Federico Tesio, A ‘Win And In’ Race For Preakness, Returning To Pimlico

For the first time since 2015, Maryland's local audition for the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) in Baltimore, Md., will provide horses with an opportunity to prep over the same legendary Pimlico Race Course main track that serves as home for the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

The $125,000 Federico Tesio headlines seven stakes worth $750,000 in purses on the Spring Stakes Spectacular program Saturday, April 24, originally scheduled to be run at Laurel Park. With the ongoing evaluation of Laurel's main track, live racing has been shifted to Pimlico effective Thursday, April 22.

Laurel's spring meet, delayed seven days to an April 8 opening amid an equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) quarantine, was scheduled to run through May 2. The Preakness Meet at Pimlico is scheduled for Thursdays through Sundays through May 31, with no live racing Sunday, May 16, or Thursday, May 27, and a special Memorial Day holiday program Monday, May 31.

The 1 1/8-mile Tesio – named for the noted Italian breeder, owner and trainer whose homebreds Nearco and Ribot dominate Thoroughbred bloodlines around the world – debuted at Pimlico in 1981 and stayed every year but two through 2015. Laurel Park hosted the Tesio in 1987 and 1989 and each year since 2016.

For the sixth straight year, the Tesio will serve as a 'Win and In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated 3-year-olds to the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes Saturday, May 15. Among the horses under consideration are Grade 2 winner Brooklyn Strong, Grade 3-placed Tarantino, stakes winners Hello Hot Rod and Maythehorsebwithu, and stakes-placed Tiz Mandate.

All five horses are Triple Crown nominated, with Laurel Park-based Maythehorsebwithu and Tiz Mandate's eligibility coming at the late March 29 deadline. Shackled Love, another Laurel horse that beat Maythehorsebwithu in the March 13 Private Terms, is also being pointed to the Tesio.

Laurel-based trainer Lacey Gaudet was an assistant to her late father when Eddie Gaudet won the 2011 Tesio at Pimlico with Maryland-bred Concealed Identity, owned by his wife, Lacey's mother Linda, along with Morris Bailey. Sheldon Russell, still part of Maryland's jockey colony, was the rider.

The Tesio was actually the second straight win at Pimlico for Concealed Identity, a two-length triumph over Ruler On Ice, who would go on to capture the Belmont Stakes (G1). It would be the only Preakness appearance for Eddie Gaudet, patriarch of one of Maryland's best-known and respected racing families.

“I remember my mom and I discussing, 'OK, this is our goal. If he can win going two turns, and then win the Tesio, we'll go to the Preakness. It was the local prep and it we decided that if we won it, we'd go,” Lacey Gaudet said. “It was fairly cool. There was a lot of personal sentiment at the time. Sheldon had rode him for us and if you watch the replay when he comes past where we stand in the regular winner's circle at the wire, Sheldon kind of pointed over at us.

“He won convincingly,” she added. “Sheldon pointed at us as he crossed the wire for the Tesio because it was like, 'OK, guys. We get to have fun now.' It was really cool and it definitely gave us a confidence booster that he won over the racetrack. He was essentially the only horse going into the Preakness winning two in a row and at the track. It was exciting.”

Serving as the Tesio's co-headliner on the Spring Stakes Spectacular program is the $125,000 Weber City Miss, a 'Win and In' qualifier for 3-year-old fillies to the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) Friday, May 14 at Pimlico. Each of the first four Weber City Miss winners since its 2016 debut have gone on to run in the Black-Eyed Susan including Lights of Medina, second by a head in 2017. Grand Cru Classe did not race in last year's Black-Eyed Susan.

Spring Stakes Spectacular includes a pair of $100,0000 dirt sprints, Frank Y. Whiteley for 3-year-olds and up and Primonetta for fillies and mares 3 and older. With the change in venue, the Whiteley has been shortened from seven to six furlongs, same as the Primonetta.

Also scheduled are the first three turf stakes of the year – the $100,000 Henry S. Clark for 3-year-olds and up and $100,000 Dahlia for females 3 and older, both at a mile, and $100,000 King T. Leatherbury for 3-year-olds and up, carded for 5 ½ furlongs at Laurel but to be contested at five furlongs at Pimlico.

The Preakness highlights a program of 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.25 million Saturday, May 15 that includes the 120th edition of the $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) for 3-year-olds and up on turf, Pimlico's oldest stakes race and the eighth-oldest in the country, debuting in 1870.

Other graded-stakes on the Preakness undercard are the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) for 3-year-olds sprinting six furlongs, $150,000 Gallorette (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/16 miles on the grass, $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3) at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up, and $100,000 Arabian Derby (G1) for Arabian 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.

A total of six stakes, four graded, worth $1 million in purses help comprise the May 14 Black-Eyed Susan Day card, including the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 3/16 miles, $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs, and $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles.

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‘Very Tricky’ Tarantino Has Finally Matured; Brisset Expecting Big Performance At Turfway

When Tarantino returned East last fall to try a different racetrack and/or go through the auction ring, trainer Bob Baffert cautioned the owners not to sell the colt too cheaply. And when the $610,000 yearling purchase brought a high bid of $240,000 at Keeneland's November sale, Tarantino indeed was not sold.

Baffert's advice has proven sage. Tarantino, now trained by Rodolphe Brisset, is the 3-1 favorite in Saturday's $250,000, Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park. The race offers the maximum 170 points toward qualifying for the May 1 Kentucky Derby, with the 100 points for a win and 40 for a second virtually assuring making the 20-horse field.

Tarantino is a son of the late Pioneerof the Nile, also the sire of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. He's owned by the high profile partnerships and entities of SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Golconda Stable, Siena Farm LLC and Robert Masterson.

The California-based Baffert got his reputation as one of the best trainers who ever lived by winning a ton of Triple Crown races, not for any particular prowess running 2-year-olds on turf. But that's where Tarantino started out after not showing a lot in his workouts on dirt. Tarantino won his debut at a mile on turf at Del Mar, then lost Santa Anita's Zuma Beach, also a mile on grass, by a nose.

“He was very inconsistent on the dirt breezing-wise in California, that's the feedback I got from Mr. Baffert and the ownership team,” Brisset said. “They always thought he had some talent. When he came up to Santa Anita to Mr. Baffert, maybe he didn't really like the track there. Some times at Los Alamitos, he'd work OK, sometimes just so-so. Same at Del Mar.

“Mr. Baffert told the group not to let him go, to put a nice reserve on him, when he went through the sale. He said, 'The horse has talent; we just need to figure him out.' Everybody knows I ride (horses in the morning). We work as a team, and Mr. Baffert said, 'Why don't you send him to Rodolphe, and he can get on him and maybe figure him out?' He showed up to us in beautiful condition. It took us a couple of weeks to figure him out. Then he took a couple of weeks to get (comfortable) in our program, too. He actually trained at Turfway for a month. I breezed him myself there, and he worked very well. Then he went through the sale. He wasn't sold, and we sent him to Florida.”

In his first start for Brisset, the colt won a grass allowance race at Gulfstream Park. Brisset says he actually was hoping the race came off the turf because he thought Tarantino would run well on dirt, given the way he was training.

He got his chance on dirt in Gulfstream Park's Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, finishing second behind Greatest Honour, and then fourth to the same horse in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. Greatest Honour is the favorite for Saturday's Florida Derby.

“That's what the group wants,” Brisset said of 3-year-olds on the Kentucky Derby trail. “They're looking for Grade 1 on the dirt. I'm not saying they stay away from the turf, but they want the action of 3-year-olds on the dirt and even 4-year-olds. But they want to be in the big races, on the big day. If you look at the big picture, he's bred for the dirt. I think he can run on anything to be honest.”

Tarantino accumulated nine points toward Kentucky Derby qualifying in the Holy Bull and Fountain of Youth.

“He's a very tricky horse,” Brisset said. “In the morning, you've got to stay busy on him sometimes. He's getting better at that, but you can't quit on him because he'll quit on you…. In the Holy Bull, we were sitting right off the pace and he dug in pretty hard and ran a really good second. The Fountain of Youth was really rough. He was the 7, and on the inside it got pretty ugly. We wound up being seven-wide. On the first turn, we got bumped pretty hard and we ended up being like six, seven-wide. We weren't going to win the race, but maybe it cost us third or second. But it's the past. I think we are where we need to be. He's going to have to show up and run 1-2. If he does, I think we're in” the Derby.

“He's changed a lot, physically, matured a lot,” Brisset continued. “And that's a good thing, between 2 and 3. He got bigger, wider and looks like he's enjoying training. I'm very, very happy the way he looks, and his last work was very, very good. He's a horse who doesn't gallop out in his breeze. He doesn't show anything. Trust me, you don't want to breeze him around the track by himself. But the last couple of weeks he's been way more forward. The breeze the other day, a couple of people took pictures. You could see that he was off the bridle, his ears are up and he went in 48, a minute, 1:12 and change the gallop out, so it was a good work.”

Florent Geroux, coming in off big winter meets at both Arkansas's Oaklawn Park and New Orleans' Fair Grounds, will ride Tarantino for the first time for his close friend and fellow French native.

As far as the Kentucky Derby, most of the partners in Tarantino, including Starlight and SF Racing, also have Rebel Stakes runner-up Hozier (20 points) and Florida Derby contender Spielberg (16) in the thick of the hunt. Those owners also won the Triple Crown in 2018 with Justify and Starlight was a minority owner in 2020 winner Authentic.

Jack Wolf, the Louisville resident who founded Starlight Racing, said any Derby decision would be up to Tom Ryan of SF Racing, in consultation with Brisset, if Tarantino runs like they hope in the Jeff Ruby.

“It's fun to be in these big 100-point races, and at least have the option,” Wolf said. “If he runs well and gets a good number, then I'm sure we'll go ahead and run him. But there, again, it would be up to Tom and Rodolphe.”

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Hush Of A Storm, Gretzky The Great Headline 100-Point Jeff Ruby Steaks

Joseph P. Morey Trust's $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes winner Hush of a Storm, along with Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gary Barber's Grade 1-winning colt Gretzky the Great top a field of 12 3-year-olds that were entered in Saturday afternoon's 50th running of the $250,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) – the premiere stakes event at Turfway Park's meet.

The Jeff Ruby Steaks is one of six stakes events on Saturday's 12-race afternoon spectacular at Turfway, which begins at 1:10 p.m. (all times Eastern). The centerpiece 1 1/8-mile race over the synthetic Tapeta surface is carded as Race 11 with a post time of 6:25 p.m. Wagering is available online at www.TwinSpires.com, the official ADW of Churchill Downs Incorporated.

The Jeff Ruby Steaks will award the top four finishers points on a 100-40-20-10 scale towards a spot in the starting gate for the $3 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

The other stakes races on Saturday's card are the $150,000 Bourbonette Oaks (Listed), a Championship Series race on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks worth 50-20-10-5 points to the $1.25 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1); $150,000 TwinSpires.com Kentucky Cup Classic (Listed); the $100,000 Rushaway; the $100,000 Latonia Stakes; and the $65,000 Animal Kingdom Stakes.

Hush of a Storm, trained by Bill Morey and ridden by Santiago Gonzalez, was the 1 ½-length winner of the Feb. 26 Battaglia Memorial, the local prep for the Jeff Ruby Steaks. The Creative Cause colt had to survive an inquiry and objection in the race after he lugged in and appeared to affect fellow rivals Like the King, Gretzky the Great and Hard Rye Guy in the stretch. Following a review of the race, the stewards issued no change to the order of finish. Hush of a Storm is a perfect 3-for-3 over the Tapeta surface at Turfway. He broke his maiden by 5 ½ lengths on Dec. 19 and followed up that win three weeks later with a half-length first-level allowance score. His only blemish came in a seven-furlong maiden claiming $150,000 race over the dirt at Churchill Downs. Hush of a Storm drew post No. 2.

One of the other top rivals in the Jeff Ruby Steaks is $250,000 Summer (G1) winner Gretzky the Great. Named after the NHL Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky, the Nyquist colt was the even-money favorite in the Battaglia Memorial. In that race, he was pressured on the lead for nearly one-mile before giving way to Hush of a Storm. The Mark Casse-trainee will get a jockey change to Chris Landeros for the Jeff Ruby Steaks and will break from post 10.

Another horse likely to garner attention in the race is SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Golconda Stable, Siena Farm and Robert Masterson's $200,000 Holy Bull (G3) runner-up Tarantino. Trained by Rodolphe Brisset, Tarantino began his career on turf at Del Mar in the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. He finished second in the $101,000 Zuma Beach at Santa Anita prior to his transfer to Brisset. Immediately after he entered Brisset's string in South Florida, he defeated six rivals in a first-level allowance over the turf at Gulfstream Park. His most recent start was a fourth-place finish in the $300,000 Fountain of Youth (GII) where he was defeated 5 ¼ lengths by Greatest Honour. Jockey Florent Geroux will ride from post 7.

The complete field from the rail out (with jockey and trainer): Like the King (Drayden Van Dyke, Wesley Ward); Hush of a Storm (Gonzalez, Morey); King's Ovation (Albin Jiminez, Dale Romans); Awesome Gerry (Martin Garcia, Saffie Joseph Jr.); Sainthood (Gerardo Corrales, Todd Pletcher); Smiley Sobotka (Declan Cannon, Romans); Tarantino (Geroux, Brisset); Moonlite Strike (Rafael Hernandez, Joseph); Hard Rye Guy (Brian Hernandez Jr., Ian Wilkes); Gretzy the Great (Landeros, Casse); Dyn O Mite (Deshawn Parker, Keith Desormeaux); and Hockey Dad (Rafael Bejarano, Doug O'Neill).

Hard Rye Guy and Hockey Dad were not nominated to the Triple Crown at the early closing but could become eligible with a $6,000 late payment that is due on Monday.

The National Weather Service forecast for Florence, Ky. calls for a gorgeous afternoon of racing with sunny skies and a high temperature of 71 degrees.

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Greatest Honour Has Final Tune-Up For Fountain Of Youth

Courtlandt Farms' Greatest Honour breezed an easy half-mile at Payson Park In Indiantown, Fla., on Sunday morning in preparation for a highly anticipated start in Saturday's $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

The 3-year-old Tapit colt who captured the Jan. 30 Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream by 5 ¾ lengths, was timed in 51.20 seconds in his final work for the 1 1/16-mile major prep for the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill n' Dale at Xalapa March 27. He worked in company with Or'effice on his outside.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey is hoping that Greatest Honour will follow the example set by Orb, whom he saddled for victories in the Fountain of Youth, Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby (G1) in 2013.

Courtlandt Farms' homebred colt launched his career with a pair of strong closing third-place finishes in maiden special weight sprints at Saratoga and Belmont before losing a photo finish in his first trip around two turns at Aqueduct and completing his juvenile season with his 1 1/16-mile maiden breaker at Gulfstream.

McGaughey also sent Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer to the track for a half-mile breeze in 49.40 seconds in preparation for a start in the $200,000 Gulfstream Park Mile (G2), one of nine stakes on Saturday's card. Performer is coming off a victory in the Fred W. Hooper in his 2021 debut at Gulfstream.

Rodolphe Brisset-trained Tarantino, who finished second behind Greatest Honour and 3 ¾ lengths clear of third-place finisher Prime Factor in the Holy Bull, breezed a half-mile in 49.45 seconds Sunday morning at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.

Antonio Sano-trained Papetu, who finished fourth in the Holy Bull, breezed five furlongs in 1:01:20 Sunday morning at Gulfstream Park West in preparation for a return in the Fountain of Youth.

“It was very good,” said Sano, who saddled Gunnevera for a victory in the 2017 Fountain of Youth. “It was a very easy work.”

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