May, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Speedy Jaxon Traveler Back At Pimlico For Saturday’s Chick Lang

West Point Thoroughbreds and Marvin Delfiner's speedy sophomore Jaxon Traveler, a head shy of being undefeated through five starts that include a pair of stakes victories, returns to Maryland seeking his first graded score in Saturday's $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico Race Course.

The 46th running of the six-furlong Chick Lang and 23rd renewal of the 1 1/16-mile Sir Barton, both for 3-year-olds, are among 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.25 million in purses on a spectacular 14-race program headlined by the 146th renewal of the Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

Other graded-stakes on the card are the $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) for 3-year-olds and up and $150,000 Gallorette for fillies and mares 3 and older, each at 1 1/16 miles on the grass; $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3), a six-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up; and $100,000 UAE President Cup (G1) for Arabian horses.

First race post time is 10:30 a.m.

Jaxon Traveler is no stranger to Pimlico, having romped to a 10-length debut victory last September. Bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. A. Leonard Pineau, the son of multiple graded-stakes winning sprinter Munnings then beat winners at first asking in October and became a stakes winner with a three-quarter-length triumph in the seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile Futurity Dec. 5. All three wins came in front-running fashion.

“He's going to be hard to beat,” Scott Blasi, top assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, said.

Asmussen has taken horses down this road before, winning the Chick Lang with Lantana Mob (2008), Holy Boss (2015), Mitole (2018) and Yaupon, who tied a stakes record (1:09.10) with his victory last fall. Mitole would go on to be named the champion male sprinter of 2019.

“We'll never question anything that Steve does. He has the Midas touch, especially with these types of horses,” West Point COO Tom Bellhouse said. “Steve just has this innate sense. A lot of people get these kinds of horses and the first thing they say is, 'When are we going to stretch them out?'

“We ran seven furlongs in the stake down there and we won, but he got a little tired and Steve just said, 'Listen, this horse is really, really special; it might just be up to seven [furlongs]. He might not be a horse that wants to go up to a mile,'” he added. “He just focuses his program on it. He did it with Mitole. He did it with Yaupon, just in recent times. He's just so good at that.”

Jaxon Traveler was being pointed to make his 3-year-old debut in the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid Jan. 16 at Laurel but was sidelined with a minor foot injury and wound up with Asmussen's winter string at Oaklawn Park. There, he found himself uncharacteristically off the pace in the six-furlong Gazebo March 10 but closed to be second to Sir Wellington before returning with a 2 ¾-length gate-to-wire triumph in the April 24 Bachelor, also at six furlongs.

“He had a little frog issue and he started to come around actually quicker than we anticipated,” Bellhouse said. “It's kind of a heartbreaker that he's not undefeated because of that race. He had a tough trip but he came running late and showed a different dynamic. Last time he just threw it down and threw in the kind of race that you love to see in that kind of sprint. He broke on top and never looked back.”

Irad Ortiz Jr. has the call on Jaxon Traveler from Post 4 in a field of six as the 124-pound co-topweight.

“He's just a really, really, really cool horse,” Bellhouse said. “He's an exciting horse to watch. When the gate opens, he goes and he never looks like he's going to get beat. There's never one step of the race where you're like, 'Oh no, he's in trouble.' He just went, especially in that last race against some really nice horses at Oaklawn. When he turned for home I was like, 'They're not catching him.'”

Jaxon Traveler will face another stakes winner in Lea Farms' Willy Boi, who defeated Ultimate Badger and next-out winner Lauda Speed in the six-furlong Hutcheson March 6 at Gulfstream Park. The Uncaptured gelding has won three of his four starts sprinting, running eighth when stretched out to 1 1/16 miles in Gulfstream's Jan. 30 Holy Bull (G3).

Narrow Leaf Farm's Hemp will make his stakes debut in the Chick Lang. The Maryland-bred Super Ninety Nine gelding cruised by 5 ¼ lengths in a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance over a muddy track April 10 at Laurel Park for trainer Anthony Farrior.

Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's homebred Mighty Mischief takes a two-race win streak into the Chick Lang, his stakes debut. The bay son of Into Mischief went gate-to-wire to break his maiden March 19 and then beat winners at first asking April 10, both sprinting six furlongs at Oaklawn, by a combined 7 ¾ lengths.

“He's a very fast horse,” Scott Blasi, top assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, said. “This is a big step up, but he works like a racehorse.”

ZWP Stable and Non-Stop Stable's Shackled Love cuts back for the Chick Lang off back-to-back tries around two turns including a half-length win in the 1 1/16-mile Private Terms. Gokmen Kaya's Palatial Times completes the field.

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Equibase Analysis: Midnight Bourbon Poised To Upset Preakness

Back in its traditional place two weeks following the Kentucky Derby and on the third Saturday in May, the 146th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Preakness Stakes drew a field of 10. Only three of the group participated in the Kentucky Derby on May 1, including winner Medina Spirit, who led every step of the way in that mile and one-quarter test.

The other two returning from the Derby are Midnight Bourbon and Keepmeinmind, who finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the race. Prior to the Derby, Midnight Bourbon won the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes before in-the-money finishes in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes and Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. Keepmeinmind was winless in two races this year before the Derby but won the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes last November.

Concert Tour, who like Medina Spirit is trained by Bob Baffert, won the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes before a disappointing third-place effort as the betting favorite in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. Chad Brown saddles Crowded Trade and Risk Taking in the Preakness. Both were last seen in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial in early April but passed the Derby after finishing third and seventh, respectively, in the Wood.

Unbridled Honor finished fast – from last of nine to end up second – in the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes last month and has been waiting for this race ever since as he did not have enough points to enter the Derby. Likewise, Rombauer has been sitting on the sidelines since a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes last month following a win in the El Camino Real Derby.

France Go de Ina is an entirely new face on the scene. He is a Kentucky bred who has raced in Japan and in Dubai, most recently finishing sixth in the Group 2 United Arab Emirates Derby in March. Ram, who enters the race off an allowance level win and who is racing in a stakes race for the first time, is trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who has won the Preakness six times, most recently with Oxbow in 2013.

Midnight Bourbon will be my top choice to win this year's Preakness, the reasoning being what happened, or more appropriately what did not happen, in the Kentucky Derby. According to statements made prior to the Derby, the plan was to send Midnight Bourbon to the lead at the start. This plan was quickly put to rest right out of the gate as the horse was bumped and found himself far back, eventually rallying to finish sixth in the 19 horse field, tying his career-best 99 ™ Equibase® Speed Figure earned in January.

That strategy, if able to be applied, may have worked well given Midnight Bourbon had raced close up in the Louisiana Derby when he finished second to Hot Rod Charlie (who ended up third in the Kentucky Derby), and as Midnight Bourbon had also raced in second early in the Risen Star Stakes, eventually finishing third. Mandaloun won the Risen Star and was the runner-up in the Kentucky Derby. In his first start as a 3-year-old, Midnight Bourbon won the Lecomte Stakes (with a 99 Equibase Figure) when leading from start to finish, which were exactly the tactics Medina Spirit used in winning the Kentucky Derby. With a jockey change to Irad Ortiz, Jr., the North American leading jockey of 2020 and who is once again leading the standings this year, Midnight Bourbon may get a forward position from the start in the Preakness which would enable him to run his best race of the year and post the mild upset.

Medina Spirit took the lead and took control at the start of the Kentucky Derby, getting into a steady stride and holding off all challengers in the last quarter mile before pulling away slightly in the late stages to win by a half-length. The effort earned a career-best 110 ™ E® Figure which is eight points (about five lengths) better as compared to any other horse in the Preakness field. Prior to that Medina Spirit earned 97, 98 and 97 figures winning or finishing second in all three Derby prep races in California, including when second in the Santa Anita Derby.

It is very interesting to note that in most of his races, Medina Spirit has never been passed by another horse in the final quarter mile and that is a testament to his mental toughness. On the other hand, although he did win the Robert B. Lewis Stakes on the lead from the start as he did in the Derby, prior to that Medina Spirit ran second from start to finish in the Sham Stakes and second or third for the majority of the race in both the San Felipe Stakes and Santa Anita Derby. I can't say for certain if this is an indication Medina Spirit doesn't want to pass other horses, that he can't pass other horses because he doesn't have a second gear, or that is just the way these races played out which, once again leads back to the fact in the Derby he refused to let another horse pass him. As such, Medina Spirit must be respected as a logical contender to win the Preakness although as the likely prohibitive favorite, I think Midnight Bourbon and Unbridled Honor offer more value.

Unbridled Honor took three tries to earn his first career win. That win came in February at Tampa Bay Downs and was followed by a fourth of 12 finish in the Tampa Bay Derby. Entering the Lexington Stakes on April 10, Unbridled Honor dropped back to last in the field of nine and began running in earnest with a quarter mile to run. Going four paths wide on the far turn, Unbridled Honor closed second fastest of all to finish second as winner King Fury was well in front by the time the field hit the stretch. The Lexington Stakes ended at the first of two finish lines at Keeneland so Unbridled Honor didn't have the full length of the stretch to continue his rally. In spite of that, Unbridled Honor earned a career-best 99 ™ figure which is as good as the figures Medina Spirit earned in his last three races before the Derby and as good as the figure Midnight Bourbon earned in the Derby. Additionally, the Preakness utilizes the entire length of the stretch as opposed to the Lexington so although Unbridled Honor may be last of 10 in the early stages, if there is a contested battle for the front from the start, he could be passing most if not all of the field for the win.

The rest of the Preakness Stakes field, with their best ™ Equibase Speed Figures is Concert Tour (105), Crowded Trade (105), France Go do Ina ( ), Keepmeinmind (99), Ram (88), Risk Taking (102) and Rombauer (100).

Win contenders:
Midnight Bourbon
Medina Spirit
Unbridled Honor

Preakness Stakes – Grade 1
Race 13 at Pimlico
Saturday, May 15 – Post Time 6:47 PM E.T.
One Mile and Three Sixteenths
For Three Year Olds
Purse: $1 Million
TV: NBC 4:00 – 7:00 PM ET

You can get Ellis' full card detailed analysis and betting recommendations for all the races at Pimlico on Preakness Stakes Day – Saturday, May 15 at Equibase.com, TrackMaster.com and most online wagering sites.

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Entries Strong For MATCH Series Kickoff At Pimlico

The eighth edition of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships Series (MATCH) begins May 14-15 at Pimlico Race Course with large, competitive fields that include more than a few local horses that figure to play a role in the outcome of the four divisions in the 2021 series.

Purses for the four MATCH stakes that are part of Preakness weekend total $650,000. They are the $250,000 Grade 3 Pimlico Special (3-Year-Olds and Up Long—Dirt division) and $150,000 Grade 3 Allaire DuPont (Filly and Mare Long—Dirt division) Friday, May 14, and the $150,000 Maryland Sprint Handicap (3-Year-Olds and Up Sprint—Dirt division) and $100,000 Runhappy Skipat (Filly and Mare Sprint—Dirt division) Saturday, May 15.

MATCH returns to the calendar this year after a one-year cancellation because of COVID-19 restrictions. Though there will be six stakes in each of four divisions this year, 20 of the 24 stakes will be run in Maryland and the other four at Colonial Downs in Virginia.

The Maryland Sprint Handicap at six furlongs has drawn Hillside Equestrian Meadows' Laki, a local favorite and two-time MATCH divisional champion in the 3-Year-Olds and Up Sprint—Dirt division in 2018 and 2019. He has won 11 races—seven of them stakes including the Grade 3 Frank J. DeFrancis Memorial Dash—and in his last start, which produced a win in the Frank Whiteley Stakes at Pimlico, the 8-year-old Maryland-bred gelding by Cuba topped the $800,000 mark in earnings. Twenty-seven of Laki's 33 starts have come in Maryland.

“He came out of his last race really well,” trainer Damon Dilodovico said. “I don't like running him back so quickly—the Whiteley was moved back a week—but everybody is navigating these things. We'll be able to ship up to Pimlico (from Laurel) early and train him there.

“If we could add another graded stakes to his resume that would be awesome. The horse doesn't owe us a thing. We are fans of the MATCH Series and we hoped to have other horses for it this year but things didn't work out.”

Horacio Karamanos, who has ridden Laki in many of his races, will have the mount.

Euro Stable's Lebda, trained by Claudio Gonzalez, finished a half-length behind Laki in the Frank Whiteley and has settled in as a sprinter after having run long as a 3-year-old. Gonzalez, who won a MATCH Series division with the turf sprinter Completed Pass, indicated Lebda may target the local sprint stakes this year.

Entered in the Skipat, also at six furlongs, is Five Hellions Farm's Dontletsweetfoolya, who rattled off five consecutive victories—two in stakes—at Laurel Park before a seventh-place finish in the Grade III Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel in her most recent start in February. Trained by Lacey Gaudet, the 4-year-old Stay Thirsty filly who likes to run on the lead has won five of nine starts and more than $200,000.

Pennsylvania-bred Chub Wagon, owned by Danny Lopez and George Chestnut, enters the Skipat a perfect five-for-five with a total win margin of more than 31 lengths. In her last start April 27 at Parx Racing, where she is based with trainer Guadalupe Preciado, Chub Wagon won the state-restricted Unique Bella Stakes at seven furlongs by 7 1/2 lengths in her first start in stakes company. She has had the lead at every call in all five of her races.

The Allaire DuPont at 1 1/8 miles has attracted Horologist, the New Jersey-bred Horse of the Year for 2020. The multiple graded-stakes winner owned by There's A Chance Stable, Medallion Racing, Abbondanza Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Paradise Farm Corp. and David Staudacher won the Top Flight Invitational at Aqueduct Racetrack in her last start.

Allen Stable's Mrs. Danvers and Sonata Stable's Lucky Stride, second and third, respectively, behind Horologist in New York, will also compete in the Allaire DuPont. Lucky Stride, trained by Mike Trombetta at the Fair Hill Training Center, has done well in Maryland with a second in the Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes last November and a victory in the Nellie Morse Stakes in late February.

“Our intent is to race in the Allaire DuPont and take it from there,” Trombetta said of potential starts in future MATCH Series races. “I think she is the kind of horse that can run in more of these races, so we'll see what happens.”

BB Horses' Landing Zone, second to Lucky Stride in the Nellie Morse and entered in the Allaire DuPont, is one of several horses trainer Gonzalez has entered Preakness weekend that could very well could target MATCH Series events through the course of the year.

In 2020, the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special was run in October, and Hillwood Stables' Maryland-bred gelding Cordmaker finished third. In the 2019 Pimlico Special, he rallied from 10th on the final turn and was a fast-closing third. Trainer Rodney Jenkins has again entered the nine-time winner of almost $600,000 in the Special.

Cordmaker in his last start went gate-to-wire in the 1 1/8-mile Harrison Johnson Memorial Stakes at Laurel in mid-March. His last two works at Pimlico at five furlongs have been the fastest of the day. All but three of his 28 starts have come in Maryland.

“His last two works were very good, he looks very good, and he feels very good,” said jockey Victor Carrasco, who was aboard for the Pimlico works and has regularly ridden Cordmaker in his races. “The Pimlico Special is not an easy race, but he's in good form. We're all hoping for the best. I'd like to thank Mr. Jenkins, because this horse is very special to me.”

Owners and trainers will compete for $63,000 in divisional bonuses and the overall MATCH Series champion will net $30,000 in bonuses for its owner and trainer. In addition, the Maryland Horse Breeders Association will pay a $3,000 bonus to the breeder of the top points-earning Maryland-bred and $3,000 for the top points-earning Maryland-sired horse. If the top points-earner is both Maryland-bred and -sired, the breeder would get $6,000.

After Preakness weekend, the next MATCH Series stakes will be held June 13 at Pimlico.

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War Front Filly A New Rising Star At Dundalk

Some TDN Rising Stars get the tag for runaway victories and some for winning performances much slimmer but full of promise of what is to come and Ballydoyle's newcomer Yet (War Front) fit into the latter category on Wednesday. On paper, the sizeable first foal out of a strong-staying half-sister to Giant's Causeway had no right to be contesting a five-furlong carve-up on Dundalk's Polytrack but she was quick out of the gates for the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden and up on the lead from the outset to dispute it with the 150-1 outsider Pretty Pioneer (Ire) (Prince of Lir {Ire}). Having seen off that peer at the top of the straight, the bay had the strongly-supported and strong-travelling Orinoco River (War Front) to deal with as they pulled clear of the remainder and despite being headed in the closing stages dug deep to get back in front near the line and prevail by a neck.

“She's a massive two-year-old. She had been working well and she's done it well,” commented Seamie Heffernan after switching from the stable's withdrawn Heart to Heart (GB) (Zoffany {Ire}), the half-sister to the G1 Commonwealth Cup hero Golden Horde (Ire) (Lethal Force {Ire}). “She has plenty of size to her, but she doesn't feel weak. I think I got headed, but her heart is in the right place.” To underline the strength of the form despite the select number of runners, there were a further 7 1/2 lengths back to Cailin Cliste (Ire) (Bated Breath {GB}) in third and that filly had finished 8 1/2 lengths behind Rosegreen's second 2-year-old TDN Rising Star of the year in Contarelli Chapel (Ire) (Caravaggio) in a red-hot Naas maiden last month.

The winner's dam Butterflies (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is one of Coolmore's more exciting broodmare prospects as the 13th progeny of the remarkable Mariah's Storm (Rahy) who was herself successful six times in graded-stakes company. Runner-up in the G3 Munster Oaks and third in the G3 Flame of Tara S., she makes up a list of significant performers headed by the “Iron Horse” and also featuring the G2 Cherry Hinton S. and G3 Swordlestown Stud Sprint S. scorer You'resothrilling (Storm Cat). The latter has entered the operation's own Hall of Fame by producing two Classic winners in Gleneagles (Ire) and Marvellous (Ire) as well as the high-class Happily (Ire) and Sunday's G3 Irish 1000 Guineas Trial winner Joan of Arc (Ire) all by Galileo.

Another of Mariah's Storm's daughters Pearling is a full-sister to Giant's Causeway who also proved what a potent influence Galileo is in this dynasty by throwing the G1 Irish Champion S. and G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup hero Decorated Knight (GB). Butterflies is also a full-sister to the unraced Fabulous (Ire), who has proven an instant success in her second career by producing the 3-year-old filly Thinking of You (American Pharoah) who was third behind Joan of Arc in the G3 Irish 1000 Guineas Trial. After Yet, there is a yearling colt by Quality Road and a 2021 filly by Justify.

1st-Dundalk, €14,000, Mdn, 5-12, 2yo, f, 5f (AWT), 1:00.26, st.
YET, f, 2, by War Front
1st Dam: Butterflies (Ire) (MGSP-Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Mariah's Storm, by Rahy
3rd Dam: Immense, by Roberto
Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $10,205. O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Westerberg; B-Orpendale/Wynatt/Chelston (KY); T-Aidan O'Brien. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.

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