Tag: Racing

Speedy Jaxon Traveler Back At Pimlico For Saturday’s Chick Lang

West Point Thoroughbreds and Marvin Delfiner's speedy sophomore Jaxon Traveler, a head shy of being undefeated through five starts that include a pair of stakes victories, returns to Maryland seeking his first graded score in Saturday's $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico Race Course.

The 46th running of the six-furlong Chick Lang and 23rd renewal of the 1 1/16-mile Sir Barton, both for 3-year-olds, are among 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.25 million in purses on a spectacular 14-race program headlined by the 146th renewal of the Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

Other graded-stakes on the card are the $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) for 3-year-olds and up and $150,000 Gallorette for fillies and mares 3 and older, each at 1 1/16 miles on the grass; $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3), a six-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up; and $100,000 UAE President Cup (G1) for Arabian horses.

First race post time is 10:30 a.m.

Jaxon Traveler is no stranger to Pimlico, having romped to a 10-length debut victory last September. Bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. A. Leonard Pineau, the son of multiple graded-stakes winning sprinter Munnings then beat winners at first asking in October and became a stakes winner with a three-quarter-length triumph in the seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile Futurity Dec. 5. All three wins came in front-running fashion.

“He's going to be hard to beat,” Scott Blasi, top assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, said.

Asmussen has taken horses down this road before, winning the Chick Lang with Lantana Mob (2008), Holy Boss (2015), Mitole (2018) and Yaupon, who tied a stakes record (1:09.10) with his victory last fall. Mitole would go on to be named the champion male sprinter of 2019.

“We'll never question anything that Steve does. He has the Midas touch, especially with these types of horses,” West Point COO Tom Bellhouse said. “Steve just has this innate sense. A lot of people get these kinds of horses and the first thing they say is, 'When are we going to stretch them out?'

“We ran seven furlongs in the stake down there and we won, but he got a little tired and Steve just said, 'Listen, this horse is really, really special; it might just be up to seven [furlongs]. He might not be a horse that wants to go up to a mile,'” he added. “He just focuses his program on it. He did it with Mitole. He did it with Yaupon, just in recent times. He's just so good at that.”

Jaxon Traveler was being pointed to make his 3-year-old debut in the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid Jan. 16 at Laurel but was sidelined with a minor foot injury and wound up with Asmussen's winter string at Oaklawn Park. There, he found himself uncharacteristically off the pace in the six-furlong Gazebo March 10 but closed to be second to Sir Wellington before returning with a 2 ¾-length gate-to-wire triumph in the April 24 Bachelor, also at six furlongs.

“He had a little frog issue and he started to come around actually quicker than we anticipated,” Bellhouse said. “It's kind of a heartbreaker that he's not undefeated because of that race. He had a tough trip but he came running late and showed a different dynamic. Last time he just threw it down and threw in the kind of race that you love to see in that kind of sprint. He broke on top and never looked back.”

Irad Ortiz Jr. has the call on Jaxon Traveler from Post 4 in a field of six as the 124-pound co-topweight.

“He's just a really, really, really cool horse,” Bellhouse said. “He's an exciting horse to watch. When the gate opens, he goes and he never looks like he's going to get beat. There's never one step of the race where you're like, 'Oh no, he's in trouble.' He just went, especially in that last race against some really nice horses at Oaklawn. When he turned for home I was like, 'They're not catching him.'”

Jaxon Traveler will face another stakes winner in Lea Farms' Willy Boi, who defeated Ultimate Badger and next-out winner Lauda Speed in the six-furlong Hutcheson March 6 at Gulfstream Park. The Uncaptured gelding has won three of his four starts sprinting, running eighth when stretched out to 1 1/16 miles in Gulfstream's Jan. 30 Holy Bull (G3).

Narrow Leaf Farm's Hemp will make his stakes debut in the Chick Lang. The Maryland-bred Super Ninety Nine gelding cruised by 5 ¼ lengths in a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance over a muddy track April 10 at Laurel Park for trainer Anthony Farrior.

Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's homebred Mighty Mischief takes a two-race win streak into the Chick Lang, his stakes debut. The bay son of Into Mischief went gate-to-wire to break his maiden March 19 and then beat winners at first asking April 10, both sprinting six furlongs at Oaklawn, by a combined 7 ¾ lengths.

“He's a very fast horse,” Scott Blasi, top assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, said. “This is a big step up, but he works like a racehorse.”

ZWP Stable and Non-Stop Stable's Shackled Love cuts back for the Chick Lang off back-to-back tries around two turns including a half-length win in the 1 1/16-mile Private Terms. Gokmen Kaya's Palatial Times completes the field.

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Entries Strong For MATCH Series Kickoff At Pimlico

The eighth edition of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships Series (MATCH) begins May 14-15 at Pimlico Race Course with large, competitive fields that include more than a few local horses that figure to play a role in the outcome of the four divisions in the 2021 series.

Purses for the four MATCH stakes that are part of Preakness weekend total $650,000. They are the $250,000 Grade 3 Pimlico Special (3-Year-Olds and Up Long—Dirt division) and $150,000 Grade 3 Allaire DuPont (Filly and Mare Long—Dirt division) Friday, May 14, and the $150,000 Maryland Sprint Handicap (3-Year-Olds and Up Sprint—Dirt division) and $100,000 Runhappy Skipat (Filly and Mare Sprint—Dirt division) Saturday, May 15.

MATCH returns to the calendar this year after a one-year cancellation because of COVID-19 restrictions. Though there will be six stakes in each of four divisions this year, 20 of the 24 stakes will be run in Maryland and the other four at Colonial Downs in Virginia.

The Maryland Sprint Handicap at six furlongs has drawn Hillside Equestrian Meadows' Laki, a local favorite and two-time MATCH divisional champion in the 3-Year-Olds and Up Sprint—Dirt division in 2018 and 2019. He has won 11 races—seven of them stakes including the Grade 3 Frank J. DeFrancis Memorial Dash—and in his last start, which produced a win in the Frank Whiteley Stakes at Pimlico, the 8-year-old Maryland-bred gelding by Cuba topped the $800,000 mark in earnings. Twenty-seven of Laki's 33 starts have come in Maryland.

“He came out of his last race really well,” trainer Damon Dilodovico said. “I don't like running him back so quickly—the Whiteley was moved back a week—but everybody is navigating these things. We'll be able to ship up to Pimlico (from Laurel) early and train him there.

“If we could add another graded stakes to his resume that would be awesome. The horse doesn't owe us a thing. We are fans of the MATCH Series and we hoped to have other horses for it this year but things didn't work out.”

Horacio Karamanos, who has ridden Laki in many of his races, will have the mount.

Euro Stable's Lebda, trained by Claudio Gonzalez, finished a half-length behind Laki in the Frank Whiteley and has settled in as a sprinter after having run long as a 3-year-old. Gonzalez, who won a MATCH Series division with the turf sprinter Completed Pass, indicated Lebda may target the local sprint stakes this year.

Entered in the Skipat, also at six furlongs, is Five Hellions Farm's Dontletsweetfoolya, who rattled off five consecutive victories—two in stakes—at Laurel Park before a seventh-place finish in the Grade III Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel in her most recent start in February. Trained by Lacey Gaudet, the 4-year-old Stay Thirsty filly who likes to run on the lead has won five of nine starts and more than $200,000.

Pennsylvania-bred Chub Wagon, owned by Danny Lopez and George Chestnut, enters the Skipat a perfect five-for-five with a total win margin of more than 31 lengths. In her last start April 27 at Parx Racing, where she is based with trainer Guadalupe Preciado, Chub Wagon won the state-restricted Unique Bella Stakes at seven furlongs by 7 1/2 lengths in her first start in stakes company. She has had the lead at every call in all five of her races.

The Allaire DuPont at 1 1/8 miles has attracted Horologist, the New Jersey-bred Horse of the Year for 2020. The multiple graded-stakes winner owned by There's A Chance Stable, Medallion Racing, Abbondanza Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Paradise Farm Corp. and David Staudacher won the Top Flight Invitational at Aqueduct Racetrack in her last start.

Allen Stable's Mrs. Danvers and Sonata Stable's Lucky Stride, second and third, respectively, behind Horologist in New York, will also compete in the Allaire DuPont. Lucky Stride, trained by Mike Trombetta at the Fair Hill Training Center, has done well in Maryland with a second in the Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes last November and a victory in the Nellie Morse Stakes in late February.

“Our intent is to race in the Allaire DuPont and take it from there,” Trombetta said of potential starts in future MATCH Series races. “I think she is the kind of horse that can run in more of these races, so we'll see what happens.”

BB Horses' Landing Zone, second to Lucky Stride in the Nellie Morse and entered in the Allaire DuPont, is one of several horses trainer Gonzalez has entered Preakness weekend that could very well could target MATCH Series events through the course of the year.

In 2020, the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special was run in October, and Hillwood Stables' Maryland-bred gelding Cordmaker finished third. In the 2019 Pimlico Special, he rallied from 10th on the final turn and was a fast-closing third. Trainer Rodney Jenkins has again entered the nine-time winner of almost $600,000 in the Special.

Cordmaker in his last start went gate-to-wire in the 1 1/8-mile Harrison Johnson Memorial Stakes at Laurel in mid-March. His last two works at Pimlico at five furlongs have been the fastest of the day. All but three of his 28 starts have come in Maryland.

“His last two works were very good, he looks very good, and he feels very good,” said jockey Victor Carrasco, who was aboard for the Pimlico works and has regularly ridden Cordmaker in his races. “The Pimlico Special is not an easy race, but he's in good form. We're all hoping for the best. I'd like to thank Mr. Jenkins, because this horse is very special to me.”

Owners and trainers will compete for $63,000 in divisional bonuses and the overall MATCH Series champion will net $30,000 in bonuses for its owner and trainer. In addition, the Maryland Horse Breeders Association will pay a $3,000 bonus to the breeder of the top points-earning Maryland-bred and $3,000 for the top points-earning Maryland-sired horse. If the top points-earner is both Maryland-bred and -sired, the breeder would get $6,000.

After Preakness weekend, the next MATCH Series stakes will be held June 13 at Pimlico.

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Stablemates Bye Bye Melvin, English Bee Headline Competitive Field In Dinner Party

Grade 3-winning stablemates Bye Bye Melvin and English Bee will take on the imposing pair of Kuramata and Grade 1-placed Sacred Life as well as Grade 2 winner Somelikeithotbrown in a competitive edition of Saturday's $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) at Pimlico Race Course.

The 120th running of the 1 1/16-mile Dinner Party for 3-year-olds and up on the grass is part of a spectacular 14-race program featuring 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.25 million in purses headlined by the 146th renewal of the Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

Other graded-stakes on the card are the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) for 3-year-olds and $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3), both going six furlongs; $150,00 Gallorette for fillies and mares 3 and up at 1 1/16 miles on the grass; and $100,000 UAE President Cup (G1) for Arabian horses.

First race post time is 10:30 a.m.

Pimlico's oldest stakes race and the eighth-oldest in the country, the Dinner Party was contested at two miles for its 1870 debut, won by the Hall of Famer Preakness. The distance has changed eight times over its history, settling at the current 1 1/16 miles in 2014.

Alex G. Campbell Jr.'s Bye Bye Melvin, a homebred son of champion Uncle Mo, made his 4-year-old debut in an open, third-level allowance at the Dinner Party distance April 15 at Keeneland, where he took a short lead into the stretch and nearly held it the rest of the way before being beaten a neck when second to Midnight Tea Time. It was his first race since running third by one length in the 1 1/8-mile Bryan Station Nov. 6 over the same course.

“He's been very consistent. He was a little unlucky the other day coming off the layoff. He might have gotten a little tired,” trainer Graham Motion said. “He's a very hard-trying, hard-knocking horse. He's been thrown all sorts of different ground to run on.”

Bye Bye Melvin won the one-mile Saranac (G3) by a head last summer on a soft course at Saratoga, then was beaten a nose when second in the James W. Murphy over yielding ground on the Preakness undercard in October.

“He's put in some really strong efforts which kind of show that his Saratoga win was not a fluke, I think,” Motion said. “He's a big, strong, gorgeous horse. I think this will hopefully be a stepping stone to some longer races this summer. Ultimately, I think probably a mile and a quarter is going to be a good trip for him.”

Motion, whose previous Dinner Party wins came with Dr. Brendler in 2003 and Better Talk Now in 2006 when it was contested as the Dixie, will also send out Calumet Farm homebred English Bee. A 5-year-old son of turf champion English Channel, he will be racing for the first time since running fifth in a 1 1/16-mile allowance Oct. 8 at Keeneland.

“We gave him a freshening over the winter. I felt like he'd been going at it for a long time without a break,” Motion said. “After we ran him at Keenleand last time I wanted to give him some time. He went to the farm at Calumet and Jack Sisterson got him started for me and he came back to me here in the beginning of the year.”

English Bee won the 1 1/8-mile Virginia Derby (G3) at Colonial Downs and the one-mile Parx Fall Derby in successive 2019 starts but has gone winless since. During that stretch, other than his most recent race, he hasn't lost by more than 3 ½ lengths with seconds by a neck in the Wise Dan (G2) and half-length in the Canadian Turf (G3).

“This horse, I love this horse. He's a hard-knocking, tough little horse,” Motion said. “He's been a little unlucky probably not to come away with another win in one of these races he's been in, but he hasn't been beaten far in some pretty tough races. He's a hard-trying horse.”

Hall of Famer John Velazquez will ride Bye Bye Melvin from outermost Post 8, while Joel Rosario has the assignment on English Bee from Post 2.

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown, winner of the 2016 Dinner Party with Takeover Target, entered Kuramata and Sacred Life. Peter Brant's Kuramata will be making just his fourth career start and first in a stakes, breaking his maiden Feb. 21 at Tampa Bay Downs and winning a 1 1/16-mile allowance April 2 at Aqueduct in his two races this year.

Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Bethlehem Stables' Sacred Life was a Group 3 winner in his native France that has yet to break through with his first graded-stakes in North America. Winner of the 1 1/16-mile Oceanport last summer at Monmouth Park, the 6-year-old ran third by 2 ½ lengths in the Maker's Mark Mile (G1) April 9 at Keeneland in his first race in seven months.

Irad Ortiz Jr. will be aboard Kuramata from Post 3 with Hall of Famer Javier Castellano riding Sacred Life from Post 5.

Also exiting the Maker's Mark Mile, where he was seventh by less than four lengths, is Skychai Racing and Sand Dollar Stable's Somelikeithotbrown, second to Factor This in last fall's Dinner Party. Trained by Mike Maker, the 5-year-old son of 2008 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1) winner Big Brown is a graded winner on two surfaces, taking the 2019 Jeff Ruby (G3) on the all-weather at Turfway Park and the Bernard Baruch (G2) over the Saratoga turf last summer.

Somelikeithotbrown owns four wins and three seconds in seven career tries at the Dinner Party distance. Jose Ortiz gets the call from Post 1.

“He was second in this race last year,” Maker said. “It's a nice distance for him.”

Completing the field are Dreams of Tomorrow, third by 1 ¼ lengths in the Henry S. Clark April 24 at Pimlico for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey; 2018 American Derby (G3) winner Real Story; Talk Or Listen, Group 3-placed in France in 2019; and stakes-placed Midnight Tea Time.

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