Alwaysmining earns Preakness berth with Tesio romp

Alwaysmining won his sixth race in a row and punched his ticket to the May 18 Preakness Stakes by pulling away to an 11 1/2-length victory in the $125,000 Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park on Saturday.

The 1 1/8-mile Tesio is a win and you're in for the Preakness. Trainer Kelly Rubley, racing manager Joe Cassidy, and owners Gregory and Caroline Bentley, opted for the Tesio-Preakness path rather than rush the gelded Maryland-bred son of Stay Thirsty on to the Kentucky Derby trail.

Alwaysminings's five wins coming into the Tesio had all come on the lead, but in the Tesio jockey Daniel Centeno took him back as 12-1 Bozzini and 45-1 Trifor Gold went to the front. Alwaysmining appeared a little headstrong through a slow opening quarter of 25.00 seconds, but he then settled into a nice rhythm.

When Centeno asked him to run leaving the half-mile pole, Alwaysmining quickly inhaled the leaders and pulled away with Centeno sitting high in the irons. He left his four overmatched rivals in the rear-view mirror down the stretch without being asked for his best.

He completed the course in 1:50.12, with a final furlongs in 12.47.

"The plan was to make the lead, but I decided to take back when the others went," Centeno said. "On the backside, I just put him on the outside and he was fine."

Trifor Gold finished second, two lengths ahead of Bozzini in third.

Alwaysmining paid $2.10 across the board. In the $153,293 place pool, $139,496 was wagered on Alwaymining. In the $202,647 show pool, $167,806 was bet on him.

Rubley was pleased with how Alwaymining came from off the pace Saturday.

"It was a great race today," she said. "It was good to get him to settle. Now he doesn’t need the lead."

The Preakness will be a big jump in class for Alwaysmining, who has made nine straight starts at Laurel, but he certainly has been impressive and it will be interesting to see how he handles a tougher assignment.

Henry Clark: Irish Strait digs in

Jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. was content to sit second behind front-running Real Story in the $100,000 Henry S. Clark Stakes and then pick him up in the stretch. The plan worked to perfection as Vargas won his third stakes of the afternoon and Irish Strait prevailed by a neck.

"It was a perfect trip, a beautiful trip," Vargas said. "He was very comfortable on the backstretch, and he likes to fight so I knew he would."

Vargas had previously won the Priminetta on Ms Locust Point and the King Leatherbury on Dirty.

Irish Strait, a 7-year-old half-brother to Wood Memorial winner Irish War Cry, is owned by Isabelle de Tomaso and trained by Graham Motion, the Clark was his eighth career victory and pushed his earnings to $454,438.

Irish Strait paid $5.80 and covered a mile on firm turf in 1:33.94.

"He likes the ground being a little bit firm and a mile is a great distance for him," Motion said. "I give Jorge a lot of credit for the ride."

Sent off as the 9-5 favorite in the seven-horse field, Irish Strait engaged Real Story from the outside in upper stretch. The pair fought hard to the wire. It was a nose back to O Dionysus in third and another half-length back to fourth-place Just Howard.

Jockey Trevor McCarthy on Just Howard lodged an objection against O Dionysus and Jevian Toledo for interference in deep stretch, but the stewards let the order of finish stand.