dinner party stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Preakness Weekend To Feature 15 Stakes Worth $3.5 Million

Nine stakes–of which five are graded–worth $2.5 million in purses will highlight the 148th running of the GI Preakness S., which will be contested this year on Saturday, May 20. Overall, 15 stakes–including the 99th running of the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. on Friday, May 19–will be contested over two days of racing at Pimlico.

Other graded stakes on the Preakness undercard are the GIII $200,000 Dinner Party S. for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles on the grass, GIII $200,000 Chick Lang S. for 3-year-olds at six furlongs, the GIII $100,000 Maryland Sprint S. for 3-year-olds and up also racing three-quarters of a mile, and GIII $100,000 Gallorette S. for fillies and mares, three years old up going 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

The historic GIII $300,000 Pimlico Special for 3-year-olds and up, contested at the Preakness distance of 1 3/16 miles, and GIII $150,000 Miss Preakness S. for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs top the Black-Eyed Susan undercard.

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Stablemates Bye Bye Melvin, English Bee Headline Competitive Field In Dinner Party

Grade 3-winning stablemates Bye Bye Melvin and English Bee will take on the imposing pair of Kuramata and Grade 1-placed Sacred Life as well as Grade 2 winner Somelikeithotbrown in a competitive edition of Saturday's $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) at Pimlico Race Course.

The 120th running of the 1 1/16-mile Dinner Party for 3-year-olds and up on the grass is part of a spectacular 14-race program featuring 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.25 million in purses headlined by the 146th renewal of the Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

Other graded-stakes on the card are the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) for 3-year-olds and $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3), both going six furlongs; $150,00 Gallorette for fillies and mares 3 and up at 1 1/16 miles on the grass; and $100,000 UAE President Cup (G1) for Arabian horses.

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

Pimlico's oldest stakes race and the eighth-oldest in the country, the Dinner Party was contested at two miles for its 1870 debut, won by the Hall of Famer Preakness. The distance has changed eight times over its history, settling at the current 1 1/16 miles in 2014.

Alex G. Campbell Jr.'s Bye Bye Melvin, a homebred son of champion Uncle Mo, made his 4-year-old debut in an open, third-level allowance at the Dinner Party distance April 15 at Keeneland, where he took a short lead into the stretch and nearly held it the rest of the way before being beaten a neck when second to Midnight Tea Time. It was his first race since running third by one length in the 1 1/8-mile Bryan Station Nov. 6 over the same course.

“He's been very consistent. He was a little unlucky the other day coming off the layoff. He might have gotten a little tired,” trainer Graham Motion said. “He's a very hard-trying, hard-knocking horse. He's been thrown all sorts of different ground to run on.”

Bye Bye Melvin won the one-mile Saranac (G3) by a head last summer on a soft course at Saratoga, then was beaten a nose when second in the James W. Murphy over yielding ground on the Preakness undercard in October.

“He's put in some really strong efforts which kind of show that his Saratoga win was not a fluke, I think,” Motion said. “He's a big, strong, gorgeous horse. I think this will hopefully be a stepping stone to some longer races this summer. Ultimately, I think probably a mile and a quarter is going to be a good trip for him.”

Motion, whose previous Dinner Party wins came with Dr. Brendler in 2003 and Better Talk Now in 2006 when it was contested as the Dixie, will also send out Calumet Farm homebred English Bee. A 5-year-old son of turf champion English Channel, he will be racing for the first time since running fifth in a 1 1/16-mile allowance Oct. 8 at Keeneland.

“We gave him a freshening over the winter. I felt like he'd been going at it for a long time without a break,” Motion said. “After we ran him at Keenleand last time I wanted to give him some time. He went to the farm at Calumet and Jack Sisterson got him started for me and he came back to me here in the beginning of the year.”

English Bee won the 1 1/8-mile Virginia Derby (G3) at Colonial Downs and the one-mile Parx Fall Derby in successive 2019 starts but has gone winless since. During that stretch, other than his most recent race, he hasn't lost by more than 3 ½ lengths with seconds by a neck in the Wise Dan (G2) and half-length in the Canadian Turf (G3).

“This horse, I love this horse. He's a hard-knocking, tough little horse,” Motion said. “He's been a little unlucky probably not to come away with another win in one of these races he's been in, but he hasn't been beaten far in some pretty tough races. He's a hard-trying horse.”

Hall of Famer John Velazquez will ride Bye Bye Melvin from outermost Post 8, while Joel Rosario has the assignment on English Bee from Post 2.

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown, winner of the 2016 Dinner Party with Takeover Target, entered Kuramata and Sacred Life. Peter Brant's Kuramata will be making just his fourth career start and first in a stakes, breaking his maiden Feb. 21 at Tampa Bay Downs and winning a 1 1/16-mile allowance April 2 at Aqueduct in his two races this year.

Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Bethlehem Stables' Sacred Life was a Group 3 winner in his native France that has yet to break through with his first graded-stakes in North America. Winner of the 1 1/16-mile Oceanport last summer at Monmouth Park, the 6-year-old ran third by 2 ½ lengths in the Maker's Mark Mile (G1) April 9 at Keeneland in his first race in seven months.

Irad Ortiz Jr. will be aboard Kuramata from Post 3 with Hall of Famer Javier Castellano riding Sacred Life from Post 5.

Also exiting the Maker's Mark Mile, where he was seventh by less than four lengths, is Skychai Racing and Sand Dollar Stable's Somelikeithotbrown, second to Factor This in last fall's Dinner Party. Trained by Mike Maker, the 5-year-old son of 2008 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1) winner Big Brown is a graded winner on two surfaces, taking the 2019 Jeff Ruby (G3) on the all-weather at Turfway Park and the Bernard Baruch (G2) over the Saratoga turf last summer.

Somelikeithotbrown owns four wins and three seconds in seven career tries at the Dinner Party distance. Jose Ortiz gets the call from Post 1.

“He was second in this race last year,” Maker said. “It's a nice distance for him.”

Completing the field are Dreams of Tomorrow, third by 1 ¼ lengths in the Henry S. Clark April 24 at Pimlico for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey; 2018 American Derby (G3) winner Real Story; Talk Or Listen, Group 3-placed in France in 2019; and stakes-placed Midnight Tea Time.

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Factor This Gives Cox, Geroux Second Win On The Day In Dinner Party

Gaining Ground Racing's Factor This continued his strong season in 2020 on Saturday with a front-running victory in the Grade 2 Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico. It was the second win on the Preakness Stakes undercard for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux. The 5-year-old son of The Factor was off as the 4-5 favorite in the field of seven, and pulled away to win by three lengths in a final time time of 1:46.17 over the yielding turf course.

Breaking from the outside post, Factor This was able to get to the lead and the rail before the clubhouse turn. Geroux guided him through fractions of :24.28 and :48.74, maintaining a one-length advantage until mid-way up the backstretch.

Irish Strait moved up to pressure the leader, within a half-length at the five-eighths pole, while Somelikeithotbrown was trapped down on the rail through much of the early going. In the far turn, Irish Strait dropped back and Somelikeithotbrown was able to angle out to take aim on the leading Factor This.

Somelikeithotbrown got within a length of Factor This, but could not get by the determined frontrunner and yielded in the final sixteenth of a mile. At the finish, it was Factor This in front by about three lengths as Somelikeithotbrown settled for second. Hembree got up for third, while Doctor Mounty was fourth.

Bred in Kentucky by Maccabee Farm, Factor This is out of the Singspiel mare Capricious Miss. He was a $2,700 yearling at the Keeneland September sale, then brought a final bid of $11,000 at the OBS April sale the following spring. Factor This didn't win his first stakes race until his 4-year-old season, and earned a first graded victory early in 2020. This year, the horse has won five of his seven starts, all in stakes company.

Overall, Factor This has earned over $1.2 million with a career record of 12-4-4 from 32 starts.

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Doctor Mounty Headlines Pimlico’s Oldest Stakes Race, The Dinner Party

Already a four-time winner of the race, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey will go after No. 5 with Maryland-loving multiple graded-stakes winner Doctor Mounty in the $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) Saturday, Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course.

The 119th running of the Dinner Party for 3-year-olds and up on the grass is part of a Preakness Day program of 12 stakes races, seven graded, worth $2.7 million in purses featuring the $1 million Preakness (G1) for 3-year-olds and $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3-year-old fillies.

Previously run as the Dixie, Pimlico's oldest stakes race and the eighth-oldest in the country was named the Dinner Party for its 1870 debut and contested at two miles. The distance has changed eight times over its history, settling at the current 1 1/16 miles in 2014.

Larry Pratt and Dave Alden's Doctor Mounty snapped a five-race losing streak when he returned from a brief freshening with a front-running 1 ¾-length triumph in the 1 1/16-mile Henry S. Clark Sept. 7 at Laurel Park. It was his first victory since his previous trip to Maryland, when the now 7-year-old gelding rallied to win the Prince George's County by a length last June.

The Clark was Doctor Mounty's sixth win from nine lifetime tries at Laurel, including the 2018 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup (G3). Based at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., where he breezed a half-mile in a bullet 47.40 seconds Sept. 26, Doctor Mounty has yet to race at Pimlico.

“He's doing fine. He's been there at Fair Hill and he's trained well there, so we'll take a shot,” McGaughey said. “He likes Laurel, so [the Clark was] a good spot to try and start him back again.”

In the Clark, Doctor Mounty was reunited with jockey Forest Boyce, who has ridden him to five of his Laurel wins including all three stakes. She and the 2019 Tropical Turf (G3) winner will team up again from Post 6 in a field of seven for the Dinner Party.

McGaughey's previous wins came with Hall of Famer Lure (1993), Parading (2009), Ironicus (2015) and Fire Away (2018), when it was rained onto the main track.

“Forest rides him really well, so I think that's one of the things that's helped, too,” McGaughey said. “He's made more than a half-million dollars, he's won some stakes and won some graded-stakes. He's been off and on a little bit but we gave him a little time this summer. We thought about taking him to Colonial [Downs] but when that fell through [the Clark] was the next logical spot, [and] here we are.”

Trainer Graham Motion, who won with Dr. Brendler in 2003 and Better Talk Now in 2006 and was third the past two years with Just Howard, counters with the pair of True Valour and Irish Strait. R. Larry Johnson purchased Irish-bred True Valour over the summer and the 6-year-old debuted for his new connections Sept. 5 in the 1 1/8-mile Turf Classic (G1), pressing the pace before fading to seventh.

True Valour has gone winless in seven tries since taking the City of Hope Mile (G2) last October, his first start in eight months after winning the Thunder Road (G3), both at Santa Anita. Winner of the 2018 Ballycorus (G3) at Leopardstown in Ireland, he will be ridden by Julian Pimentel from Post 1.

“I think the mile and an eighth in Kentucky was a little far for him. I think shortening up to a mile and a sixteenth is going to help him,” Motion said. “He's pretty straightforward; I just think distance is going to be a bit limited for him. Last time was just a bit too far.”

Isabelle Haskell de Tomaso's homebred Irish Strait is a half-brother to Irish War Cry, millionaire winner of the 2018 Pimlico Special (G3). Irish Strait earned his own graded triumph in the 2017 Red Bank (G3) and has run second or third four times since in graded company.

After more than a year between races, Irish Strait has started twice this year with a third in the 1 1/16-mile Oceanport Aug. 9 and a fourth to Analyze It in the one-mile Red Bank Sept. 5, both at Monmouth under jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. Trevor McCarthy will be aboard for the Dinner Party from Post 5.

“He's run twice this year and run pretty well. Just looking over his form, he almost never gets beaten more than four lengths. Since last January he's just been very consistent,” Motion said. “He's 8 now so at some point in time it's going to catch up to him, but I thought in the Red Bank [trainer] Chad [Brown] won it with a filly coming off a long layoff with a pretty nice horse, a Grade 1 type horse. Jorge felt like he made a mistake by taking back little bit, and he was only beaten 4 ¼ lengths.”

Also in with a pair of horses is trainer Mike Maker, Somelikeithotbrown and Hembree, who will break side-by-side from Post 2 and 3, respectively, under Paco Lopez and Daniel Centeno. Skychai Racing and Sand Dollar Stable's Somelikeithotbrown, 4, captured the Bernard Baruch (G2) July 26 at Saratoga for his second career graded triumph, while Three Diamonds Farm's Hembree won the 2018 Nearctic (G2). The 6-year-old hasn't visited the winner's circle since the 2019 El Prado but placed six times in 13 tries, all stakes.

Gaining Ground Racing's Factor This, beaten less than a length after setting the pace in the Turf Classic, cuts back to a distance where the 5-year-old owns four wins from seven starts, the most recent coming in the June 20 Wise Dan (G2) for trainer Brad Cox. It was part of a three-race streak interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic following victories in the Muniz Memorial Classic (G3) and Fair Grounds (G3). An 11-time winner of nearly $1.1 million in purse earnings, Factor This drew outside Post 7 with Florent Groux.

Rounding out the field is O Dionysus, a stakes winner on turf and dirt for previous trainer Gary Capuano making his third start since being purchased by Irvin S. Naylor for $135,000 last December. The 6-year-old gelding has won stakes in each of his first four racing seasons but is 0-for-2 in 2020, finishing off the board in the United Nations (G1) and Henry Clark. This will be his third straight year in the race, running fourth in 2018 and fifth in 2019.

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