Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Friday card draws big fields
In this age of reduced foal crops and shrinking field size, the Maryland Jockey Club racing office outdid itself for the Friday card at Pimlico, which is topped by the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan and Grade 3 Pimlico Special and includes five other stakes.
The 14-race program starts at 11:30 a.m. Eastern and is loaded from top to bottom. A total of 151 horses, an average of more than 10 per race, filled the entries.
Purses of more than $1.51 million will be up for grabs. In addition to the seven stakes, the day includes three allowance races, two optional claimers, and two maiden races.
“My staff worked very hard to put these races together,” said Georganne Hale, director of racing for the Maryland Jockey Club. “We wanted to get as many horses in as possible. We’ve been working on the stakes races for weeks.”
Pimlico annually offers a $100,000 trainer’s bonus for running horses in stakes on Black-Eyed Susan Day and the Preakness card, which follows Saturday. This year, the MJC added a $50,000 trainer’s bonus for the non-stakes races.
Trainers earn points based on where their horses finish, with the top six horsemen earning cash awards.
“I think the new trainer’s bonus helped,” Hale said. “I think it encouraged my Maryland horsemen to enter.”
The $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan, a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies, has a field of 10. The $300,000 Pimlico Special has nine entrants.
The Black-Eyed Susan favorites figure to be Coach Rocks, Midnight Disguise, and Sara Street.
Coach Rocks followed up on an eight-length Gulfstream Park maiden win with a victory in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Oaks. Most recently, she finished seventh of 14 in the Kentucky Oaks.
Coach Rocks is trained by Dale Romans, who won the Black-Eyed Susan in 2016 with Go Maggie Go and in 2015 with Keen Pauline.
Midnight Disguise won the $200,000 Busher and $100,000 Busanda over the winter at Aqueduct. She disappointed last time out when fourth as the favorite in the Grade 2 Gazelle. Trainer Linda Rice equips her with blinkers Friday.
Sara Street, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, finished second to Midnight Disguise in the Busher. She came back to be second, beaten a half-length by My Miss Lilly, in the Gazelle.
Goodonehoney, who is undefeated in two starts for trainer Jason Egan, represents the local hopes. She earned a feespaid berth in the Black-Eyed Susan with a seven-length win in the Weber City Miss at Laurel Park.
The Pimlico Special has attracted a competitive field that includes Rated R Superstar, Hedge Fund, Irish War Cry, and the talented Maryland-based runners Something Awesome and Afleet Willy.
Rated R Superstar enters off a late-running two-length win in the Grade 3 Ben Ali at Keeneland for trainer Ken McPeek.
Hedge Fund, who races for Todd Pletcher, lost his chance in the Oaklawn Handicap when he hopped in the air at the start. He rushed up into contention but then tired badly behind the top older runners City of Light and Accelerate.
Irish War Cry will be looking to rebound from a last-place finish in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile. The Graham Motion trainee reportedly came out of that race with an electrolyte imbalance.
Something Awesome has won five of his last six starts, including the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic for trainer Jose Corrales. Afleet Willy had won a pair of Laurel stakes before finishing fourth, beaten 1 1/2 lengths, in the Charles Town Classic for trainer Claudio Gonzalez.
The 25-race Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships, or MATCH series, kicks off with the $100,000 Skipat Stakes and $100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint.
The Skipat is the first of five legs in the female dirt-sprint division. Ms Locust Point, winner of the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie at Laurel, will be favored.
The McKay Turf Sprint begins the turf-sprint division for 3-year-olds and up. The 9-year-old hard-knocker Hogy figures to be well supported.
The other stakes on the card are the Grade 3, $150,000 Miss Preakness, a six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies; the Grade 3, $150,000 Allaire duPont Distaff, a 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares; and the $100,000 Hilltop, a one-mile turf race for 3-yearold fillies.
The Miss Preakness drew a deep field that includes Happy Like a Fool, trained by Wesley Ward; Artistic Diva, in from California to start her season for John Sadler; Lezendary, conditioned by Rudy Rodriguez; Good Move, who is 2 for 2 for Brad Cox; and local favorite Limited View, winner of 5 of 9, all for John Salzman Jr.
The duPont has a competitive group that includes Blue Prize and Verve’s Tale, the first- and third-place finishers in the $200,000 Top Flight at Aqueduct.
The horse to beat in the Hilltop is Thewayiam, winner of the Herecomesthebride and Sweetest Chant, both Grade 3 stakes at Gulfstream this winter for Motion.