ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Pat Parente, who has been training since 2004, came into the 2013 Woodbine meet without a stakes victory on his résumé. Conversely, trainer Danny Vella had 132 stakes wins under his belt in a career that began in 1985.
When Summer of Fun ran in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last fall, she was dismissed at 43-1, yet outran her odds, finishing third in a race that has proven to be quite deep. Flotilla, the winner, returned to win the French 1000 Guineas, and Sky Lantern, who was eighth, won the English 1000 Guineas.
Sensible Lady upset last year’s the The Very One Stakes on the Black-Eyed Susan/Pimlico Special undercard, and it was no small feat as she was a 3-year-old beating older opponents. Sensible Lady is back to defend her The Very One title Friday at Pimlico, and one thing seems sure: She will be a fraction of the 24-1 she was in this race last year.
The $100,000 The Very One, at five furlongs on the turf, proved a highly popular offering. It attracted 16 entries, including two also eligibles. The Very One goes as the 11th race on Friday’s 13-race program.
MIAMI - Close It Out, who upset Bahamian Squall to capture the Jack Dudley Sprint Handicap here last fall, will top a field of 10 older sprinters in Saturday’s six-furlong Champali overnight stakes. Close It Out is winless in three starts since the Jack Dudley and has been freshened since finishing fourth in the Gulfstream Park Sprint Championship three months earlier.
Tread is a nose from bringing a perfect record into the $100,000 Miss Preakness on Friday at Pimlico. She has won two of her three career starts, and will be making her stakes debut in the six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies that is part of the undercard on Black-Eyed Susan Day.
Though based in Maryland, Dance to Bristol makes her first appearance at Pimlico on Friday when she heads a field of seven fillies entered in the $100,000 Skipat Stakes at six furlongs.
Dance to Bristol, stabled at the Bowie training center with trainer Ollie Figgins III, has won her last three starts, including a nine-length romp in the $200,000 Sugar Maple Stakes at Charles Town on April 20. The big question is whether Dance to Bristol will bounce, or regress, off such a big performance.
BALTIMORE – The success in recent years of Ben’s Cat has focused renewed, deserved attention on the great career of trainer King Leatherbury, a Maryland legend who is still going strong long after the glory days here when he faced off regularly with Bud Delp, Dick Dutrow, and John Tammaro.
Ben’s Cat has earned more than $1.4 million, and has won 20 of 30 starts, with turf sprints his specialty. Ben’s Cat will try to add to those totals on Friday at Pimlico, when he heads the field in the $100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint over five furlongs.
How they leave the starting gate in Saturday’s feature race at Northlands Park will go a long way in determining the outcome of the six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares. Claresmiezie and Plethora have excellent speed, and if they hook up early in the $35,000 optional claimer it could set up nicely for Tempered Sapphire. If one gets away on her own, she could be tough to run down.
MIAMI – Trainer David Fawkes used Calder’s Ponche Handicap and Grade 2 Smile Sprint to launch Big Drama’s championship campaign in 2010. Three years later, Fawkes is considering taking a similar path with his current sprint sensation Bahamian Squall, a 4-year-old homebred owned by Donald Dizney.
BALTIMORE - There were no surprises at entry time at Pimlico on Wednesday, when nine were entered in Saturday's 138th Preakness Stakes, in which Kentucky Derby winner Orb will try to keep his Triple Crown hopes alive.
In addition to Orb, others in the Preakness are Departing, Goldencents, Govenor Charlie, Itsmyluckyday, Mylute, Oxbow, Titletown Five, and Will Take Charge.
The draw for the 1 3/16-mile race is scheduled for 6 p.m., and will be shown live on HRTV.
