Federico Tesio, A ‘Win And In’ Race For Preakness, Returning To Pimlico

For the first time since 2015, Maryland's local audition for the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) in Baltimore, Md., will provide horses with an opportunity to prep over the same legendary Pimlico Race Course main track that serves as home for the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

The $125,000 Federico Tesio headlines seven stakes worth $750,000 in purses on the Spring Stakes Spectacular program Saturday, April 24, originally scheduled to be run at Laurel Park. With the ongoing evaluation of Laurel's main track, live racing has been shifted to Pimlico effective Thursday, April 22.

Laurel's spring meet, delayed seven days to an April 8 opening amid an equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) quarantine, was scheduled to run through May 2. The Preakness Meet at Pimlico is scheduled for Thursdays through Sundays through May 31, with no live racing Sunday, May 16, or Thursday, May 27, and a special Memorial Day holiday program Monday, May 31.

The 1 1/8-mile Tesio – named for the noted Italian breeder, owner and trainer whose homebreds Nearco and Ribot dominate Thoroughbred bloodlines around the world – debuted at Pimlico in 1981 and stayed every year but two through 2015. Laurel Park hosted the Tesio in 1987 and 1989 and each year since 2016.

For the sixth straight year, the Tesio will serve as a 'Win and In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated 3-year-olds to the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes Saturday, May 15. Among the horses under consideration are Grade 2 winner Brooklyn Strong, Grade 3-placed Tarantino, stakes winners Hello Hot Rod and Maythehorsebwithu, and stakes-placed Tiz Mandate.

All five horses are Triple Crown nominated, with Laurel Park-based Maythehorsebwithu and Tiz Mandate's eligibility coming at the late March 29 deadline. Shackled Love, another Laurel horse that beat Maythehorsebwithu in the March 13 Private Terms, is also being pointed to the Tesio.

Laurel-based trainer Lacey Gaudet was an assistant to her late father when Eddie Gaudet won the 2011 Tesio at Pimlico with Maryland-bred Concealed Identity, owned by his wife, Lacey's mother Linda, along with Morris Bailey. Sheldon Russell, still part of Maryland's jockey colony, was the rider.

The Tesio was actually the second straight win at Pimlico for Concealed Identity, a two-length triumph over Ruler On Ice, who would go on to capture the Belmont Stakes (G1). It would be the only Preakness appearance for Eddie Gaudet, patriarch of one of Maryland's best-known and respected racing families.

“I remember my mom and I discussing, 'OK, this is our goal. If he can win going two turns, and then win the Tesio, we'll go to the Preakness. It was the local prep and it we decided that if we won it, we'd go,” Lacey Gaudet said. “It was fairly cool. There was a lot of personal sentiment at the time. Sheldon had rode him for us and if you watch the replay when he comes past where we stand in the regular winner's circle at the wire, Sheldon kind of pointed over at us.

“He won convincingly,” she added. “Sheldon pointed at us as he crossed the wire for the Tesio because it was like, 'OK, guys. We get to have fun now.' It was really cool and it definitely gave us a confidence booster that he won over the racetrack. He was essentially the only horse going into the Preakness winning two in a row and at the track. It was exciting.”

Serving as the Tesio's co-headliner on the Spring Stakes Spectacular program is the $125,000 Weber City Miss, a 'Win and In' qualifier for 3-year-old fillies to the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) Friday, May 14 at Pimlico. Each of the first four Weber City Miss winners since its 2016 debut have gone on to run in the Black-Eyed Susan including Lights of Medina, second by a head in 2017. Grand Cru Classe did not race in last year's Black-Eyed Susan.

Spring Stakes Spectacular includes a pair of $100,0000 dirt sprints, Frank Y. Whiteley for 3-year-olds and up and Primonetta for fillies and mares 3 and older. With the change in venue, the Whiteley has been shortened from seven to six furlongs, same as the Primonetta.

Also scheduled are the first three turf stakes of the year – the $100,000 Henry S. Clark for 3-year-olds and up and $100,000 Dahlia for females 3 and older, both at a mile, and $100,000 King T. Leatherbury for 3-year-olds and up, carded for 5 ½ furlongs at Laurel but to be contested at five furlongs at Pimlico.

The Preakness highlights a program of 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.25 million Saturday, May 15 that includes the 120th edition of the $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) for 3-year-olds and up on turf, Pimlico's oldest stakes race and the eighth-oldest in the country, debuting in 1870.

Other graded-stakes on the Preakness undercard are the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) for 3-year-olds sprinting six furlongs, $150,000 Gallorette (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/16 miles on the grass, $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3) at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up, and $100,000 Arabian Derby (G1) for Arabian 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.

A total of six stakes, four graded, worth $1 million in purses help comprise the May 14 Black-Eyed Susan Day card, including the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 3/16 miles, $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs, and $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles.

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McPeek Pointing Lexington Winner King Fury to Derby Or Preakness

Trainer Kenny McPeek said Fern Circle Stables and Three Chimney Farm's King Fury (Curlin) will be pointed to the GI Kentucky Derby or the GI Preakness S. after winning the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. Saturday at Keeneland. The chestnut returned last night to McPeek's division at Churchill Downs, where he has two wins including the Street Sense S.

With the 20 points he earned in the Lexington, King Fury ranks 28th on the Derby points leaderboard and would need several defections to draw into the May 1 Run for the Roses, which is limited to 20 starters.

“All good; we are real proud of him,” McPeek said. “If his points get him in to the Kentucky Derby, we will probably run. It is his home track and he has won there. If he doesn't get in the Derby, he will run in the [May 15] Preakness. He seems like a horse that is ready to do all that. We will have to see how that ball bounces. It is out of our control, but we will keep his work schedule the same.”

At Aqueduct, trainer Danny Velazquez reported that his graded stakes winner Brooklyn Strong (Wicked Strong) will also aim for the Preakness after his fifth-place run in the GII Wood Memorial S. Winner of the GII Remsen S. as a 2-year-old, the gelding will also likely use the Apr. 24 Federico Tesio S. at Laurel as further prep for the Triple Crown's middle jewel.

“He came out of the Wood really good. It was a good tightener for him and a learning curve for me,” said Velazquez. “I went in there 100% believing in my horse but at the end of the day, going into those big races you need a big race. My horse showed up and he showed me that he belongs there. He was beat less than five lengths off a long layoff. He impressed me. I think we're going to try the Preakness. We'll look at the Tesio as a target race for him and to keep him fit.”

Velazquez said Brooklyn Strong had a difficult trip in the Wood Memorial when finishing 4 3/4 lengths back of longshot winner Bourbonic (Bernardini).

“I've watched the replay a dozen times and he never really got a break down the back side,” said Velazquez. “He was steadied behind traffic and that takes energy. When he finally found a hole he got banged around again. The mile and an eighth was a little hard on him off the layoff.”

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Tiz The Law Named 2020 New York-Bred Horse Of The Year

Tiz the Law took home the biggest prize of the evening during Monday's New York Thoroughbred Breeders Inc. 2020 Awards, snagging Horse of the Year honors for a second straight season.

The son of Constitution was also named champion 3-year-old male during the online ceremony.

Tiz the Law won four of six starts during his 2020 campaign and earned $2,388,300 for owner Sackatoga Stables. He started his season at Gulfstream Park with victories in the Grade 2 Holy Bull Stakes and G1 Florida Derby, establishing himself as one of the biggest threats on the originally scheduled Kentucky Derby trail before the race was postponed due to the emerging pandemic.

Instead, Tiz the Law reemerged in the summer to win the Belmont Stakes, suddenly positioned as the first leg of the Triple Crown after a re-shuffled racing calendar. He then continued to claim his home state's top prizes for 3-year-old males with a 5 1/2-length drubbing of the G1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

The colt's fall campaign saw a narrow runner-up finish in the Kentucky Derby in early September, then he ran sixth in his final start, the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland. He began his stallion career earlier this year at Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky.

Tiz the Law's award-winning campaign also had a ripple effect in other divisions of the NYTB Awards, as well. His trainer, Barclay Tagg, was named Trainer of the Year, while regular rider Manny Franco was named Jockey of the Year. Twin Creeks Farm, which bred Tiz the Law, was named Breeder of the Year, and Tizfiz, the colt's dam, earned Broodmare of the Year honors.

This is the second New York Horse of the Year title for Tiz the Law, who earned the award last year with a season highlighted by a win in the G1 Champagne Stakes. His 2019 season also helped earn Jockey of the Year honors for Franco and Broodmare of the Year honors for Tizfiz.

A full list of the year-end award winners can be found below.

Horse of the Year and 3-Year-Old Male – Tiz the Law
Breeder: Twin Creeks Farm
Owner: Sackatoga Stable
Trainer: Barclay Tagg

2-Year-Old Filly – Simply Ravishing
Breeder: Meg Levy
Owners: Harold Lerner, Magdalena Racing, Nehoc Stables
Trainer: Kenny McPeek

2-Year-Old Male – Brooklyn Strong
Breeders: Cheryl Prudhomme and Dr. Michael Gallivan
Owner: Mark Schwartz
Trainer: Danny Velazquez.

3-Year-Old Filly – Sharp Starr
Breeder: Stonewall Farm
Owner: Barry Schwartz
Trainer: Horacio DePaz

Older Dirt Female – Lucky Move
Breeders: Maltese Cross Stables and Stonegate Stables
Owners: Ten Strike Racing
Trainer: Juan C. Guerrero

Older Dirt Male – Mr. Buff
Breeders/Owners: Chester and Mary Broman
Trainer: John Kimmel

Female Turf Horse and Female Sprinter – Lead Guitar
Breeder: Windylea Farm
Owners: Jim and Susan Hill
Trainers: George Weaver, Eddie Kenneally

Male Turf Horse – Somelikeithotbrown
Breeders: Hot Pink Stable & Sand Dollar Stable
Owners: Skychai Racing & Sand Dollar Stable
Trainer: Mike Maker

Male Sprinter – Funny Guy
Breeder: Hibiscus Stable
Owners: Gatsas Stable, R.A. Hill Stable, Swick Stable
Trainer: John Terranova

Broodmare of the Year: Tizfiz
Breeder of the Year: Twin Creeks Farm
Jockey of the Year: Manny Franco
Trainer of the Year: Barclay Tagg
Lifetime Achievement Award: Ellen Bongard; Frank and Patricia Generazio
Special Award: Jeffrey Cannizzo.

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Nine in Line for Competitive Wood

Realistic cases can be made for six or seven of the nine 3-year-old males signed on for Saturday's GII Wood Memorial S. as the New York staple GI Kentucky Derby prep returns with a competitive renewal after a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19.

Given the narrowest of nods on the morning line is Klaravich Stables' Risk Taking (Medaglia d'Oro). Unable to factor in his first two outings, one sprinting on dirt and one routing on yielding turf, the $240,000 Keeneland September buy sprung to life when returned to dirt over Saturday's nine-furlong trip with a clear graduation here Dec. 13. He followed that up with a strong rally to win the local GIII Withers S. Feb. 6.

The waters get significantly deeper in here though, and one need look no further than the presence of Godolphin's undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' Prevalence (Medaglia d'Oro) to confirm that. Rocketing away to a devastating 8 1/2-length victory on debut going seven panels Jan. 23 at Gulfstream, the Brendan Walsh trainee stretched out a furlong in an allowance/optional claimer there Mar. 11 and wasn't quite as impressive while still winning by three lengths as a 1-10 favorite.

The first two finishers from the GIII Gotham S. here Mar. 6 return and figure as major players. Dismissed at over 46-1 that day, Chiefswood Stable's homebred Weyburn (Pioneerof the Nile) dug in resolutely through the stretch to just nose out Klaravich Stables' Crowded Trade (More Than Ready). The latter was making just his second career start after graduating on debut when hammered down to even-money over a local six furlongs Jan. 28.

The blue-collar returnee Brooklyn Strong (Wicked Strong) demands attention as well. Bought for just $5,000 as an OBS April juvenile, the gelding debuted a winner against $40,000 maiden claimers at Delaware and has gotten better in every start since, running third in the New York-bred Bertram F. Bongard S. and winning the Empire-bred Sleepy Hollow S. 22 days later before gutting out a score in the track-and-trip GII Remsen S. Dec. 5. Unseen since then, he shows a sharp worktab for trainer Danny Velazquez at his Parx base, including a five-furlong bullet in :59 3/5 (1/16) Mar. 20.

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