Pimlico Special | Horse Racing Free Tips

Cordmaker Returns To Pimlico Special For Third Straight Year

Hillwood Stable's multiple stakes winner Cordmaker, third in each of the past two years, is headed for a third straight trip to the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) May 14 at Pimlico Race Course.

Trainer Rodney Jenkins said Monday that plans call for the gelded 6-year-old son of two-time Horse of the Year and 2014 Hall of Famer Curlin to make his 29th career start in the 1 3/16-mile Special on the undercard of the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2).

“We're going to give it a shot. He's run great the past two years,” Jenkins said. “We're going to give it a chance to see if we can be something besides third this time.”

Bred in Maryland by the late Bob Manfuso and trainer Katy Voss, Cordmaker was beaten two necks when third behind Tenfold and You're To Blame in the 2019 Special. Harpers First Ride was a two-length winner in 2020 when the race was delayed from mid-May to early October amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Cordmaker a half-length behind runner-up Owendale.

Last year's Special came during a career-long winless drought for Cordmaker of 10 races spanning more than 17 months. Second or third in six of those starts, all of them in stakes, he returned to the winner's circle with a front-running one-length triumph in the 1 1/8-mile Harrison E. Johnson Memorial March 13 at Laurel Park.

“It had to be good for him because it got him more confidence. He ran a really nice race,” Jenkins said. “We hope between that and the way he's been training that he's up to this.”

Cordmaker has breezed twice since the Johnson, both times bullet five-furlong moves at Pimlico. He went in 1:00.20 April 18, the fastest of 33 horses, and returned to go in 59.40 seconds April 27, the best of 15 horses.

“He's doing really well. The horse is probably has never done better in his life than he's doing now,” Jenkins said. “He seems to be interested in everything. We took him to Pimlico to work him and he worked good there, so I hope he runs as good as he's training.”

Purchased for $150,000 as yearling in 2016, Cordmaker has nine wins, four seconds and six thirds with purse earnings of $588,640. He won the Jennings for Maryland-bred/sired horses as a 3-year-old in 2018 and the Johnson and Polynesian at Laurel and DTHA Governors Day Handicap in 2019 at Delaware Park.

The Pimlico Special for 3-year-olds and up was created in 1937 by Alfred Vanderbilt, the master of Sagamore Farm, as the first major stakes in the United States set up as an invitational, and was won by Triple Crown champion War Admiral. The following year, War Admiral was upset by Seabiscuit in what Sports Illustrated has called the “Race of the Century.”

Revived in 1988 by the late Maryland Jockey Club president Frank J. De Francis, the Special's illustrious roster of winners also includes Triple Crown winners Whirlaway, Citation and Assault and modern-day Horses of the Year Criminal Type, Cigar, Skip Away, Mineshaft and Invasor.

A total of 16 stakes, 10 graded, worth $3.25 million in purses will be contested over Preakness weekend, May 14-15, at Pimlico, highlighted by the 146th running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

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Pegasus: Pairing With Harpers First Ride Is A ‘Dream Come True’ For Jockey Angel Cruz

After taking care of business at home, jockey Angel Cruz will head south to take part in the biggest race of his life.

Cruz, 25, is named on four horses when live racing returns Friday to Laurel Park – You Are Awesome in Race 3 and Seattle Ric in Race 9 for trainer Jerry Robb, Dream Happy in Race 5 for trainer Donald Barr, and Golden G in Race 8 for trainer Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon.

Following the races, the Puerto Rico native and finalist for the 2014 Eclipse Award as champion apprentice will board a plane headed for Hallandale Beach, Fla., where he is named aboard Harpers First Ride in Saturday's $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park.

“I'm so happy. It's going to be my first time riding in a big race like this, like a big, known race,” Cruz said. “I've won big races, but this is going to be my biggest one. It's a $3 million race. I'm going to be riding against the top riders, and it's a dream come true.”

Cruz has ridden 5-year-old gelding Harpers First Ride in seven of his 17 lifetime starts including each of the last five, with five wins and a second. Four of the wins have come in stakes, led by the historic Pimlico Special (G3) Oct. 3 on the undercard of the 145th Preakness Stakes (G1).

Together, Cruz and Harpers First Ride have also won the Deputed Testamony, Richard W. Small and Native Dancer, the latter at the World Cup's 1 1/8-mile distance. Trained by Laurel-based Claudio Gonzalez, Harpers First Ride was bred in Maryland by Sagamore Farm.

“I love Harper. I have a lot of confidence in him, and he does in me,” Cruz said. “And Claudio, he has him ready. We're going ready to the Pegasus.”

Of his 538 career wins, three have come in graded-stakes. Besides Harpers First Ride, he won the Alcibiades (G1) with Dancing Rags and Sycamore (G3) with Renown in 2016 at Keeneland. Their respective trainers, Graham Motion and Elizabeth Voss, are both based in Maryland.

Cruz grew up in Puerto Rico with Eclipse Award-winning brothers Irad Ortiz Jr. and Jose Ortiz, coming to the U.S. at the age of 11. He won his first race on April 8, 2014 at Charles Town and also spent time riding in California and New York, where he captured Aqueduct's 2015 spring title.

Overall, Cruz ranked fifth with 64 wins at Maryland tracks in 2020. His uncle, Joel Hiraldo, and grandfather, Jose Hiraldo, were both jockeys, and his cousin, 19-year-old John Hiraldo, is currently a 10-pound apprentice at Laurel. Cruz is represented by agent Paul Plymire.

Harpers First Ride drew Post 8 in a field of 12 for the Pegasus World Cup, where he is listed at 10-1 on the morning line behind multiple Grade 1-winning favorite Knicks Go (5-2), another Maryland-bred. Harpers First Ride arrived at Gulfstream Jan. 11 and had a half-mile breeze over the main track Jan. 16. Gonzalez has been in Florida since Jan. 13.

“I think he'll love the weather. In the summer, when I first started riding him, he loved the weather,” Cruz said. “Gulfstream is a fast track. I think he's going to like it because there will be a lot of speed and it's going to play out for him, I think. Knicks Go and a couple of other horses have speed and I think Harpers is going to do really well over there. Claudio's going to have him ready. He'll be a good fit for that race.”

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‘He Surprises Me Every Day’: Maryland-Bred Harpers First Ride Headed To Pegasus World Cup

MCA Racing Stable's Harpers First Ride, a four-time stakes winner in 2020 including the historic Pimlico Special (G3), is set to launch his 5-year-old season in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) Saturday, Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park.

Based at Laurel Park with trainer Claudio Gonzalez, Harpers First Ride was among the invitees to the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus for 4-year-olds and up, being held for the fifth consecutive year. Also on the list is another Maryland-bred, 2020 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) winner Knicks Go.

Harpers First Ride ended 2020 with back-to-back stakes victories at Laurel in the 1 1/16-mile Richard W. Small Nov. 28 and 1 1/8-mile Native Dancer Dec. 26.

“He came back really good after the last race, that's why we try to go to the Pegasus,” Gonzalez said. “It's a big race. It all depends. If he continues like how he's doing, we're going to go.”

The Pegasus will be the third time in graded-stakes company and first against Grade 1 competition for Harpers First Ride, who Gonzalez claimed for $30,000 out of a Sept. 14, 2019 win at Churchill Downs.

“The first time he ran over there he ran good, and he was a Maryland-bred. Why not bring him here?” Gonzalez said of the reason behind claiming the gelded son of Grade 1 winner Paynter. “What's he doing over there? So, we decide to claim the horse.”

Harpers First Ride won seven of 11 races in 2020 with two seconds, one third and $495,623 in purse earnings, growing his career bankroll to $573,055. He won the 1 1/16-mile Deputed Testamony Sept. 5 at Laurel as a prep for the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special, where he dueled up front with favored Owendale to win by two lengths.

“He surprises me every day. Every day he goes better,” Gonzalez said. “He comes back from the races like nothing. He's easy to train. He's a classy horse. He does everything right.”

Gonzalez said the plans call for Harpers First Ride to breeze at Gulfstream and have regular rider Angel Cruz aboard for the Pegasus. Cruz has been up for each of Harpers First Ride's last five wins and all four stakes.

“He knows the horse really good. And for me it's better that he rides, and I think that he will,” Gonzalez said. “The plan is to go 10 days before the race to give him a breeze over there and let him get to know the racetrack and get used to the weather change. Here it's cold and over there it's going to be hot. That's why we plan that. It gives him a couple of days to adjust.”

Claimed by Gonzalez for $30,000 out of a Sept. 14, 2019 win at Churchill Downs, MCA Racing Stable's Harpers First Ride won for the seventh time in 11 starts in 2020, four of those wins coming in stakes – the Deputed Testamony, Richard W. Small and Native Dancer at Laurel and Pimlico Special at Pimlico Race Course.

A gelded 4-year-old son of Grade 1 winner Paynter, Harpers First Ride has earned $495,623 this year, growing his career bankroll to $573,055. He will figure in the conversation for Maryland-bred Horse of the Year along with Knicks Go, who went three-for-three in the Midwest this year topped by a victory in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

“The horse surprises me every race he runs. Every race he runs better and better. He walked today and he walked like he knows he won. It's really good when you see that,” Gonzalez said. “He won four stakes, he won the Pimlico Special, and all the stakes he won he won good. It's the first time I've had a horse like that. With Harpers, every day is special. From the day we claimed him, he started doing good.”

Among the early 2021 stakes for 4-year-olds and up going a route of ground at Laurel are the $75,000 Jennings for Maryland-bred/sired horses at one mile Jan. 16, the $100,000 John B. Campbell at about 1 1/16 miles Feb. 13 and $100,000 Harrison E. Johnson Memorial at 1 1/8 miles March 13. Gonzalez said the connections will keep all their options open for the soon-to-be 5-year-old.

“He proved that he won his races easy and maybe he has to take the next step and race with the big guys and see how he does,” he said.

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Pimlico Special Winner Harpers First Ride Among 245 Pre-Entries For Oct. 24 Maryland Million Day

Harpers First Ride, recent upset winner of the historic Pimlico Special (G3), three defending champions and a total of seven past winners are among 245 pre-entries in 12 stakes on the 35th annual Jim McKay Maryland Million Day program Saturday, Oct. 24 at Laurel Park.

Five of the races on the Maryland Million program are scheduled to be contested over Laurel's world-class turf course, including the return of the $100,000 Turf Sprint following an eight-year absence. Entries will be taken and post positions drawn Wednesday, Oct. 21.

First race post time on Maryland Million Day is 11:25 a.m.

MCA Racing Stable's Harpers First Ride sprung a front-running upset of favored Triple Crown-tested Owendale in the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course, for his second consecutive stakes win following the 1 1/16-mile Deputed Testamony Sept. 5 at Laurel, where the 4-year-old gelding owns six wins from seven career starts for Claudio Gonzalez, Maryland's leading trainer the past three years.

Harpers First Ride is among 16 pre-entries to the $150,000 Classic, the richest race on the Maryland Million program, for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles. Also pre-entered are defending champion Forest Fire, trained by Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1) winner John Servis; multiple stakes winner Cordmaker, third by two necks in the 2019 Pimlico Special; Laddie Liam, unraced since winning the 2019 Maryland Juvenile Futurity last December for trainer Hugh McMahon, eight wins shy of 1,000 for his career; 2019 Heft Stakes winner Monday Morning Qb; 2019 Classic runner-up Prendimi; and 2019 Iowa Derby winner Top Line Growth, four-for-four lifetime at Laurel.

Big Bertha Stable and Stormy Stable's Taco Supream is pre-entered to defend his title in the $100,000 Sprint for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs. Trained by Damon Dilodovico, who upset the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) with Laki Oct. 3 at Pimlico, Taco Supream was most recently sixth in the six-furlong Polynesian Sept. 5 at Laurel to Eastern Bay, beaten a nose in the De Francis and one of four Sprint pre-entrants trained by Gonzalez.

Also prominent among 24 Sprint pre-entrants are Linda Zang's homebred Lewisfield, Maryland's champion sprinter of 2019 and winner of the 2018 Sprint for trainer Jeff Zunco; multiple stakes winner Introduced, whose four wins from seven tries at Laurel include the 2019 Miss Disco Stakes; and multiple stakes-placed Whereshetoldmetogo.

Kevin P. Morgan's Maryland homebred Mr. d'Angelo sprung a 17-1 upset in last year's $100,000 Turf for 3-year-olds and up traveling 1 1/8 miles, and tops 19 pre-entries for 2020. Second by a neck in an open one-mile allowance Sept. 17 at Laurel, the 4-year-old gelding is joined by Somekindofmagician and Pretty Good Year, respectively second and third in last year's Turf, separated by a half-length; and Nick Papagiorgio, 12-for-16 in the money at Laurel including six wins.

A total of 28 horses were pre-entered in the $100,000 Distaff for fillies and mares 3 and older sprinting seven furlongs, led by Hello Beautiful and Limited View, whose multiple stakes wins include the 2019 and 2017 Maryland Million Lassie, respectively; three-time stakes-winning 4-year-old Las Setas; Never Enough Time, winner of the Alma North at Laurel and Skipat at Pimlico in her last two starts; 2020 Delaware Oaks (G3) winner Project Whiskey; stakes winner Artful Splatter; and Coconut Cake, riding a three-race win streak; and Introduced.

The $100,000 Ladies for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles on the grass received 14 pre-entries including No Mo Lady, third in the 1 1/16-mile Gallorette (G3) last out Oct. 3 at Pimlico; Artful Splatter, upset winner over Anna's Bandit in the Geisha Stakes Jan. 20 over Laurel's main track; Shifra Magician, who has earned all seven of her career wins on the turf and was fourth, beaten a half-length, in last year's Maryland Million Turf Distaff Starter Handicap; and Something Magical, fourth in the 2019 Ladies.

Last run in 2012 and won in each of its final three years by late Mid-Atlantic legend Ben's Cat, the $100,000 Turf Sprint for 3-year-olds and up going 5 ½ furlongs drew 27 pre-entries in its return, led by A Great Time, a dramatic come-from-behind winner of the five-furlong The Very One Oct. 1 at Pimlico and Mike Trombetta-trained stablemate Oldies But Goodies, winner of the 2019 Ben's Cat Stakes sprinting on grass; and So Street, Love You Much and Joseph, respectively second, third and fifth in the 5 ½-furlong Laurel Dash Sept. 7.

Most popular among horsemen was the $100,000 Lassie for 2-year-old fillies, which attracted 31 pre-entries led by Lucky 7 Stables' Street Lute, undefeated in two starts including the Small Wonder Stakes Sept. 26 at Delaware Park. Street Lute is also among 24 pre-entries to the $100,000 Nursery for 2-year-olds, along with Jamestown Stakes winner Kenny Had a Notion and First State Dash winner Singlino. Both the Lassie and Nursery are contested at six furlongs.

Back for the fourth straight year are the $50,000 Turf Starter Handicap for 3-year-olds and up, which drew 20 nominations including 2018 winner Barin, and $50,000 Turf Distaff Starter Handicap for fillies and mares 3 and older, both at 1 1/8 miles on the grass.

Rounding out the stakes action are the $40,000 Distaff Starter Handicap for fillies and mares 3 and older and the $40,000 Starter Handicap for 3-year-olds and up, both sprinting seven furlongs.

Edgar Prado leads all Maryland Million jockeys with 18 wins, one more than fellow Hall of Famer Ramon Dominguez. Dale Capuano and Hall of Famer King Leatherbury, who together have combined for more than 10,000 career victories, rank 1-2 among Maryland Million trainers with 11 and 10 wins, respectively.

Named for the late Hall of Fame and 13-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster who helped launch the groundbreaking concept in 1986, the Jim McKay Maryland Million has evolved into the second-biggest day on the state's racing calendar behind only the Preakness Stakes (G1). 'Maryland's Day at the Races' celebrates the stallions who stand in the state as well as a rich and diverse racing history that dates back to the founding of the Maryland Jockey Club in 1743.

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