Pimlico Race Course | Horse Racing Free Tips

Field Pass Gets Class Relief In Saturday’s BWI Turf Cup

Three Diamonds Farm's Field Pass, a Grade 3 winner on both grass and synthetics, will make his eighth consecutive start against graded company and first at Pimlico Race Course in Saturday's $200,000 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup (G3).

The 15th running of the one-mile BWI Turf Cup for 3-year-olds and up headlines a nine-race program featuring four grass stakes worth $500,000 in purses. Launched as the Colonial Turf Cup in 2005, it was held at Colonial Downs through 2013 before moving to Laurel Park in 2015 following a one-year hiatus. It returns after not being part of Maryland's pandemic-shortened 2020 stakes schedule.

Also on Saturday's program are the $100,000 Bald Eagle Derby for 3-year-olds going 1 ½ miles and a pair of stakes for fillies and mares 3 and up – the 100,000 Big Dreyfus at 1 1/8 miles and $100,000 Sensible Lady Turf Dash sprinting five furlongs.

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

Field Pass has gone winless in three races this year including fourths in the Maker's Mark Mile (G1) April 9 at Keeneland in his 4-year-old debut and last out in the 1 1/16-mile Wise Dan (G2) June 26, beaten a total of five lengths.

In between, the Lemon Drop Kid colt faded to be last of eight after pressing the pace in the 1 3/8-mile Man o' War (G1) May 8 at Belmont Park, where he blew out three furlongs in 36 seconds Wednesday.

“He's doing well,” trainer Mike Maker said. “He had a nice, easy work this morning and he's ready to go.”

Field Pass has raced exclusively in graded company since running third in the American Turf (G2) last September and in nine of his last 12 starts, winning the Jeff Ruby (G3) and 1 1/8-mile Ontario Derby (G3) over all-weather surfaces at Turfway Park and Woodbine respectively last spring and fall, as well as last July's 1 1/16-mile Transylvania (G3) on the Keeneland turf.

In 19 starts with $608,143 in purse earnings, Field Pass has raced four times at one mile with one win and one third, his victory coming in the Dania Beach on the grass at Gulfstream Park to open his 2020 campaign. Bred in Maryland by Mark Brown Grier, he was beaten a length when fourth as the favorite in the 2019 Laurel Futurity in the only previous trip to his home state.

Victor Carrasco is named to ride from the rail in a field of six at topweight of 124 pounds, two more than each of his rivals.

“I think the class relief will be the main thing. He ran good in the Maker's Mark off the layoff so the distance isn't a concern,” Maker said. “It's still going to be a tough race, but he's been hooking some tough guys lately so we're looking forward to it.”

Other graded winners entered in the BWI Turf Cup are Pixelate and English Bee.

Godolphin homebred Pixelate earned his fifth career win and third in a stakes in the 1 1/8-mile Prince George's County June 13 at Pimlico, getting a perfectly timed ride to edge Logical Myth by a length.

The 4-year-old City Zip colt won the Del Mar Derby (G2) and Woodchopper in 2020 and this year was beaten a nose for the win in the Henry S. Clark April 24 at Pimlico and three lengths when fifth in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream.

“He came out of the last race great,” trainer Michael Stidham said. “It was great to get him back in the winner's circle. He deserves it. He runs great every time.”

Feargal Lynch gets the call from Post 4.

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Calumet Farm's English Bee, a 5-year-old homebred by turf champion English Channel, is still trying to recapture his 2019 form when he won four of eight starts including the 1 1/8-mile Virginia Derby (G3) and a pair of one-mile stakes, the James W. Murphy at Pimlico and Parx Fall Derby, all on the grass.

He hasn't won since, finishing second twice in seven 2020 starts – beaten a half-length in the one-mile Canadian Turf (G3) at Gulfstream and a neck in the Wise Dan.

“I think he just needs some luck,” trainer Graham Motion said. “I think he's as good as he was. He's a hard-knocking horse.”

This year English Bee was a troubled seventh, 2 ½ lengths behind Maker-trained pacesetter Somelikeithotbrown in the 1 1/16-mile Dinner Party (G2) May 15 at Pimlico, his first race in more than seven months, and no better in the Prince George's County.

“I didn't quite know what to make of his last race, but he didn't have a great trip. He certainly had an unlucky trip the first time I ran him,” Motion said. “I think he's done well. I wasn't in a hurry to run him back. I'd like to think he's coming into this pretty fresh.”

Jorge Vargas Jr. has the assignment from Post 5.

Ken and Sarah Ramsey's homebred Ramsey Solution will be making the step up to graded competition for the first time. The winner of the one-mile, 70-yard Tapit last fall at Kentucky Downs – over a field that included English Bee, fellow graded winners Hembree and Hawkish and Dixie show finisher Midnight Tea Time – is trained by Wesley Ward.

“He's always been maybe a cut below the top ones but he's a very talented horse, especially when you get him in the right company,” Ward said. “He's tough.”

Ramsey Solution went four-for-seven in 2020, ending the year with a front-running 1 ½-length optional claiming allowance triumph in November at Keeneland. In his lone start this year he ran second, beaten four lengths by subsequent Wise Dan winner Set Piece, in the 1 1/16-mile Douglas Park overnight stakes May 29 at Churchill Downs.

“He ran big last time. We got kind of compromised by the ride but I think there's a lot more to him and he's going to run a big race this time,” Ward said. “I think after this we'll have a good opinion of where we need to go from here. This will be the race that kind of determines where we're at with him, class-level wise.”

Mychel Sanchez will be up for the first time on Ramsey Solution, breaking from outside Post 6.

“I think he's pretty versatile. He can do anything, that guy,” Ward said of the Real Solution gelding. “He can come from a little off of it or he can bounce right out there. If there's a little give in the ground or it's on the slop or if it's a soft turf, he doesn't mind that either. He's a pretty cool horse.”

Lael Stables' Talk Or Listen exits the same last two races as English Bee, having run second by a length in the Dinner Party and sixth by less than four lengths in the Prince George's County, contested over a turf course rated good.

“He doesn't like the soft turf. His previous race on firm was really good, probably a lifetime best in my opinion,” trainer Arnaud Delacour said. “The soft turf was a question mark, but he just didn't handle it at all. The jock told me when he came off the bridle, that was it.

“I hope for a firm turf. The forecast is pretty good, and I think that he'll like the mile. There should be plenty of pace and he should be able to sit there and do his thing and hopefully run well,” he added. “I've been happy with him. He had a good work the other day and came back well, so everything's good.”

Daniel Centeno, aboard in the Prince George's County, gets a return call from Post 3.

Completing the field is Posterity, owned and trained by Hassan Elamri. The 7-year-old Posse gelding rallied to edge Lucky Ramsey by a neck in a 1 1/16-mile claiming event June 18 at Pimlico, his fifth career win and first since an August 2019 allowance at Laurel.

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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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Ellanation’s ‘Dream Come True Story’: $8,000 Filly Rewards Patience With Stakes Victory

He didn't know it at the time, but when Dark Hollow Farm's David Hayden purchased a bay filly with chipped knees and an uncertain future last year, he got more than just an eventual broodmare. He had found himself another stakes winner, and brought a family member back home.

Ellanation's victory in the $75,000 Jameela July 4 at historic Pimlico Race Course was the latest step in a journey that saw the 5-year-old mare change hands three times, twice at auction, before returning to the place she was born and spending more than a year on the sidelines.

“It's an unbelievable story. It's like a dream come true story,” Hayden said. “One thing we all know, this is a tough game.”

By Alternation out of the Dixie Union mare Memories of Mystic, Ellanation became a stakes winner for the first time in the Jameela, a five-furlong turf sprint for Maryland-bred/sired fillies and mares, her 15th career start. It was the fourth lifetime win and first of any kind for the Mike Trombetta trainee since returning from a 14 ½-month gap between races following knee surgery.

“We were hoping to get some black type. It was a restricted race so we thought it was the right opportunity and time to take a shot,” Hayden said. “Now she owes us nothing. Not that she owed us anything before, but just to get the family back. We claimed her granddam 25 years ago.”

Dark Hollow, founded by Hayden and his wife, JoAnn, in the mid-1980s and located in Upperco, Md., bred and raced Memories of Mystic to one win from eight races in 2007 and 2008. Her dam, Mystic Dance, won the Sham Say Stakes at Pimlico before being claimed for $25,000 Oct. 7, 1995 and made her final three starts for Dark Hollow.

Before Ellanation, Memories of Mystic produced Bridget's Big Luvy, winner of the 2015 Private Terms at Laurel Park who ran up against eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the Arkansas Derby (G1), and 2012 Selima and Dania Beach winner Mystic Love. Both were also born at Dark Hollow.

“We love the family, we love [Ellanation], so we're very, very excited and thrilled now, I can tell you,” Hayden said.

Foaled March 31, 2016 at Dark Hollow, Ellanation was sold as an eighth-month-old weanling for $32,000 that November at Keeneland. The Haydens kept tabs on her, and when she was offered at the Ocala Breeders' April 2018 auction of 2-year-olds in training, they went down with the intention of reacquiring her.

“We saw that she'd been working well down at the OBS sale and we knew some people down there. We said, 'This is a really nice filly, she's a Maryland-bred,' so we went down to try and buy her back,” Hayden said. “We thought we could get her for $100,000 and when she went for $160,000 we took a pass on it.”

Loudmouth Racing was the winning bidder, and Ellanation made her debut Aug. 19, 2018 running fifth in a waiver maiden claiming event at Laurel Park. She would run 11 times for Loudmouth and Joseph Bulger with three wins, four seconds, one third and $128,409 in purse earnings. She also ran fourth in the 2019 Blue Sparkler at Delaware Park, her only previous stakes attempt.

After posting back-to-back sprint wins in November 2019 on the grass at Aqueduct, running for a $30,000 tag, and the next month in an open allowance over Woodbine's all-weather surface, Ellanation finished fourth in a in a six-furlong dirt allowance Jan. 31, 2020 to open her 4-year-old season.

That's when fate stepped in. Hayden received a phone call from friend Nick Sallusto, Loudmouth's racing manager who signed the ticket on Ellanation at the OBS sale.

“He said the guys that own her don't have a farm, she needs chips taken out of both knees and they don't want to go through the process,” Hayden said. “Let me tell you something. That's totally understandable because when you take chips out of knees, most of the time they don't come back.

“When Nick asked if we wanted her back, I said, 'Man, they gave $160,000. What do they want for her?' When he said, 'How does $8,000 sound?' I said, 'Sold,'” he added. “We primarily bought her back because of the family. We wanted her back as a broodmare. We thought if we could get her to the races and get lucky, great. If we can't, she'll have another $25,000 or $30,000 in her, which is still a bargain for that family at the $8,000 purchase price.”

After buying Ellanation back, the Haydens trusted her surgery to Dr. Jim Juzwiak who performed the operation at Manor Equine Hospital in Monkton, Md. Ellanation spent “four or five months” at 155-acre Dark Hollow before continuing her recovery with three months of swimming under the watch of Brenda Godfrey at Nor-Mar Farm in Freeland, Md. and ultimately was turned over to Trombetta to join his Laurel string.

“Since we have a farm we had plenty of time, and we knew she was a grass filly. We had pretty good intel from the vets we know who said if we cleaned up the knees we think she could be a stakes filly,” Hayden said. “I know the guys pretty well and we have a phenomenal vet in Jim Juzwiak. We sent the pictures him, he took the chips out, and we gave her plenty of time off.”

Ellanation returned to the races April 10, running sixth in an optional claiming allowance at Laurel. She entered the Jameela after finishing fifth in successive starts, May 6 and Pimlico and June 14 at Delaware Park, and has earned $49,860 for Dark Hollow this year.

David Hayden

“We did all the things that we had to do,” Hayden said. “I totally understand [when] people don't have a farm and are not passionate about breeding and don't know the family. Our thing is, we have a passion for the horses. We love our family, we love our horses. We just took a shot and we got lucky.

“In this game, the most important thing you can get for a filly is black type. That's what you want,” he added. “She already has the family, and the family is great, but to get her black type was going to mean a lot.”

Sent off at 10-1 in a field that scratched down to seven, Ellanation was kept in the clear by jockey Victor Carrasco while stalking the early pace, tipped further outside in the stretch to launch her bid and went on to a half-length triumph over fellow outsider Dendrobia, a familiar foe trained by Tim Keefe.

“Tim Keefe is a good friend of ours. I went up to him in the paddock and said, 'Would we both sign a contract where we could dead-heat for third, just to get the black type?' And we both said, 'Hell yeah,'” Hayden said. “And the thing that's funny is that we won and he ran second, so were both pretty happy.”

The next grass sprint for older fillies and mares on the Maryland stakes calendar is the open $100,000 Sensible Lady Turf Dash going six furlongs July 24 at Pimlico. The $100,000 Alma North July 31 is contested at 6 ½ furlongs on dirt, while the $75,000 All Brandy Aug. 21 goes 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

“She came out of the race great. We'll just be looking for spots for her. She's definitely a grass filly,” Hayden said. “She's only 5, so the question is do we run her again next year or do we bring her home and start breeding her, which is probably going to be what we end up doing, more likely than not.”

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Pimlico’s Rainbow 6 Mandatory Payout Nets Big Payout For Winners

The mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6, featuring a state-record jackpot carryover, returned $31,028.08 Sunday at Pimlico Race Course.

There was a carryover of $1,435,080 and $5,110,191 of new money wagered on a Sunday program featuring four stakes races.

The Rainbow 6 kicked off with 5-1 shot Behind the Couch ($13) winning the sixth race followed by Ellantation ($22) in the seventh, Alwaysinahurry ($20.20) in the eighth, Mrs. Orb ($6.20) in the ninth, Yaupon ($2.80) the 10th, and Crack the Safe ($23.80) in the 11th.

Last solved for a $23,346.70 payout May 7, 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.

However, on mandatory payout days the entire pool is paid out to the bettor or bettors with the most winners in the six-race sequence.

Introduced in Maryland April 2, 2015 on opening day of Pimlico's spring meet, the Rainbow 6 had far surpassed its previous state record carryover of $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.

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