speculation and it need not delay moving the case forward.”

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Medina Spirit Passes All Tests to Run in Preakness

After undergoing three rounds of out-of-competition blood sample testing as part of an agreement between the Maryland Jockey Club and Bob Baffert, Medina Spirit (Protonico), Concert Tour (Street Sense) and Beautiful Gift (Medaglia d'Oro) have been reported clear and are eligible to race this weekend at Pimlico Race Course in the GI Preakness S. and GII Black-Eyed Susan S.

Two samples were drawn May 6 and May 10, respectively by the Maryland Racing Commission and were screened by Industrial Laboratories in Colorado. A third sample was drawn on May 11 by 1/ST RACING and MJC and screened by the University of California at Davis Maddy Laboratory.

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