Black-Eyed Susan to help Wilkes find where Sweetgrass
belongs
Riding a two-race win streak, Six Column Stables, Randall Bloch, John Seiler
and Fred Merritt’s Sweetgrass (Street Sense) is set make her stakes debut in the $250,000
Black-Eyed Susan (G2) Friday at Pimlico.
The Ian
Wilkes trainee is slated to run beyond a mile for the first time in the 91st
running of the 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan for sophomore fillies. Jockey Julien
Leparoux is slated to ride the bay daughter of 2007 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Street
Sense for the first time.
“This race
was always in the back of my mind,” Wilkes said. “This won’t be an easy spot.
This will be a tough little race, so it’ll be a good spot for her first stakes
appearance.”
Unraced at two, Sweetgrass made her first three starts at Gulfstream Park over the winter. She
broke her maiden going a mile on March 1 and then carried her momentum to
Keeneland for a half-length victory April 3 in her first try against winners.
“All four
races of her career have been very good. She had a really good third in her
first start and in her second start she got wiped out at the start and ran
third. It was a tremendous race,” Wilkes said. “Then, she came back and won her
last two. She’s doing very well.”
Wilkes was
patient with Sweetgrass as she coped with some minor juvenile issues that kept
her from running last year. He has been pleased with the steady progression
she’s shown in her races.
“We weren’t
in a hurry with her. The horses, they dictate how much time they need,” he said.
“I entered her in an allowance race at Churchill that didn’t fill and we had
this race as a backup. Two-other-thans are hard to fill these days. I need to
find where she belongs. I have to start somewhere.”
Nine years
have passed since trainer Kiaran McLaughlin last ran a horse in the Pimlico
Special, but the memories of Invasor’s breakthrough victory at Pimlico will
never fade.
An undefeated
winner of Uruguay’s Triple Crown, Argentinean-bred Invasor made his North
American debut with a 1 1/4-length triumph over favored Wanderin Boy in the
Pimlico Special, then a Grade 1 run under handicap conditions.
Invasor would
rack up three more Grade 1 victories, in the Suburban and Whitney handicaps and
Breeders’ Cup Classic, en route to Horse of the Year honors. In 2007, Invasor
won the Donn H. (G1) and Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) before being retired.
“Time flies.
It was a big race that day and helped launch us on to Horse of the Year,”
McLaughlin said. “We’ve always had a soft spot for the Pimlico Special. It used
to be a very important race and it’s getting back to that again and becoming a
very important race for older horses. We’re happy that it’s there.”
On Friday,
McLaughlin hopes to make new memories with Godolphin Racing’s Transparent (Bernardini) in the
45th running of the $300,000 Pimlico Special (G3), part of the
Black-Eyed Susan Day undercard and a fitting prelude to Saturday’s Preakness
Stakes (G1) program.
“This has
been a goal,” he said. “It’s an important race and Maryland’s an important state
for horse racing. They’ve done a good job down there. It’s a big-race day and a
big-race weekend. Their hospitality for the horsemen has always been tops in the
country. We’ve had good luck in Maryland this spring. We like going there.”
Multiple-graded stakes-placed Miss Temple City (Temple City) will get a bit
of class relief when she returns in Friday’s $100,000 Hilltop S. for three-year-old fillies
going 1 1/16 miles on the Pimlico turf course.
Trained by
Graham Motion for Sagamore Racing, Allen Rosenblum and The Club Racing, the
sophomore blazed through a five-furlong work in 1:00
Saturday at the Fair Hill Training Center in company with Grade 3-placed colt Donworth
(Tiznow), who is being pointed to Saturday’s $100,000 Sir Barton.
“I was very
pleased with both of them,” Motion said. “Miss Temple City is doing super and
she’ll run in the Hilltop, hopefully, and Donworth will run in the Sir Barton if
all goes well.”
Miss Temple
City won her first two career starts last year, breaking her maiden in October
at Laurel Park and taking a Gulfstream Park allowance December 17 at the Hilltop
distance.
Third by a length behind Consumer Credit (More Than Ready) and subsequent Grade 3 winner Quality
Rocks (Rock Hard Ten) in the Sweetest Chant (G3) January 24, Miss Temple City rallied for second by
2 1/2 lengths to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) winner Lady Eli (Divine Park) in the
Appalachian (G3) April 12 at Keeneland.
“Lady Eli
looks like she could be perhaps the best filly in the country, three-year-old or
older,” Motion said. “It’s a little unfortunate to have to run against her, but
I think this is a really nice filly.”
Regis
Racing’s Donworth was a neck winner in his March 14 unveiling at Gulfstream
Park, then went off as the favorite in the Lexington (G3) April 11 at Keeneland,
where he was second by three lengths to Preakness S. (G1) contender Divining Rod
(Tapit).
“We just got
a little behind with Donworth, so he sort of missed the Triple Crown races. I
purposely didn’t nominate him because I didn’t want to get tempted to put him in
there,” Motion said. “The Lexington came up a fairly small field and we were
tempted to take a shot. I thought he ran really well. It was the second race of
his career and first around two turns, so the Sir Barton seemed like a logical
step.”
Several
horses aiming at Preakness weekend stakes had their final works Sunday morning
including a pair from Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas at Churchill Downs.
Robert Baker
and William Mack’s Super Saks (Sky Mesa) and Three Chimneys Farm’s Lady Zuzu (Dynaformer) each had
three-furlong blowouts. Super Silks was timed in a bullet :34 2/5, the fastest of
11 works, while Lady Zuzu went in :35 2/5.
Super Saks
was entered in the $150,000 Miss Preakness Stakes (G3) for
three-year-old fillies going six furlongs on the main track, and Lady Zuzu in the
Hilltop. Both are part of the Black-Eyed Susan Day program.
Also on the
worktab at Churchill was Miss Preakness contender Enchanting Lady (Tale of the
Cat), who went a
half-mile in :50 4/5 for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.
At Laurel Park, Geisha S. winner Brenda’s Way (Weigelia) worked four furlongs in
:49 3/5 for her
start in Friday’s $150,000 Allaire DuPont Distaff S. (G3) for females three and
up at 1 1/8 miles on the main track. Robert Manfuso’s Taketheodds (Street Sense) went five
furlongs in a bullet 1:02 as a tune-up for the $100,000 Skipat, also on Friday.
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