Tag: Pimlico

Laki Runs Down Lebda To Win Frank Y. Whiteley Stakes

Hillside Equestrian Meadows' Grade 3 winner Laki, coming off a brief freshening, ran down multiple stakes-winning pacesetter Lebda inside the eighth pole and edged clear to a half-length victory in Saturday's $100,000 Frank Y. Whiteley at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

The ninth running of the six-furlong Whiteley for 3-year-olds and up was the second of six stakes worth $650,000 in purses on an 11-race Spring Stakes Spectacular program headlined by the $125,000 Federico Tesio, a 'Win and In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated 3-year-olds to the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) May 15, and the $125,000 Weber City Miss, a 'Win and In' event for 3-year-old fillies to the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) May 14.

With regular rider Horacio Karamanos aboard for trainer Damon Dilodovico, Laki ($10.20) completed the distance in 1:09.33 over a fast main track for his 11th career win from 32 starts, pushing his lifetime earnings over the $800,000 mark.

The 6-year-old Cuba gelding has raced his entire career for Dilodovico, and over the years has grown close to his wife and assistant, Christine. Laki gave the Dilodovicos their first graded-stakes victory in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial (G3) last fall, also at Pimlico.

Laki has now won at least one stakes race each of the last five years, including the 2019 Whiteley.

“He means everything to us…the whole stable,” Dilodovico said. “He's our cornerstone.”

Winner of the Miracle Wood and Private Terms in back-to-back starts last winter as a 3-year-old at Laurel, Lebda was sent to the lead by jockey J.D. Acosta and held it through a quarter-mile in 23.33 seconds and a half in 45.55, with Laki tracking intently. The two straightened for home in front, going five-eighths in 57.15 before a stubborn Lebda finally yielded to his more experienced rival.

Lebda's Claudio Gonzalez-trained stablemate Eastern Bay was 4 ¼ lengths back in third, a head in front of Arthur's Hope. Whereshetoldmetogo, the 4-5 favorite, ran last of nine to snap a three-stakes win streak.

Laki was making his first start since running third in the seven-furlong General George (G3) Feb. 20 at Laurel Park. Since then, Laurel has seen its racing and training disrupted by an equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) quarantine and currently an ongoing evaluation and renovation of the main track, which caused the Spring Stakes Spectacular program to be transferred to Pimlico.

“It's been a crazy month for all of us horsemen here in the state. For him to do what he did, I just can't put it together,” Dilodovico said. “The last race we ran him he was letting me know he wasn't 100 percent. Not unsound, he just has a way about him. So, the rest was definitely warranted and it paid off.”

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Weekend Lineup Presented By Pimlico: Spring Stakes Spectacular, San Francisco Mile

Keeneland closes its spring meeting on Friday with the Grade 3 Bewitch Stakes, and the Kentucky scene shifts to Churchill Downs on Saturday evening with the William Walker Stakes to open its spring meeting just one week before the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve.

Graded stakes action in California this weekend is highlighted by the Grade 2 Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita Park and the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile on turf at Golden Gate Fields, part of a five stakes race program which also includes the California Derby.

On Saturday, Pimlico Race Course in Maryland will feature the rescheduled Spring Stakes Spectacular, featuring six stakes worth $650,000 in purses headlined by the $125,000 Federico Tesio, a 'Win and In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated 3-year-olds to the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) May 15, and the $125,000 Weber City Miss, a 'Win and In' event for 3-year-old fillies to the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) May 14.

TVG will be broadcasting every race, every day. In addition to racing from Keeneland, Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, TVG will feature racing from Oaklawn Park, Aqueduct and more. Fans can tune in on TVG, TVG2 and the Watch TVG app, which is available on Amazon Fire, Roku and connected Apple TV devices.

“America's Day at the Races” will also be live on Saturday on FS2 from 1-11 p.m. ET. On Sunday, “America's Day at the Races” will air from 1-5:30 p.m. ET on FS2.

Friday, April 23

5:30 p.m. ― $150,000 Grade 3 Bewitch Stakes at Keeneland on TVG

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott is seeking his fourth win in the Grade 3 1 ½-mile, $150,000 Bewitch Stakes on turf with War Like Goddess and Delta's Kingdom among 12 fillies and mares in the field on closing day of the Keeneland spring meet. George Krikorian's War Like Goddess enters the Bewitch off a nose victory in last month's Grade 3 Orchid at Gulfstream Park. Julien Leparoux, who was aboard for the Orchid victory, has the call as he seeks his third victory in the race. Delta's Kingdom, who broke her maiden at Keeneland in April 2019, was fourth in the Orchid. The Al Stall-trained Dalika (GER) won the Albert Stall Memorial, named after the trainer's late father, at the Fair Grounds in February.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/KEE042321USA-EQB.html#RACE9

Saturday, April 24

3:23 p.m. –$100,000 Dahlia Stakes at Laurel Park

VinLaur Racing Stables' Xanthique, competitive when stretched out for back-to-back stakes over the winter, returns from a two-month break between races looking for her first stakes victory in Saturday's $100,000 Dahlia at Pimlico Race Course. Xanthique, trained by Tom Morley, began this year running fifth to 2019 Dahlia winner Secret Message in the Marie G. Krantz Memorial. The 5-year-old mare then ran into a yielding course and the starting gate when sixth behind Dalika in the Albert M. Stall Memorial Feb. 13. Both Fair Grounds races were contested at the Dahlia distance.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PIM042421USA6-EQB.html

3:58 p.m.–$100,000 Frank Y. Whitely Stakes at Pimlico

Madaket Stables, Ten Strike Racing, Michael Kisber and Black Cloud Racing's multiple stakes winner Whereshetoldmetogo, in the best form of his life at the age of 6, chases his fourth straight victory and 11th overall in Saturday's $100,000 Frank Y. Whiteley at Pimlico Race Course. Whereshetoldmetogo was already a four-time stakes winner, beaten a neck by Grade 1 winner Firenze Fire when second in the 2018 Gallant Bob (G2), when he arrived in trainer Brittany Russell's barn last summer from her former mentor Brad Cox. In five starts for Russell, the El Padrino gelding has never been worse than second and crossed the wire first in four consecutive races, though he was disqualified from victory in the New Castle last September at Delaware Park for interference. Since then, Whereshetoldmetogo won a six-furlong edition of the Whiteley by a nose last November and the Dec. 26 Dave's Friend, also six furlongs at Laurel Park, by three-quarters of a length to close his 2020 campaign.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PIM042421USA7-EQB.html

4:31 p.m. -$100,000 Henry S. Clark Stakes at Pimlico

Initially split between running Grade 2 winner Pixelate and fellow 4-year-old stakes winner Doc Boy, trainer Michael Stidham opted to enter both as part of a solid field of 14 for Saturday's $100,000 Henry S. Clark at Pimlico Race Course. Goldophin's homebred Pixelate has run in 13 consecutive stakes, five of them graded, winning three including the 1 1/8-mile Del Mar Derby (G2) last September. He capped 2020 by capturing the one-mile Woodchopper Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds, and began 2021 running fifth by three lengths at odds of 52-1 in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park. In his most recent outing, Pixelate ran fourth to Pegasus Turf winner Colonel Liam following a wide trip in the 1 1/8-mile Muniz Memorial Classic (G2) March 20 at Fair Grounds. Making his Pimlico debut, he has a record of 4-5-3 from 16 lifetime starts at 10 different tracks with purse earnings of $413,350.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PIM042421USA8-EQB.html

5:04 p.m. -$125,000 Weber City Miss Stakes at Pimlico

Her stop in Maryland already beyond the original plan, Joel Politi's multiple stakes winner Littlestitious may wind up extending her stay a bit longer depending on how she runs in Saturday's $125,000 Weber City Miss at Pimlico Race Course. Though born in Kentucky and trained by Midwest-based Tom Amoss, who winters in Louisiana, Littlestitious has called Laurel Park home since mid-March, when horses were restricted to the grounds amid an equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) quarantine that was lifted April 18. She remained in the barn of trainer Brittany Russell, and was able to display a stalk-and-pounce tactic under jockey Sheldon Russell in the Beyond the Wire Stakes, winning by a half-length in her most recent outing.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PIM042421USA9-EQB.html

5:37 p.m.- $125,000 Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico

It will be more than just a homecoming when stakes winner Hello Hot Rod returns to Maryland for only his second start of the year in Saturday's $125,000 Federico Tesio at Pimlico Race Course. The Maryland-bred son of Mosler comes in off three consecutive victories, but has gone unraced since Jan. 31. He will be making his debut in the colors of owner George Sharp, who purchased Hello Hot Rod for $335,000 at auction in February from previous co-owner and trainer Brittany Russell. Among his rivals will be former stablemate Maythehorsebwithu. And, there is a Triple Crown berth on the line.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PIM042421USA10-EQB.html

6:07 p.m.-$100,000 King T. Leatherbury Stakes at Pimlico

Multiple stakes winners Carotari and Completed Pass, the latter with a victory at the course and distance, top a field of 13 entered in Saturday's $100,000 King T. Leatherbury at Pimlico Race Course. Robert D. Bone's Completed Pass returns to the turf for his seasonal debut after an off-the-board finish in the six-furlong Frank Y. Whiteley last November at Laurel Park. The 7-year-old gelding beat Leatherbury rivals So Street and Love You Much in the 5 ½-furlong Laurel Dash last September and won the five-furlong Jim McKay Turf Sprint in 2019 at Pimlico for leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez. Completed Pass was beaten a neck over a yielding course in defense of his McKay title last fall.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/PIM042421USA11-EQB.html

7:30 p.m. ―$100,000 California Derby at Golden Gate Fields on TVG

The $100,000 California Derby, for 3-year-olds, is one of the highlights of Gold Rush Weekend at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday. Run on the Tapeta surface at 1 1/16 miles, the eight-horse field is led by the John Shirreffs-trained Parnelli, a bay son of Quality Road, who will be ridden by Edwin Maldonado. Seeking his first win of the year, Parnelli finished sixth in the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby in his previous start. California-bred Stalking Shadow, a winner of three of his four starts this year, steps into stakes company for the first time for Tommy Town Thoroughbreds.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GG042421USA8-EQB.html

7:46 p.m. ―Grade 2 $200,000 Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith's 4-year-old filly As Time Goes By looms large as the 3-5 morning line favorite over four rivals at Santa Anita in Saturday's Grade 2 $200,000 Santa Margarita Stakes at 1 1/8 miles for older fillies and mares. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Mike Smith, As Time Goes By has a regal pedigree. She is by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah out of three-time Grade 1 winner Take Charge Lady. In her first start against stakes competition, As Time Goes By finished second to 2020 3-year-old filly champion Swiss Skydiver in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita on March 13. The Simon Callahan-trained Harvest Moon, fourth in the Beholder Mile, won four races last year, including the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita and Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar. She was also fourth, beaten less than three lengths, in the Grade 1 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA042421USA8-EQB.html

8:07 p.m. ―Grade 3 $250,000 San Francisco Mile Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on TVG

Grade 1 winners Ohio (BRZ) and Keeper Ofthe Stars headline Saturday's one-mile, $250,000 Grade 3 San Francisco Mile on turf for 3-year-olds and up, the centerpiece of the Gold Rush Weekend at Golden Gate Fields. Trained by Michael McCarthy, Ohio has 11 career wins, including the Grade 1 2019 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita. Tommy Town Thoroughbreds' 5-year-old mare Keeper Ofthe Stars, the lone female in the eight-horse field, won last year's Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita. Trained by Jonathan Wong, Keeper Ofthe Stars tuned up for Saturday's race by winning a 1 1/16-mile allowance race over the course on April 3, which was her first start since finishing seventh in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon last August at Del Mar. The Richard Mandella-trained Border Town ran third to Grade 1 winner Hit the Road in the Grade 3 Thunder Road at Santa Anita in February.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GG042421USA9-EQB.html

10:11 p.m. ―$150,000 William Walker Stakes at Churchill Downs on FS2

On opening night of the spring meeting at Churchill Downs, Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Madaket Stables and Spendthrift Farm's Cowan, runner-up in Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, leads a field of 10 3-year-olds and two also-eligibles entered in Saturday's 5 ½ furlong $125,000 William Walker Stakes on turf.

Trained by Steve Asmussen, Cowan, the 7-2 morning line favorite, is making his first start since finishing 10th in the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai, beaten only 4 ¾ lengths. Luis Saez, who was aboard in Dubai, has the call Saturday evening. Second choice Field Day (4-1) finished third last time out in the five-furlong Texas Glitter at Gulfstream Park on March 20 for trainer Brad Cox.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD042421USA9-EQB.html

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June Now Best Guess for Laurel’s Main Track to Be Fixed

Mounting problems that have forced the closure of the main dirt track at Laurel Park are now tentatively anticipated to be fixed by the start of June. But difficulties related to the sourcing and testing of materials for the base and cushion are keeping the Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) from setting an exact timetable for the return of racing and training at its primary venue.

On Thursday, the Maryland Racing Commission (MRC) met at Laurel for the board's first in-person monthly meeting since the onset of the pandemic. But Laurel's scheduled racing for Apr. 22 had already been moved 28 miles north on an emergency basis to the MJC's sister track, Pimlico Race Course, which was pressed into action two weeks prior to its scheduled opening because the situation at the torn-up Laurel track has escalated into a “million or multi-million dollar project” that has no simple fix.

That time frame and the cost estimate were provided to the commission by Steve Koch, the senior vice president of racing for The Stronach Group (TSG), which owns the MJC and both tracks.

Commission members expressed frustration at how the main track problems got so out of hand so quickly, and they grilled Koch and TSG for not having the foresight to identify and remedy the difficulties earlier.

“I think it's an accumulation of bad decisions over time and not putting the money in the track to get us from 'We have no issues' three weeks ago until today, where we're shutting the whole thing down and tearing it up,” said commissioner Konrad Wayson.

Koch acknowledged the work is extensive and disruptive to Maryland racing, and he articulated that TSG is in a spare-no-expense mode to make sure Laurel's track is deemed safe.

“We are looking at a total cushion replacement of the main track and some significant work on the base to restore its consistency,” Koch said. “It is not news that we've made base repairs to this track since the day is was installed. This problem that brought us here today is all about the cushion. Now that we have the base exposed, it would be perhaps a mistake to cover that back up” without shoring up the base.

“I hesitate to put a firm timeline on this for the moment,” Koch said, although he added that “I would not anticipate this running past the end of the current Pimlico meet.”

Pimlico is scheduled to race through May 31. Laurel's summer meet is supposed to start June 4.

Koch gave a recap of how the problems progressed, citing adverse winter weather as a starting point. As the maintenance crew began adding in more material with the coming of spring to keep the cushion four inches deep, “it reached a point a couple of weeks ago where were observing the track had lost a lot of its binding qualities, and we weren't able to maintain a sufficient hardening,” he said.

It then became difficult for the MJC to source the proper cushion materials, because management has “very tight specifications” in terms of composition. Some truckloads had to be sent back because the material didn't pass quality-control checks, Koch said.

That material shortage led to last week's TSG decision to halt racing and training at Laurel to avoid “unnecessary risks.” Horses stabled there have had to be shipped to Pimlico for timed workouts, Koch said.

The only fortuitous thing about the switch, Koch said, is that Pimlico was getting race-ready for its upcoming GI Preakness S. meet anyway.

Once Laurel's base was exposed, the TSG team evaluated it more closely and decided that because of its extensive history of piecemeal repairs, it seemed “less than ideal to be laying brand new, very expensive cushion” onto a substandard base, Koch said.

Koch explained there is now an active project in the backstretch chute that consists of three test strips of various base compositions, “and we are undertaking a scientific exercise” to figure out which one will work best.

“These are very scarce, very technically specified [base] materials, and in fact they're much more scarce than the cushion materials,” Koch said.

One of the biggest cost factors is the expense of trucking in the materials. Koch said product from the closest quarry to Laurel have not worked. Materials from a different regional quarry that the MJC has used in the past are no longer satisfactory. Now management is looking to source base material from as far away as New York, which figures to be very expensive.

“We will continue to subscribe to the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory top-to-bottom quality control program,” Koch said. “What we cannot do is control every aspect of winter racing and winter weather, and we cannot control the fact that sourcing stone from quarries all over the eastern half of the United States requires a significant shopping and laboratory exercise.”

Koch added that Charles Town Races, which is about 75 miles to the west, is also in the midst of an unexpected post-winter track resurfacing project that has caused a stoppage in racing.

Commissioner Michael Algeo told Koch he didn't agree with that comparison or putting the blame on a winter transition, which happens every year.

“I don't know what they're doing at Charles Town. I don't really care what they're doing at Charles Town. I'm interested in what happened at Laurel,” Algeo said. “I'm not a horseman, but I don't recall this being a particularly bad winter, either by cold, snow, rain. I mean it was winter. This is what we get in Maryland.”

Other commissioners suggested that the MJC's management is overextended right now: First the pandemic. Then this year the combination of the Laurel turf course needing restoration, the equineherpes virus quarantine, and the Laurel main track problems. All of this while getting ready for the Preakness at Pimlico.

“I would not agree that we are spread thin,” Koch replied, noting that TSG is treating Maryland as an all-hands-on-deck situation right now, requiring TSG executives to be flown in from other properties and the hiring of outside track maintenance and safety consultants.

Another commissioner questioned the wisdom of even putting in a new dirt track at all considering TSG has been floating the idea of putting in a synthetic surface at Laurel in the near future.

“The economics are not desirable,” Koch agreed. “But you can't shortcut and expect to have a safe and viable racetrack.”

Koch explained that once testing is complete and enough materials have been obtained, work will commence in two phases, starting with the inside 50 feet of the main track followed by the outer 50 feet.

“What that allows us to do is get the horses back on the inside of the track sooner,” Koch said. “And that's an excellent feedback loop because then the horses can tell us in real time [how the renovated part is] performing. That will be really critical to the project's success.”

The post June Now Best Guess for Laurel’s Main Track to Be Fixed appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Friday’s Stronach 5 Kicks Off With Pair Of Races From Historic Pimlico Race Course

Two races from legendary Pimlico Race Course will kick off Friday's Stronach 5, featuring four tracks, two races on the turf, and an industry-low 12-percent takeout.

The Stronach 5 will also include races from Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields.

The popular Stronach 5 begins with Pimlico's eighth race, a $40,000 maiden event for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs. Edie Meeny Miny Mo, a first-time starter from the barn of Miguel Vera, is a tepid 3-1 choice. Leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez sends out Despeight All Odds coming off a pair of third-place finishes against similar company.

Pimlico's ninth race serves as the second leg of the sequence. The $40,000 claiming event at a 1 1/16 mile for 3-year-olds is another wide-open event with two horses from the barns of Gonzalez and Dale Bennett, and entries from Hamilton Smith, Katherine Voss, Jamie Ness and Anthony Farrioor.

The action shifts to Gulfstream's eight race and the first of back-to-back turf races. Once again, a wide-open event with six of the 11 starters 6-1 or under in the mile turf event. Santa Anita's third race, a 6 ½ furlong turf event, follows with 10 California sired or bred 3-year-old fillies Michalski is a tepid 7-2 favorite. The Stronach 5 concludes with Golden Gate's third race, a $12,500 claiming event for 3-year-olds. Zoffa is a 9-5 favorite.

Friday's races and sequence

  • Leg One – Pimlico Race 8: (12 entries – 6 furlongs) 4:13 ET, 1:13 PT
  • Leg Two – Pimlico Race 9: (11 entries – 1 1/16-mile) 4:47 ET, 1:47 PT
  • Leg Three –Gulfstream Park Race 8: (11 entries – 1-mile turf) 4:51 ET, 1:51 PT
  • Leg Four –Santa Anita Park Race 3: (10 entries – 6 1/2 furlongs turf) 5:09 ET, 2:09 PT
  • Leg Five –Golden Gate Fields Race 3: (10 entries – 1 mile): 6 ET, 3 PT

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The Stronach 5 In the Money podcast, hosted by Jonathan Kinchen and Peter Thomas Fornatale, will be posted by 2 p.m. Thursday at InTheMoneyPodcast.com and will be available on iTunes and other major podcast distributors

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

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