May, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Lady Scarlet Blows By Rivals In Miss Preakness Stakes

A horse claimed by the Mike Maker barn completed a career turnaround, and earned herself a breakthrough graded stakes victory.

Stop us if you've heard this one before.

This time around, it was Lady Scarlet, picked up through the claim box last November for $150,000, who earned her first graded score on Friday at Pimlico Race Course, unleashing a devastating turn of foot to take the Grade 3 Miss Preakness Stakes.

The daughter of Union Rags broke alertly in the six-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies, and settled on the inside path under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., as post time favorite Happy Soul rushed out to the early lead, chased in second by Gimmick. The lead duo were well clear across the backstretch, going through an opening quarter in :23.01, allowing Ortiz to take Lady Scarlet off the rail and position her on the outside as they went through the turn.

Happy Soul and Gimmick continued to battle in the bend, and they drew even at the top of the stretch after a half-mile in :45.58 while Lady Scarlet loomed on the outside and entered the fold at the three-sixteenths pole. Under left-handed urging by Ortiz, Lady Scarlet carried that momentum past the early leaders, and drew off to cross the wire 3 3/4 lengths ahead of Happy Soul. Gimmick was another length behind in third.

Lady Scarlet stopped the clock in 1:10.07 over a fast main track. She paid $7.40 to win as the field's second choice.

Friday's victory improved Lady Scarlet's record to four wins in nine career starts for earnings of $303,530. It was her third win on the season, after taking a February optional claiming race at Oaklawn Park, and earning her first black type with a victory in the Cicada Stakes at Aqueduct in March. She entered the Miss Preakness off a fourth-place effort in the G3 Beaumont Stakes last month at Keeneland.

Maker saddled the winner for owners Paradise Farms and David Staudacher. The Preakness weekend cards have been good for the trainer, who won four graded stakes during last year's Friday and Saturday cards: the G3 Pimlico Special Match Series Stakes with Last Judgment; the G2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes with Army Wife; the G3 Maryland Sprint Match Series Stakes with Special Reserve; and the G2 Dinner Party Stakes with Somelikeithotbrown.

Lady Scarlet was bred in Kentucky by Popatop LLC, who initially campaigned the filly. She is out of the winning Include mare Exclude.

Quotes courtesy of Maryland Jockey Club notes team:

Winning trainer Mike Maker, Lady Scarlet: “We left it up to [jockey] Irad [Ortiz Jr.] to be creative. If they hooked up on the lead, so be it. If they gave it [the lead] to us, so be it. I think she can go either way. She's won on the lead before, and she's won from coming off it. So, it worked out perfectly. I think she's a good horse and there's plenty of races out there.”

(On claiming Lady Scarlet for $150,000) “It sounds like a lot, which it is, but with the purse structure that there is, the prices of horses has gone up.”

Winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Lady Scarlet: “I got a perfect trip. She broke good from a great position. I waited for the time to roll, and she did very well. She did everything right, everything perfect. They went out a little fast and I was right there behind them and waited for the time to go. I had plenty left.”

Jockey John Velazquez (Happy Soul): “She broke good and got a good position. I don't think she ran her 'A' race today. Last time out, she was flat. Today, she was mad but she wasn't herself.”

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Pizza Bianca Punches Royal Ascot Ticket in the Hilltop

Bobby Flay homebred Pizza Bianca, heroine of last term's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, punched her ticket to Royal Ascot in style here.

In an impressive 2021 campaign, Pizza Bianca broke her maiden over the Saratoga grass on debut July 22 at Saratoga and jumped right into Grade I company, finishing second behind Wild Beauty (Frankel {GB}) in Woodbine's GI Natalma S. Sept. 19. That set her up for a run in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar, where she posted a half-length victory at 9-1. Pizza Bianca returned from the bench to be second, beaten just three-quarters of a length, as the 4-5 favorite in the Memories of Silver S. at Aqueduct Apr. 24.

Confidently backed at 2-5 here, she raced in sixth behind pacesetter Murph (Malibu Moon) through an opening quarter in :23.31. Patiently handled and still with plenty to do heading into the far turn, she started to move along the inside, then switched back out as the field turned for home. She was let loose in the stretch and came rolling over the top to win going away.

“[Jockey] Jose [Ortiz] did exactly what we were hoping for,” Flay said. “She broke; he kind of put her to sleep around the track; asked her a little bit; and she performed very nice. Really, a sigh of relief, but also just a beautiful performance.”

The G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot will be next.

“I ran in that race in 2011 with More Than Real,” Flay said. “She didn't run that well, but it doesn't matter. It was an amazing experience. To me, this is what this is all about. These horses can take you on experiences of a lifetime.”

On behalf of Flay, bloodstock agent James Delahooke went to 1.25 million guineas ($2,122,050) for Pizza Bianca's dam White Hot at the 2014 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. Pizza Bianca is the first foal for her unraced dam. The half-sister to G1 Epsom Derby winner Pour Moi (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) is also represented by a yearling colt by Uncle Mo and birthed a colt by Not This Time in 2022.

Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

HILLTOP S., $100,000, Pimlico, 5-20, 3yo, f, 1mT, 1:36.54, fm.
1–PIZZA BIANCA, 122, f, 3, by Fastnet Rock (Aus)-White Hot
(Ire), by Galileo (Ire). O-Bobby Flay; B-B. Flay Thoroughbreds
(KY); T-Christophe Clement; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $60,000. Lifetime
Record: GISW, 5-3-2-0, $717,635.
2–Diamond Hands, 118, f, 3, Frosted–Love Cove, by Not For
Love. ($25,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP; $425,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR).
1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Robert Masiello & Steven Rocco; B-Brant
Laue & Godolphin (KY); T-Christophe Clement. $20,000.
3–Vergara, 120, f, 3, Noble Mission (GB)–Figure of Beauty, by
Street Cry (Ire). ($130,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Gary Broad;
B-Neil Jones (KY); T-H. Graham Motion. $10,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, HD, NK. Odds: 0.40, 7.20, 4.70.
Also Ran: Lady Puchi, Determined Gold, Murph, Hail To, Determined Star.

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Pletcher Sophs Work Towards Belmont Day Spots

A trio of 3-year-olds from the barn of Todd Pletcher took to the Belmont dirt training track Friday morning as they prepare for stakes engagements during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), who defeated GI Preakness S. hopeful Early Voting (Gun Runner) in the GII Wood Memorial S. Apr. 9 ahead of a closing fifth in the GI Kentucky Derby May 7, breezed a half-mile in the company of his GI Central Bank Ashland S.-winning stable companion Nest (Curlin) in :50.02. Owned by Donegal Racing and Repole Stable, Mo Donegal is pointing for the GI Belmont S. June 11, while Nest is under consideration for a start against the boys in the 'Test of the Champion.' Nest's sire was famously defeated by the Pletcher-trained Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy) in the 2007 Belmont.

“It was a good maintenance breeze,” said Pletcher's New York-based assistant Byron Hughes. “They both were moving well and galloped out well. They were on even terms throughout and we were happy with the breeze.”

'TDN Rising Star' Wit (Practical Joke) went five furlongs in the company of fellow 'Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) in 1:01.58 Friday morning. Wit most recently returned from a six-month break to take out the GII Bay Shore S. by a nose Apr. 9 and will remain at the seven-furlong distance for the GI Woody Stephens S. on Belmont S. day. Malathaat also made a victorious return to action in Keeneland's GIII Baird Doubledogdare S. Apr. 22, besting Friday's GII DuPont Distaff romper Super Quick (Super Saver), and faces a mouthwatering matchup with champion Letruska (Super Saver) in the GI Ogden Phipps S. the same afternoon.

“Both are good breeze horses and made a good matchup,” Hughes said. “They went head-and-head throughout in 1:01 and change and had a good, solid gallop out.”

Highland Chief On to Manhattan…

Highland Chief (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), who caused a 19-1 upset in the May 14 GI Man o' War S., is likely to make his next appearance on the Belmont S. undercard in the GI Manhattan S.

“I think we'll point to the Manhattan if he's doing well,” trainer Graham Motion said. “The timing is right and I don't have a concern whatsoever about the mile and a quarter for him. I think he's pretty tactical and I think we're certainly going to keep him over here and not consider taking him over to England anytime soon. It had been mentioned to me before the race, but after we all got together, I think we'll keep him for an American campaign.

BC Champ Possible for Met…

Trainer Wayne Catalano has told the NYRA racing office that his GI Breeders' Cup Sprint hero Aloha West (Hard Spun) could make the trip to the Big Apple for the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. June 11. The Maryland-bred 5-year-old made his seasonal debut in the GI Churchill Downs S. May 7, finishing third behind Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) and Reinvestment Risk (Upstart).

“He went on the dead rail and got pushed a little early,” Catalano said. “It was a tough race. The only horse that went up the rail the last eighth of the mile was the Derby winner [Rich Strike]. From what I saw, everyone else was on the middle of the racetrack.”

The Met is also likely to attract undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) and GI Carter H. hero Speaker's Corner (Street Sense).

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Super Quick Runs Allaire Du Pont Distaff Rivals Off Their Feet

She wasn't around to see it, but the late Marylou Whitney would have been thrilled to see her stables' homebred filly, Super Quick, romp to a 14 1/4-length victory in Friday's Grade 3, $150,000 Allaire du Pont Distaff Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

Trained by Norm Casse and ridden by Florent Geroux, the 4-year-old daughter of Super Saver led at every call, stopping the timer in 1:47.78 for 1 1/8 miles on a fast track after setting fractions of :23.53, :46.39, 1:09.92 and 1:34.87. She paid $6.20 to win.

Exotic West, the 3-2 favorite, rallied from last to finish second under Javier Castellano after a slow start, with Frost Point third, Click to Confirm (the only 3-year-old in the field) fourth, and Into Vanishing rounding out the group of five fillies. Lil Kings Princess was scratched.

The 29^th running of the 1 1/8-mile Allaire du Pont for fillies and mares 3-years old and up was the first of six stakes, four graded, worth $1.05 million in purses on a sensational 14-race Black-Eyed Susan Day program headlined by the 98^th edition of the 1 1/8-mile fixture for 3-year-old fillies.

Super Quick came into the race off a good third-place finish to Malathaat – last year's Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old filly – in the G3 Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland on April 22. That was her stakes debut.

It took six races for Super Quick to leave the maiden ranks, breaking through last Sept. 19 with a 10 1/4-length romp in the slop at Churchill Downs. She found winning to her liking and won her next two starts, a Keeneland allowance race in October and an optional claiming/allowance race at Churchill in November – the latter by 5 1/2 lengths again on a sloppy track.

Off from November until March, Super Quick returned in March at Fair Grounds, finishing a well-beaten fifth in another optional claiming/allowance event before her stakes debut in the Doubledogdare.

In the Allaire du Pont Distaff, Geroux sent Super Quick to the lead at the start, held a clear advantage down the backstretch and into the far turn, then widened the advantage in the final three-eighths of a mile.

“I never saw anyone. I took a peek at the three-eighths pole and there was already a bit of a gap between my horse and the second-place horse,” said Geroux. “When I called on her at the top of the lane, she gave me another gear. She was all business all the way to the wire. To be honest, Norm thought she'd run a big race. He thought it would be a perfect racetrack for her with the tight turns. She runs the turns very well. He said, 'Just take it to them, and if she wants to open up, let her do it.'”

“We knew early on this morning when Johnny Ortiz's filly [Lil Kings Princess No. 5] scratched, we were going to have a much better shot of letting her get into her rhythm,” said Casse. “I am not so sure she is a need-the-lead-type horse but she is certainly better when she can get comfortable early. And that is what she did today. I have been lobbying for a couple months to get her in a nine-furlong race. Conventional wisdom would say a stretch-out would make it a little more difficult, but I think it's easier for her.

“Truthfully, I could not see the fractions but it seemed like she was just rolling along. I was just letting it sink in. I thought she would run like that today and I am glad she did. I am very proud of her.”

Casse said the Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs July 2 is a next-race target for Super Quick.

Super Quick was produced from the Cape Town mare, Quick Town, also owned and bred by the Marylou Whitney Stables, which purchased that mare's second dam, Canadian-bred stakes winner Sing and Swing for $280,000 at the 1998 Keeneland November mixed sale.

That acquisition was a homecoming of sorts for a female family that had been part of the broodmare band of Marylou Whitney's late husband, C.V. Whitney, for several generations. That family produced 1975 Kentucky Oaks winner Sun and Snow. Four generations later, the Whitney blood is still running strong.

Super Quick and her groom, Rosa Jimenez, following the Allaire du Pont Distaff

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