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MATCH Series: Veteran Artful Splatter Seeks Fortune Reversal In Caesar’s Wish

James Wolf's durable Artful Splatter, an eight-time career winner from 29 lifetime starts, will attempt to reverse her recent fortunes and become a stakes winner for the third time in Sunday's $100,000 Caesar's Wish at historic Pimlico Race Course.

The 1 1/16-mile Caesar's Wish for fillies and mares 3 and up is among four stakes worth $375,000 in purses on an 11-race Independence Day holiday program. It and the $100,000 Lite the Fuse for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs are part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series.

Other stakes are the $100,000 Concern for 3-year-olds going six furlongs and $75,000 Jameela for Maryland-bred/sired fillies and mares 3 and up scheduled for five furlongs on the grass. Sunday's program, which begins at 12:40 p.m., also includes a mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6, which carries a Maryland state record carryover jackpot of $1.351 million into the return of live racing Friday.

Post time Sunday is 12:40 p.m.

Artful Splatter made her first six career starts on the main track before being moved to the grass for five straight when she was claimed by trainer Kieron Magee out of a runner-up finish Sept. 7, 2019. The 5-year-old daughter of 2014 General George (G3) winner Bandbox reeled off five straight wins including the Geisha over 11-time stakes winner Anna's Bandit to open 2020.

“We claimed her toward the end of grass season,” Magee said. “We claimed her thinking she'd run on the dirt, but she hadn't been getting the chance.”

Since her streak ended, Artful Splatter has won two of 13 starts including a 10 ¼-length romp in an off-the-turf George Rosenberger Memorial last fall at Delaware Park and placed in three others, among them a second in the 2020 Twixt and third in the Feb. 20 Nellie Morse, both at Laurel Park.

“We claimed her for [$16,000] and she's done very well. She won five in a row off that and she's done everything we've asked of her,” Magee said. “Anytime you have a girl that goes long it's tough to find spots.

“She always runs her race. She always tries hard,” he added. “We've put her in some spots that we shouldn't have put her in, but she still shows up.”

Maryland's overall leading trainer from 2014-16, the 60-year-old Magee is currently tied for second in the extended Preakness Meet standings with 12 wins at Pimlico, where the Ireland native and one-time exercise rider for fellow trainer Dale Capuano is based year-round.

“I've been around Pimlico most of my life. I love Pimlico. Absolutely,” he said. “Off all the tracks, Pimlico is home for me. I'm hoping we're here for a few more months.”

Charlie Marquez rides Artful Splatter from Post 3 of eight at co-topweight of 126 pounds.

Bred in Pennsylvania by Kim Eshleman and campaigned in the name of her husband, James, Trolley Ride enters the Caesar's Wish off a gutsy half-length victory in the Lyphard against fellow state-breds May 28 at Penn National. Originally scheduled for the turf, it was run over a sloppy track at 1 1/16 miles.

It was the second win in three starts for the 6-year-old Flashy Bull mare, who capped 2020 with an optional claiming allowance win and opened 2021 running fourth to undefeated Chub Wagon in the Unique Bella April 27, both sprinting seven furlongs at Parx.

“We were just kind of getting her ready the first time back. I do think she wants to go two turns because she has that kick at the end as long as she's steady the first part,” trainer Bernie Houghton said. “She needs the backside to get her stride. That was a tough filly that won.

“She's doing very good,” he added. “She had a good breeze [Tuesday]. She worked great, galloped out good and she's doing good. I have a race picked out at the end of July so this works from a timing standpoint. It's a good spot.”

Houghton has had Trolley Ride throughout a 26-race career that includes nine wins, two seconds, four thirds and $323,654 in purse earnings. She was born on his family's Sylmar Farm, which also foaled and raised multiple Grade 1 winner Princess of Sylmar, named for the 300-acre spread founded by his parents.

“She's done very well,” he said. “Kim has been our assistant at the farm for 40 years. She came in when she was real young and stayed with us. It's very special for her.”

Inoel Beato, aboard for her stakes win, gets a return call from Post 2.

“She doesn't mind the slop. She loves it. We'll see what happens Sunday,” Houghton said. “I'm sure it's going to be tougher than her last spot, for sure.”

Haymarket Farm's Gracetown will be making her stakes debut in the Caesar's Wish. The 5-year-old Into Mischief mare has two wins and two seconds in her last four starts dating back to a one-mile allowance triumph last November at Laurel. Runner-up in her next two races, she exits a 1 ¾-length victory in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance May 7 at Pimlico.

“She's doing well for us as we've stretched her out. She's been going around two turns very well,” trainer Jerry O'Dwyer said. “She's a lovely, big mare with a nice pedigree. The owner wanted to breed her at the end of this year so we're trying to pick up a little bit of black type for her along the line to enhance her value for the breeding shed.

“She's been working well. I had her up at Delaware. I was going to run her in a stake or two up there but I'm not sure that she's quite in love with the deep surface up there,” he added. “She's won at the distance on the track, so that's in her favor. She's going to have to take a step up again, numbers-wise.”

Sheldon Russell gets the assignment from Post 1.

Mrs. Orb, a two-time New York-bred stakes winner and runner-up in the 2020 Turnback the Alarm (G3); multiple stakes-placed Landing Zone, most recently third in the Lady's Secret June 6 at Monmouth Park; Suggestive Honor, Group 3-placed in her native Argentina last winter; His Glory and Sweet Sami D, third in the 2019 Monmouth Oaks (G3) and fifth in the Lady's Secret, round out the field.

The Caesar's Wish debuted in 1978 at old Bowie Race Course and was held at both Pimlico and Laurel before it was renamed the Beyond the Wire for 2018. It honors the Maryland-bred mare that won 11 of 16 starts over two seasons including the 1978 Mother Goose (G1) and Black-Eyed Susan (G2) and 1977 Demoiselle (G2) and Villager (G3). Her winning time in the Mother Goose broke Hall of Famer Ruffian's stakes record and stood until 1994.

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Record-Setting Yaupon Returns To Action In Sunday’s Lite The Fuse Stakes At Pimlico

Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Yaupon, record-setting winner of the Chick Lang (G3) last fall, returns to Maryland looking to recapture his winning form in Sunday's $100,000 Lite the Fuse at Pimlico Race Course.

The six-furlong Lite the Fuse for 3-year-olds and up, named for the two-time Carter (G1) and Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G2) winner, returns to the Maryland stakes calendar for the first time since being run in 2002 at Laurel Park.

It is among four stakes worth $375,000 on the 11-race Independence Day holiday program along with the $100,000 Concern for 3-year-olds sprinting six furlongs, $100,000 Caesar's Wish going 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares 3 and up, and $75,000 Jameela for Maryland-bred/sired females 3 and older scheduled for five furlongs on the grass.

The Lite the Fuse and Caesar's Wish are both part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series. Sunday's program also includes a mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6, which carries a Maryland state record carryover jackpot of $1.351 million into the return of live racing Friday.

Post time Sunday is 12:40 p.m.

Yaupon gave the Heiligbrodts and Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen the second of three straight Chick Lang victories Oct. 1, after the race was pushed back from mid-May amid the coronavirus pandemic. They also won with Mitole, the 2020 older male sprint champion, in 2019 and Mighty Mischief on May 15 of this year. Mighty Mischief also returns in the Concern.

“Pimlico is a nice track to run at. It fits our horses,” Bill Heiligbrodt said. “Going back to Mitole when he ran in the Chick Lang, he ran solid in the mud and he still ran exceptionally well. I couldn't believe he ran as well as he did. Yaupon ran good there last year in the Chick Lang. I'll be trying to win it again next year, I promise you that.”

Yaupon's final time of 1:09.10 in winning the Chick Lang by four lengths matched that of Lantana Mob, also trained by Asmussen, in 2008. It was the fourth consecutive win to open his career and second straight in a graded-stakes following the Amsterdam (G2) last August at Saratoga. Each of them came in front-running fashion.

The then-undefeated Yaupon headed from Pimlico to the Breeders' Cup favored to win the Sprint (G1), but found himself trailing horses for the first time. He ran into traffic trouble in upper stretch and wound up eighth in the field of 14, beaten 6 ¼ lengths.

“I need a race for him very badly. After his race there, he was odds-on heavy favorite in the Breeders' Cup and got a pretty rough trip,” Heiligbrodt said. “I've been trying to get him back on a straight line and he's doing pretty good right now. It's a wonderful opportunity to run him there.”

Yaupon has made one start this year, again encountering trouble running eighth in the Golden Shaheen (G1) May 27 in Dubai. He has been working steadily since mid-May at Churchill Downs for his return.

“I'm hoping he'll run good. Obviously, he's coming back,” Heiligbrodt said. “He went over to Dubai and had problems over there, so we're trying to get him straightened out if we can.”

Ricardo Santana Jr. will be in town to ride Yaupon for the first time from the far outside in a field of seven. Yaupon has raced exclusively at six furlongs throughout his career.

“He's doing really good right now [but] you never know until you race,” Heiligbrodt said. “He had a pretty bad experience in the Breeders' Cup, so we'll see what happens. But he's a very, very talented horse. He ran numbers like Mitole.

“He's not Mitole, and I don't think there will ever be another horse like him as far as consistently every time putting him on the track and running out of his skin, but he's a very nice horse,” he added. “He's a very nice pedigreed horse so I hope he runs well. I hope everybody over there will enjoy both [he and Mighty Mischief]. They're as good as I can send them.”

Two days after Yaupon's Chick Lang victory, Hillside Equestrian Meadows' Laki became a graded-stakes winner in the De Francis (G3), his first win following two previous subpar efforts at Pimlico. The 8-year-old gelding ran his win streak over the course to two in the April 24 Frank Y. Whiteley, marking his fifth straight season as a stakes winner.

An 11-time winner from 34 career starts with purse earnings of $805,162, the Maryland-bred Laki exits a fifth-place finish behind Special Reserve in the six-furlong Maryland Sprint (G3) May 15 on the undercard of the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1). Racing on the inside, he chased the early leaders but could not gain late and was beaten 4 ¾ lengths.

The Maryland Sprint came just 22 days following Laki's second career Whiteley victory. He'll have had 51 days from the Maryland Sprint to the Lite the Fuse, which trainer Damon Dilodovico believes is in his favor.

“I always like to give him the time when I can give it to him,” Dilodovico said. “Even though he didn't place well Preakness day, I still feel like he ran well. He came out of the race good. We scoped him after and he came back clean.

“His last breeze was a little bit slower than I was thinking I'd like to have going into it, but I had a bunch of horses work slow that day,” he added. “He came out of it pretty sharp; hopefully, not too sharp. He doesn't need too much. He probably just needs me to stay out of his way.”

Regular rider Horacio Karamanos will be aboard from Post 4.

Michael Dubb's Chateau, based in New York with trainer Rob Atras, has not raced since finishing second to Grade 1 winner Firenze Fire in the Runhappy (G3) May 8 at Belmont Park. The 6-year-old Flat Out gelding won the Tom Fool (G3), also at six furlongs, March 6 in his second start of the year and was fourth in the seven-furlong Carter Handicap (G1) April 3, both at Aqueduct.

Hillwood Stable's Valued Notion has won three of his four starts this year for Maryland trainer Rodney Jenkins. Most recently, he beat stakes winners Air Token and Oldies But Goodies in his stakes debut, the June 13 Ben's Cat at Pimlico, which was rained off the turf and run at five furlongs. His other wins have come at 5 ½ and six furlongs, both at Laurel Park against open company.

Also entered are 2020 New Castle winner Threes Over Deuces, second to Firenze Fire in that year's General George (G3); multiple stakes winner Lebda, eighth in the Maryland Sprint last out; and Whiskey and You.

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Pimlico: Five Stakes, $1-Million Rainbow 6 Jackpot Highlight Sunday’s Action

Take one formidable undefeated horse, mix in a bevy of local stars and out-of-town shippers, and add a Maryland state record carryover jackpot in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 of more than $1 million and the result is one spectacular afternoon of racing at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

Sunday's 10-race program kicks off at 12:40 p.m. and includes five stakes, four scheduled for the turf, worth $475,000 in purses highlighted by the $100,000 Shine Again for fillies and mares 3 and older sprinting six furlongs on the main track.

The Shine Again, the next race in the 24-stakes Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series that runs through Dec. 26, is headed by 4-year-old filly Chub Wagon, winner of the Skipat May 15 at Pimlico on the undercard of the 146^th Preakness (G1) to run her perfect record to 6-0. It will be her biggest test yet, facing the likes of Anna's Bandit, Hello Beautiful and Dontletsweetfoolya who have combined for 29 wins, 18 in stakes.

All four remaining stakes are scheduled for the grass led by the $100,000 Prince George's County for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles that drew a field of 12 including main-track-only entrant Shane's Jewel and featuring graded-stakes winners English Bee, Eons and Pixelate, the narrow 3-1 program favorite on turf. Graded-stakes placed stablemates Logical Myth and Midnight Tea Time come in from Kentucky to challenge.

New York-based stakes winner Beautiful Lover, twice graded-stakes placed for trainer Chad Brown, is favored at 2-1 on the morning line in the $100,000 Searching at 1 ½ miles for fillies and mares 3 and up. In her first start for trainer Christophe Clement, the 5-year-old mare was fifth by 2 ½ lengths in the 1 1/16-mile Distaff Turf March 28 at Tampa Bay Downs, her first race in more than six months. Her main competition is expected to come from Dowager (G3) winner Blame Debbie and fellow stakes winner Luck Money.

Rounding out the stakes action are a pair of five-furlong sprints – the $100,000 Stormy Blues for 3-year-old fillies and $75,000 Ben's Cat for Maryland-bred/sired 3-year-olds and up. Street Lute, a six-time stakes winner on the dirt, is entered to make her turf debut in the Stormy Blues against the likes of multiple stakes-placed Honey Pants, the 7-2 program favorite, and the pair of Wink and Amanzi Yimpilo from trainer Wesley Ward, currently in England for the upcoming Royal Ascot meet.

So Street is a narrow 4-1 morning-line favorite in the Ben's Cat facing fellow stakes winners Introduced and Air Token and defending champion Oldies But Goodies and 2020 Maryland Million Turf runner-up Cannon's Roar. Hemp, third in the May 15 Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico, is entered for main track only.

Following Sunday's action, live racing returns to Pimlico Friday, June 18.

Record Rainbow 6 Carryover Tops $1 Million for Stakes-Filled Sunday
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 went unsolved Saturday at historic Pimlico Race Course, growing the Maryland state record carryover jackpot to $1,007,434.44 for Sunday's stakes-filled program.

First race post time is 12:40 p.m.

A total of $102,742 was put into the popular multi-race wager on top of a carryover of $974,564.10 from the last full live program June 6. Friday's card at Pimlico was canceled after two races due to inclement weather. Multiple tickets with all six winners Saturday each returned $9,861.08.

The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out only when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

Introduced in Maryland April 2, 2015 on opening day of Pimlico's spring meet, the Rainbow 6 had its previous state record carryover reach $345,898.33 spanning 31 racing programs before being solved by one lucky bettor for a life-changing $399,545.94 payout April 15, 2018 at Laurel Park. The winning ticket was purchased through Maine off-track betting.

Sunday's Rainbow 6 spans Races 5-10 and includes four of the day's five stakes worth a total of $475,000 in purses – the $75,000 Ben's Cat (Race 6), $100,000 Prince George's County (Race 8), $100,000 Shine Again (Race 9) and $100,000 Stormy Blues (Race 10).

Three of the stakes – the Ben's Cat, Prince George's County and Stormy Blues – comprise the grass races in the Rainbow 6 sequence. The $100,000 Searching, which kicks off the stakes action in Race 4, is also scheduled for the turf.

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MATCH Series: Tough Sprinters Return From Layoffs To Face Undefeated Chub Wagon In Shine Again

Two of the toughest female sprinters in Maryland will return from layoffs to face the undefeated Chub Wagon June 13 at Pimlico Race Course in the $100,000 Shine Again Stakes, part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships Series (MATCH) for 2021.

The Shine Again, at six furlongs, is one of five Sunday stakes at Old Hilltop. It's the second of six stakes in the Filly and Mare Sprint—Dirt division, currently led by Chub Wagon, who captured the Skipat Stakes at Pimlico May 15.

Pennsylvania-bred Chub Wagon, owned by Daniel Lopez and George Chestnut, won her first five starts on the lead throughout. The 4-year-old Hey Chub filly rated in third for the first half-mile in the Skipat before taking over in the stretch and pulling away to win by two lengths. She was entered in a Grade III stakes at Belmont Park June 5, but her connections, including trainer Guadalupe Preciado, opted to scratch her in favor of the Shine Again. Jomar Torres is named to ride the Parx Racing-based filly.

Preciado acknowledged the depth of the Shine Again field.

“Every race is the same; no matter what, the horses need to run to win,” he said. “Whether it's easy or tough, the horses still have to run.”

Chub Wagon collected 10 MATCH points for her Skipat victory and is looking to bring that total to 20 with another win in the series.

No Guts No Glory Farm's Anna's Bandit, a winner of 17 races and almost $800,000 in 36 starts for trainer John Robb, has been working regularly since April for her first start since July 2020 at Delaware Park. A winner of 11 stakes in the Mid-Atlantic region, the 7-year-old West Virginia-bred mare by Great Notion will have regular rider Xavier Perez aboard for her return.

“I was looking for an easier spot but I've been waiting for six weeks now,” Robb said. “I'm not expecting her to win it, but she needs to get a race under her. She has been doing good, but she's such a big, heavy horse that I don't expect to ever get her fit just with breezes.”

Hello Beautiful, a winner of seven of 14 starts, won three consecutive stakes at Laurel Park in late fall and early winter before her fifth-place finish in the Grade III Barbara Fritchie Stakes for trainer Brittany Russell. The 4-year-old Maryland-bred filly by Golden Lad was given a break and has been working well at Pimlico for the Shine Again. Hello Beautiful, to be ridden by Sheldon Russell, is a five-time stakes winner of almost $400,000 owned by Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables.

“To be fair, when something goes wrong in the afternoon, whatever the reason—like last year when we shipped her around a bit and just didn't have any luck, or the Fritchie—it's almost like it makes her come back with a vengeance,” Russell said. “She doesn't like getting beat. I hope that's the case this go-around.”

Five Hellions Farm's Dontletsweetfoolya, who has won five of her 10 starts, is entered in the Shine Again off of a fourth-place finish behind Chub Wagon in the Skipat. The 4-year-old Stay Thirsty filly, trained by Lacey Gaudet and temporarily based at Delaware Park, was on the lead in the Skipat until the stretch and has done her best running on the front end. Jevian Toledo, who has been aboard Dontletsweetfoolya for all of her victories, is named to ride.

After the Shine Again, the MATCH Series will continue with two stakes July 4 in Maryland.

The MATCH Series, the only one of its kind in racing, will run through Dec. 26 at Laurel and features 24 stakes—20 of them in Maryland and four at Colonial Downs in Virginia—valued at $2.75 million. There will be four divisions, all of them on dirt, and $282,000 in bonus money for owners and trainers.

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