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Stidham Pair Of Pixelate, Doc Boy Headline Saturday’s Henry S. Clark 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.

The 21st running of the Clark for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles is one of three turf stakes on an 11-race Spring Stakes Spectacular program 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.

Joining the Clark on the grass Saturday are Maryland's first turf race of the 2021 season, the $100,000 Dahlia for fillies and mares 3 and up, also at 1 1/16 miles, and the $100,000 King T. Leatherbury for 3-year-olds and up sprinting five furlongs.

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

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.

“Pixelate has been running against some pretty tough company, Grade 1s and Grade 2s his last few, and we're looking for a spot that hopefully we have a shot at winning. This looks like a spot that we should have a decent chance,” Stidham said. “He's a very honest type and he tries hard every time.”

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.

“He's been very competitive from a mile up to a mile and a quarter, so I think this distance should suit him fine,” Stidham said. “He's just one of those horses that's been very sound. He's been one that every time we enter him up he goes out there and tries really hard no matter where we are. He's just one of those kinds of horses that you'd like to have in your barn.”

Stallionaire Enterprises' Doc Boy has yet to race this year, finishing fifth by 2 ½ lengths to his stablemate in the Woodchopper last time out. He, too, has had a steady diet of stakes since breaking his maiden in July 2019 at Laurel, winning the Kitten's Joy at Colonial Downs and running third in the Laurel Futurity that summer.

Doc Boy successfully opened his 2020 campaign off a five-month layoff in one-mile Columbia at Tampa Bay Downs. He finished off the board in two subsequent starts six months apart prior to the Woodchopper.

“Doc Boy has been kind of up and down. He's run some really good races and then in other spots he hasn't run as well,” Stidham said. “He's been a little bit of a more difficult horse to place, and we're hoping that we've got him back on top of his game. He hasn't been quite as successful as Pixelate in his races, although he is a stakes winner, but we're looking to get him back running well again.”

Ninety One Assault, co-owned by trainer Tom Morley and Paul Braverman, was part of a four-horse photo behind Colonel Liam and runner-up Two Emmys in the Muniz, finishing fifth, just a neck behind Pixelate. The connections are seeking the first open stakes victory for the 8-year-old Artie Schiller gelding, a three-time winner against fellow Louisiana-breds including the 2019 and 2020 Louisiana Champions Day Turf.

“He ran probably the best race of his entire career in the Muniz, getting beat [5 ½] lengths to the best turf horse in North America,” Morley said. “He seems to be doing really, really well. This will be his final run the first part of this year before he has his summer holiday to get ready for the Louisiana turf season. The horse is in super shape and I'm really looking forward to running him.”

Ninety One Assault ran second to multiple graded-stakes winner Doctor Mounty in last year's Clark, when it was held at Laurel Park. This year's Spring Stakes Spectacular was moved to Pimlico due to ongoing evaluation and renovation of Laurel's main track.

“I was really looking forward to running him at Laurel because he's run very well over that turf course, but we'll have to see how he'll handle Pimlico now,” Morley said. “Before I ran him in the Clark I thought that his work was better than I'd ever seen him work and it's very rare that they maintain their form at the level he has for as long as he has, but it seems like he might be even a little bit better this year. He's a very big horse and he's done us proud over the years.”

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey will attempt to defend his Clark victory with Phipps Stable homebred Dreams of Tomorrow. The 4-year-old son of champion dirt sprinter Speightstown removes blinkers for his fourth straight start on the grass, where he broke his maiden Dec. 3 at Aqueduct, was beaten a neck in a Gulfstream Park optional claiming allowance Feb. 20 and most recently was third after setting the pace in a 1 1/16-mile allowance April 3 at the Big A, a neck out of second.

Other horses bringing graded credentials to the Clark include 2019 Kent (G3) winner Eons; Corelli, third in the 2020 United Nations (G1); Dinar, fourth by less than two lengths in the 2020 Ack Ack (G3); and Ballagh Rocks, second in the 2018 Maker's 46 Mile (G1).

Completing the field are Papal Law, a winner of two straight but unraced since last August; Galerio, third in three consecutive dirt stakes at Laurel yet to run on turf; Chilly in Charge, stakes-placed on dirt and turf; and stakes-placed Dixie Drawl, winless in three career grass attempts. Tybalt and Deal Driven are entered for main track only.

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Pegasus Turf Winner Colonel Liam The Horse To Beat In Muniz Memorial

The early returns on Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam were admirable enough for a young horse. A diet of steady works allowed the son of Liam's Map to post a victory via disqualification in his career debut and, while he was beaten in his second outing, there was reason to believe Todd Pletcher, his Eclipse Award-winning conditioner had plenty to work with moving forward.

In order to bring that upside to the surface, however, Pletcher needed to get the gray colt a change in surface scenery. Since switching Colonel Liam to the grass, Pletcher has indeed found himself with a new stable star on his hands, one who can further enhance his budding reputation when he starts in Saturday's $300,000 Muniz Memorial Classic Stakes (G2) against 11 rivals at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

Contested at 1 1/8 miles over the Stall-Wilson Turf Course, the Muniz is race 12-of-14 and one of eight stakes races on Saturday's program. The headliner is the $1 million TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2)—a Championship Series event on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. The All Stakes Late Pick Five (races 10-14) and All Stakes Late Pick Four (races 11-14) are both estimated at $750,000.

The expectations Colonel Liam (post 5 as the 3-1 favorite on Mike Diliberto's morning line, with Irad Ortiz Jr. to ride) has carried since being purchased for $1.2 million at the 2019 OBS April 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale were met in his last start when he prevailed in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park on January 23. Since making his first two starts on dirt, Colonel Liam has won three of his four tries on the turf—confirming Pletcher's belief that life on the lawn would ultimately bring out the 4-year-old's best intangibles.

“We always sort of had in the back of our minds that he's got quite a bit of turf on the bottom side of his pedigree,” said Pletcher, a finalist for racing's Hall of Fame class this season. “He trained well enough on the dirt that we got him started but we also felt like maybe we weren't quite seeing the best of him. We worked him on the turf at Saratoga and that's when we saw a significant improvement. That's why we switched him to the turf, and he seems to have found a home there.”

The only blemish Colonel Liam has had on the turf came when he was bumped hard at the start of the Saratoga Derby last August en route to finishing fourth. A signal of what was to come then emerged last December when he came from off the pace to capture Gulfstream Park's Tropical Park Derby by 3 ¼ lengths.

In his first try against older horses and first venture into graded stakes company, Colonel Liam accelerated in the lane to best stablemate Largent by a neck in the Pegasus Turf while taking down a field that included grade 1 winner Next Shares and fellow Muniz entrant Pixelate.

“We felt very good coming into (the Pegasus),” Pletcher said. “He had got what we'd hoped for in the prep race and subsequently came back and trained great. We were very optimistic that he was sitting on a good race and would perform well. Aside from (the Saratoga Derby), he's been perfect on the grass and I think he's versatile enough he can handle multiple distances.”

The turf male ranks were ripe with parity last season as the top contenders took turns beating up on one another. Should Colonel Liam perform as expected in the Muniz, Pletcher would likely target the $1 million Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs on May 1 with hopes of having his charge emerge as a definitive divisional leader.

“I will say now as an older horse, he has trained more impressively on the dirt than he used to so at some point we might consider trying that again, but he's doing so well on the grass now that we felt that the Muniz was good timing wise to hopefully propel him forward to the race at Churchill on Derby Day,” Pletcher said. “Right now, the plan it to hopefully go from the Muniz to Churchill and then there is a really good schedule of some high-quality grass races all summer. Hopefully we can have a good season with him.”

Gaining Ground Racing's Factor This (post 1 at 4-1 with Shaun Bridgmohan) will try stymie Colonel Liam's progression as he takes to the course where he has earned two of his four career graded stakes victories for trainer Brad Cox. The 6-year-old son of The Factor captured last year's Muniz Memorial—part of a four-race win streak for the bay horse—but has been off the board in his last three starts, including a fifth-place run in the February 13 Fair Grounds (G3).

“(Being on the rail) going 1 1/8 miles doesn't play a big role or scare me any, being down inside,” Cox said. “I like him better in this race than in the last race, from the standpoint that it looks like we're going to have a little bit of a softer pace and not be pressed as much, and that's what he likes. There's no secret about how he likes to run and the trip he needs; he needs to be able to take a breather and hopefully he can be able to get that on Saturday.”

Though Godolphin's homebred Pixelate (post 12 at 8-1 with Luis Saez) was fifth behind Colonel Liam in the Pegasus Turf, he was beaten less than 3 lengths by the winner and has the back class of his victory in the Del Mar Derby (G2) last September for trainer Mike Stidham.

“He ran very well (in the Pegasus Turf), he only got beaten a few lengths,” said Stidham. “He's one of those horses that, every time he runs, he's going to give you a huge effort. We're taking a shot; this race did come up very tough. But I think we're live, he tries every time, and if he gets a decent trip from that outside post, I think we're in there with a decent chance.”

Lothenbach Stables' homebred Captivating Moon (post 3 at 12-1 with Marcelino Pedroza) comes into the Muniz off a victory in the February 13 Fair Grounds, the first graded win for the 6-year-old horse in 29 career starts for trainer Chris Block. He is cross-entered in the New Orleans Classic (G2).

Completing the Muniz Memorial field from the rail out: Paul Braverman and owner-trainer Tom Morley's Ninety One Assault (post 2 at 30-1 with Mitchell Murrill), a Louisiana-bred stakes winner who is 7-for-11 over the Stall-Wilson; Three Diamonds Farm's Cross Broder (post 4 at 5-1 with Jose Ortiz), third in the Pegasus Turf for trainer Mike Maker; JPS Racing's Logical Myth (post 6 at 6-1 with Adam Beschizza); a two-time stakes winner at the meet and second in the Fair Grounds for trainer Joe Sharp; Wolfe Racing and owner-trainer Hugh Robertson's Two Emmys (post 7 at 20-1 with James Graham), who won an optional-claimer here in February; Terry Hamilton's Spooky Channel (post 8 at 8-1 with Florent Geroux), who enters off a win in the January 31 John B. Connally (G3) at Sam Houston for trainer Brian Lynch; Paradise Farms Corp and David Staudacher's Conviction Trade (post 9 at 15-1 with Joel Rosario), third in the Connally for Maker; JSM Equine's Peace Achiever (post 10 at 20-1 with Declan Carroll), third in the Fair Grounds for trainer Mark Casse; and Gary Barber's Olympic Runner (post 11 at 8-1 with John Velazquez), second, beaten a neck, in the February 27 Canadian Turf (G3) at Gulfstream for Casse.

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‘If It’s Meant To Be, It’s Meant To Be’: Zayas Looking Forward To Pegasus Chances

Edgard Zayas is hardly a stranger to the Gulfstream Park winner's circle, where he has celebrated the vast majority of his 1,720 career victories while amassing numerous spring and summer riding titles since launching his career in 2012, as well as holding his own during the annual Championship Meet.

The 27-year-old Zayas, however, is doing much more than just holding his own while enjoying break-out success during the 2020-2021 Championship Meet.

After winning 18 and 29 races during the past two injury-interrupted seasons, Zayas has already ridden 42 winners, ranking fourth in the standings, just eight winners less than two-time defending Championship Meet titlist Irad Ortiz Jr.

“I have been blessed. I've been getting a lot of opportunities this meet. It's worked out perfect. Thankfully, I've been healthy the whole year, that's the main part of it,” Zayas said. “It's been 2, 2 ½ years since I've ridden this whole meet because of injuries. I've been getting a lot of support from owners, trainers and my agent.”

Zayas' greater opportunities include mounts in both the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) Saturday at Gulfstream Park. He has the call on Grade 1 winner Math Wizard in the Pegasus and 2020 Del Mar Derby (G2) winner Pixelate in the Pegasus Turf.

“The Pegasus, riding here year-round, is a race I've been really wanting to ride in,” Zayas said. “I've been blessed this year, riding in both – both on horses with a very good shot. I'm just hoping for the best.”

Although still young, Zayas has benefited from nearly a decade of riding since leaving his home in Puerto Rico for South Florida in 2012.

“I think I've grown a lot through the years after all the ups and downs and injuries. Things that happened in my career I've learned a lot from,” Zayas said. “I've always said, 'If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.' I've been riding with a lot of confidence, not getting the horses out of their pace, riding the way the race comes up, and trying to be smarter.”

Zayas left Puerto Rico's Esquela Vocational Hipica riding school two months before graduation to get the jump on his classmates to start his career and moved directly to South Florida. Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero took him under his wing and worked with him every day of the 2012-2013 Championship Meet. He continues to learn the art of riding Thoroughbreds from Hall of Famer Edgar Prado.

“As a bug boy, Angel really helped me out that first year. Now, I have Edgar Prado in my corner every day. He's not riding as much now, but he has the experience of being a Hall of Fame rider and winning so many races,” Zayas said. “To this day, it doesn't matter if I win race, he'll tell me what I did wrong. That really helps a lot. Every time I'm riding a race, he's always watching. I'll text him and ask, 'What do you think of this race?' He always tells me his opinion.”

Prado, who is riding year-round in South Florida, has been only too happy to impart his knowledge on Zayas.

“He's a good rider and a good kid, and he's willing to learn,” Prado said. “I'm willing to help anyone who listens. I concentrate on the ones who want to learn. We've changed some things, and he's applied them, and it's working out.”

Zayas also credits the years riding alongside the best riders in the country during past Championship Meets with helping him refine his riding style.

“Watching them, how they ride and how patient they ride. Watching them ride and how they get there and how they make their horses run, has definitely made a big difference,” he said. “Every day you learn, no matter how many years you've been riding.”

Zayas has been enjoying success while balancing his career and his family life. He and wife, Ashley, the proud parents of soon-to-be-4 Lilly, recently welcomed little sister Lilah to the family.

“I'll come home from the races, and I'll sit there at dinner and I'm on my iPad watching the races. Ashley will tell me, 'Put that down,'” Zayas said with a chuckle. “It's hard to balance. On my off days, I try to get away from horse racing and dedicate my time to them. When it's racing time, it's business time. They're a big part of my life and have really helped me mature.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed pressure on his career as well as his family life.

“This year has been very challenging for everyone. Not working horses has been a little challenging, especially when the 2-year-old season started. You don't know what kind of horses you're riding. You only know what the trainer tells you,” said Zayas, referring to the protocols that restrict jockeys from entering the backstretch. “It's been challenging, but we've been very blessed at Gulfstream. They've done a very good job of keeping us running year-round without stopping. We've had no problems.”

No matter how many races he wins in the future, Zayas' resume will always have a nagging void until he can call himself a winning jockey in Puerto Rico.

“I left the jockey school two months earlier and came straight here to Florida, so I never got to ride in Puerto Rico. I went back one day and rode a couple races there, but I still haven't won a race there,” he said. “It bothers me a little bit. Eventually, I'll get back there and win a race someday. It's something that you grew up around and you need it.”

For now, Zayas will keep his focus on continuing his success during the Championship Meet in Saturday's Pegasus and Pegasus Turf.

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Pletcher Lands Three, McGaughey Two On Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitation List

Grade 1 winners Say the Word and Storm the Court, and three stakes winners from the barn of trainer Todd Pletcher, lead a list of 16 horses invited Sunday to the $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The third running of the 1 3/16-mile Pegasus World Cup Turf, introduced in 2019 to serve as a companion race to the $3-million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), will be run Jan. 23. The Pegasus Turf has been won previously by eventual Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar (2019) and Zulu Alpha (2020).

The Pegasus World Cup Turf and Pegasus World Cup will be part of an extraordinary program featuring seven graded stakes, four contested on the turf. Stakes on Pegasus Day will also include the $200,000 Inside Information (G2), $125,000 William L. McKnight (G3), $125,000 Marshua's River (G3), $125,000 La Prevoyante (G3) and $125,000 Fred Hooper (G3).

The 12 horses given first preference for the Pegasus World Cup Turf are (in alphabetical order):

Anothertwistafate – Owned by Peter Redekop B.C., Ltd. Trained by Peter Miller
Breaking the Rules – Owned by Phipps Stables. Trained by Shug McGaughey
Colonel Liam – Owner by Robert and Lawana Low. Trained by Todd Pletcher
Cross Border – Owned by Three Diamonds Farm. Trained by Mike Maker
Doswell – Owned by Joseph Allen LLC. Trained by Barclay Tagg
Largent – Owned by Twin Creeks Racing Stables, LLC, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. Trained by Todd Pletcher
North Dakota – Owned by Allen Stable Inc. Trained by Shug McGaughey
Pixelate – Owned by Godolphin, LLC. Trained by Michael Stidham
Say the Word – Owned by Agave Racing Stable and Sam-Son Farm. Trained by Philip D'Amato
Sharp Samurai – Owned by Owned by Red Baron's Barn LLC, Rancho Temescal LLC, Mark Glatt. Trained by Mark Glatt
Social Paranoia – Owned by The Elkstone Group, LLC. Trained by Todd Pletcher
Storm the Court – Owned by Exline-Border Racing, LLC, David Bernsen LLC, Susanna Wilson and Dan Hudock. Trained by Peter Eurton

The also eligible horses (in order of preference):

Next Shares – Owned by Debby Baltas, Richard Baltas, Christopher Dunn, Jules Iavarone, Michael Iavarone, Jerry McClanahan, Ritchie Robershaw, Mark Taylor. Trained by Richard Baltas.
Field Pass – Owned by Three Diamonds Farm. Trained by Mike Maker
Analyze It – Owned by William H. Lawrence. Trained by Chad Brown
Greyes Creek – Owned by OXO Equine LLC. Trained by Chad Brown

Limited seating is available and tickets can be purchased at Pegasusworldcup.com.

Fans can watch and wager on the Pegasus World Cup at 1stbet.com and xpressbet.com.

Trainer Todd Pletcher, winner of 16 of the past 17 Championship Meet titles at Gulfstream Park, has an intriguing trio of contenders for the Turf in Largent, Social Paranoia and Colonel Liam.

Largent is an improving son of Into Mischief who enters the Pegasus off a victory Dec. 12 in the Fort Lauderdale (G2). The gelding has won six of nine career starts and has won four of his five starts at Gulfstream.

Pletcher-trained Social Paranoia, a 4-year-old son of Street Boss, prepped for the Pegasus at Gulfstream Dec. 16 by winning an allowance optional claiming event off a five-month layoff. Social Paranoia earlier in the year won the Appleton (G3) at Gulfstream.

Pletcher's third entry is the lightly raced Colonel Liam, a 4-year-old son of Liam's Map who enters the Pegasus off an impressive 3 ¼-length victory Dec. 26 in the Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park.

Trainer Barclay Tagg, who trained the recently retired Tiz the Law to victories in last year's Florida Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1) and Travers (G1), comes into the Turf with Doswell. The lightly raced 6-year-old raced only once as a 2-year-old. The son of Giant's Causeway broke his maiden as a 5-year-old and ended 2020 with a second-place finish behind Largent in the Fort Lauderdale.

It took seven races for North Dakota to win his first race, but the Shug McGaughey-trained 5-year-old has since won three of five races with his last being the Nov. 21 Red Smith (G3) at Aqueduct. McGaughey will also send out Breaking the Rules, a 6-year-old son of War Front who comes off a fourth-place finish in the Knickerbocker (G2) in October and a third-place finish in the Fort Lauderdale (G2).

Say the Word, a 6-year-old Ontario-bred by More Than Ready, enters off a third-place finish Nov. 27 in the Hollywood Turf Cup (G2) for trainer Philip D'Amato after winning the Northern Dancer Turf (G1) in October at Woodbine. The gelding finished fourth in his only other race at Gulfstream, that coming in 2018.

Storm the Court ships in from Santa Anita for trainer Peter Eurton. Winner of the 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), the son of Court Vision was sixth in the Kentucky Derby (G1) last year before moving to turf and finishing seventh in the Hollywood Derby (G1) and second last time out in the Mathis Brothers Mile (G2)

Cross Border will attempt to give trainer Mike Maker back-to-back wins in the Pegasus Turf after saddling last year's winner, Zulu Alpha. The 7-year-old son of English Channel was second in last year's Sword Dancer (G1) and won the Bowling Green (G2), both at Saratoga. He comes into the Pegasus off a second-place finish in the Buddy Diliberto Memorial Dec. 19 at Fair Grounds.

Sharp Samurai was beaten a nose by Jesus' Team for the place in the Breeders' Cup Mile. The 7-year-old gelding, based at Santa Anita with trainer Mark Glatt, was second last year in the Pacific Classic (G1), Eddie Read (G2) and City of Hope (G2). His last victory was the 2018 City of Hope. Sharp Samurai is also on the invitation list for the Pegasus.

Pixelate, trained by Michael Stidham, comes into the Pegasus off a victory Dec. 26 in the Woodchopper at Fair Grounds. The Godolphin homebred and son of City Zip won the Del Mar Derby (G2) in September and was fifth in the Belmont Derby (G1) in October.

Anothertwistafate, winner Jan. 2 of the San Gabriel (G2) at Santa Anita and Sept. 10 Longacres Mile (G3), is invited to the Turf and is on the reserve inviation list for the Pegasus.

The Pegasus Turf also-eligible list is led by Next Shares, who will try to make his third trip to the Pegasus Turf the charm after a seventh-place finish in the 2019 edition and a 12^th place finish last year. The 8-year-old would enter this year's event off a third-place finish Jan. 2 in the San Gabriel.

The reserve invitation list also includes Field Pass. The Ontario Derby (G3) winner is trained by Mike Maker, who saddled last year's Pegasus Turf winner Zulu Alpha. Trainer Chad Brown, who won the inaugural Pegasus Turf with Bricks and Mortar, has two on the reserve list in Red Bank (G3) winner Analyze Itand OXO Equine's Greyes Creek.

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