Indian Lake Gets Easy Win In Bald Eagle Derby At Pimlico

Gap View Stables and Jagger, Inc.'s Indian Lake, having only run twice previously on turf and never farther than a mile and 70 yards in 16 starts, conquered both the course and distance with a front-running, three-quarter-length triumph over favored Experienced in Saturday's $100,000 Bald Eagle Derby at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

The third running of the 1 ½-mile Bald Eagle Derby for 3-year-olds was the first of four grass stakes worth $500,000 in purses, anchored by the $200,000 Grade 3 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup. In between were a pair of $100,000 stakes for fillies and mares 3 and up, the five-furlong Sensible Lady Turf Dash and the 1 1/8-mile Big Dreyfus.

Jockey Ruben Silvera, leading the rider standings at Parx with 132 wins since Jan. 1, gave Indian Lake ($8.60) an ideal trip, establishing a comfortable early lead with plenty left for a drive to the wire in the Daredevil gelding's first stakes victory.

In fact, Indian Lake hadn't won since Silvera was last aboard in an April 12 optional claimer at Parx, having gone winless in four subsequent starts, three of them in stakes. He ran fourth in the one-mile James W. Murphy May 15 on the Pimlico turf, second in an off-the-grass Jersey Derby May 28, and third in the Sussex July 8 at Delaware Park.

“He rides all my horses at Parx; I told him absolutely nothing. Sometimes I feel when I have a good rider, that's best. Just get the feel of the race and do your best,” winning trainer and co-owner Jamie Ness said. “Great race. Lot of fun.”

Silvera was able to get away with easy splits of :24.59 for the opening quarter-mile and :50.83 for a half, tracked by Shackled Love, a stakes winner on dirt making his turf debut, and 56-1 long shot Hanford along the rail. The main challengers didn't get any closer as Indian Lake went six furlongs in 1:17.51 and a mile in 1:44.09.

“[Shackled Love] had the speed, so it all depended on how I break. He broke pretty good and nobody went, so I tried to control the pace in the beginning. I won the race in the beginning,” Silvera said. “Jamie is a good guy, a good trainer. He never gives me instructions. He trusts me. He says, 'You are the jockey, you know what you're doing.'

“I know the horse. He's a good horse. He likes to run in front,” he added. “Every time when he feels a horse behind him, he's a different horse. He was really relaxed all the way around.”

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Experienced, racing for just the second time off a gutsy maiden special weight triumph June 21 at Delaware Park in debut, swung wide at the top of the stretch after racing near the back of the field to make a run, but was unable to catch the winner. It was three-quarters of a length back to Wootton Asset, who edged Take Profit by a nose for third. Hanford and Shackled Love completed the order of finish.

“When I saw 1:17, and this is a good horse, I thought it's going to take a pretty good horse to catch him. We were stretching our distance, but he's a good horse,” Ness said. “He galloped out good. You can't let a good horse go that slow and expect to beat him. I give all the credit in the world to Ruben on that one.”

The Bald Eagle honors Harry Guggenheim's two-time winner of the Washington D.C. International. His first victory, in 1959, came in a course-record 2:28 for 1 ½ miles and his second, in 1960, helped clinch champion handicap horse honors. Bald Eagle also set track records at Aqueduct and Hialeah and retired with 12 wins, all in stakes, and $692,122 in purse earnings from 29 lifetime starts.

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Pixelate Leads List Of Nominees for Pimlico Turf Stake

Godolphin homebred Pixelate, coming off a victory in last month's Prince George's County over the track, is one of seven graded-stakes winners among 28 horses nominated to the $200,000 Grade 3 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup Saturday, July 24 at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

The one-mile G3 BWI Turf Cup for 3-year-olds and up is one of four grass stakes worth $500,000 in purses on the program, joined by the $100,000 Bald Eagle Derby at 1 ½ miles for 3-year-olds and the $100,000 Sensible Lady Turf Dash sprinting five furlongs and $100,000 Big Dreyfus going 1 1/8 miles, both for fillies and mares 3 and up.

Pixelate posted a third consecutive bullet workout Sunday over the all-weather surface at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., going a half-mile in :48 flat. All three have come since the 4-year-old City Zip colt, winner of the 2020 Grade 3 Kent at Delaware Park, rallied to beat fellow BWI Turf Cup nominee Logical Myth by a length in the 1 1/8-mile Prince George's County June 13.

Also exiting the Prince George's County are Eons, Talk Or Listen, and English Bee, who respectively ran third, sixth, and seventh. Eons, a 5-year-old horse, saw his winless streak extend to 10 races since capturing the 2019 Kent after encountering trouble last out, finishing just a length behind Logical Myth.

Eons' Arnaud Delacour-trained stablemate Talk Or Listen chased the pace in the Prince George's County before fading, though beaten less than four lengths. In his previous start, the 5-year-old gelding ran second by a length to Somelikeithotbrown in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Dinner Party May 15 on the undercard of the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes.

English Bee won the James W. Murphy at Pimlico, Grade 3 Virginia Derby, and Parx Fall Derby in 2019 but has been unable to win since, running second in the Grade 3 Canadian Turf and Grade 2 Wise Dan last year. A 5-year-old son of turf champion English Channel, he was also seventh in the Dinner Party, beaten 2 ½ lengths.

Field Pass, trained by Mike Maker, won the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby, the Grade 3 Transylvania, and the Grade 3 Ontario Derby in 2020 and has finished fourth in three of four starts this year, including the G2 Wise Dan last out June 26 at Churchill Downs and the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile April 9 at Keeneland.

Mr Dumas, winner of the 2019 Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf, has yet to race since capturing a Keeneland allowance last October. California-based Neptune's Storm made his 2021 debut running second in the June 20 Grade 3 American at Santa Anita Park. Graded wins have come in the 2020 Grade 3 San Francisco Mile and 2019 Grade 2 Hill Prince.

Also nominated are Oak Bluff Stables' 6-year-old Therapist, four-for-seven lifetime at one mile with earnings of $671,865 for New York-based trainer Christophe Clement, fellow multiple stakes winner Rinaldi, owned and trained by James Bond; and Augustin Stable homebred Corelli, who beat Pixelate by a neck in the April 24 Henry S. Clark at Pimlico and was most recently third in the June 5 Grade 3 Monmouth.

Wootton Asset and Doubleoseven, respectively third and fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Kent July 3, are among 20 sophomores nominated to the Bald Eagle Derby. The Kent was the season opener for Wootton Asset, second by a nose in the Laurel Futurity last fall at Pimlico, and the turf debut for Doubleoseven, stakes-placed sprinting on dirt.

Also nominated are Michael Matz-trained filly Line Dancing, third in the Grade 3 Edgewood April 20 in her 2021 opener; Eamonn, fifth in the Kent; Indian Lake, third by less than a length in the 7 ½-furlong Sussex July 8 at Delaware Park; Experienced and Vikram, debut maiden special weight winners for Jonathan Thomas, who also trains Corelli; and Shackled Love, winner of the March 13 Private Terms over Laurel Park's main track.

Line Dancing is also one of 29 nominees to the Big Dreyfus, along with four from Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown – 2021 Grade 3 Endeavour winner Counterparty Risk, Feb. 6 Suwannee River winner Great Island, third in the May 15 Grade 3 Gallorette at Pimlico; German Group 2 winner Kalifornia Queen and Nay Lady Nay, winner of the All Along at Laurel and Grade 3 Matchmaker in 2020. Speaktomeofsummer, winner of the 2020 Grade 2 Lake Placid at Saratoga, multiple stakes winner Summer in Saratoga, and Sosua, undefeated in three career starts, are also nominated.

The Sensible Lady Turf Dash also attracted 29 nominees including multiple stakes winners Street Lute, who has yet to run on grass; Caravel, bred, co-owned and trained by Maryland-based Liz Merryman, and Jakarta; Ellanation, Dendrobia, Quiet Company, Can the Queen, Introduced, and Spun Glass, the top six finishers from the July 4 Jameela at Pimlico; Gotta Go Mo, second to Caravel in the five-furlong The Very One May 14 at Pimlico; and Miss Auramet, runner-up behind Caravel in the June 25 Goldwood at Monmouth Park.

 

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