Admiral Lynch looks tough in De Francis Dash off big last-race Beyer

BALTIMORE – Mike Maker is in town for more than the crab cakes. Maker has entries in a dozen races over the final three-day stretch of the Preakness meet at Pimlico, intent not only on taking home plenty of hardware and purse earnings but also the biggest slice of a $100,000 trainer bonus for top overall performance in the 16 weekend stakes.

One of Maker’s many live hopes is Admiral Lynch, whose last race equated to a 104 Beyer Speed Figure and makes him a major threat in one of the top co-features on a 12-race Saturday card, the Grade 3, $200,000 De Francis Dash. No more than seven older horses will go in the six-furlong race, with Admiral Lynch liable to stalk as he breaks from post 1 with Daniel Centeno riding.

Admiral Lynch, owned by Michael Dubb and Bethlehem Stables, has had three starts since Maker assumed his care in the aftermath of the Jason Servis scandal. The 4-year-old colt drew clear in his latest, a July 23 allowance at Saratoga, in an effort suggesting he’s ready for graded company.

“He’s definitely a horse on the improve,” said Maker, who has sent him through six subsequent works at his Trackside training center base in Kentucky.

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Surely the horse to provide Admiral Lynch a target is another Kentucky shipper, Landeskog (post 5, Florent Geroux), the 5-2 morning-line favorite. The 4-year-old gelding has had just one race in the last year, that being an Aug. 8 allowance at Ellis Park that he won as a 1-5 favorite.

“We picked him up last spring, and he’s actually shown me quite a bit in his training,” trainer Brad Cox said. “He’s fast – very fast. He’s got experience in graded company” from his 3-year-old season while trained by Doug O’Neill, “so we know he’s got some quality. Hopefully, he’ll run as big as we think he will.”

Landeskog also has earned several big Beyers, most notably a 108 when second to King Jack in the Grade 2 Gallant Bob at Parx Racing a little more than a year ago in his final start for O’Neill.

Other considerations include Eastern Bay and Laki, the respective one-two finishers four weeks ago in the Polynesian at Laurel Park, and Nitrous, a late-running Tapit colt who would seem to need a pace meltdown to factor late.

Eight are entered, but Stan the Man will scratch to remain in New York for the Grade 2 Kelso.

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The De Francis Dash honors Frank J. De Francis, who is widely credited with reviving Maryland racing in the years before his death in 1989. Although the race has been held far more often at Laurel, the 1990 inaugural won by Northern Wolf actually was run at Pimlico. Its placement on the Preakness undercard is due to a reshuffled stakes schedule owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

The De Francis Dash (race 7, 2:42 p.m.) kicks off the late pick five, which comprises races 7-11 and ends with the Preakness.