Ben's Cat gets new rider for 10-year-old debut

Ben’s Cat will begin his 10-year-old season at Laurel Park on Sunday in a 5 1/2-furlong, no-conditions turf allowance. The race should tighten him up for the Jim McKay Turf Sprint at Pimlico on May 20, a race he has won in four of the last five years and three times in a row.

King Leatherbury, the owner, breeder, and trainer of Ben’s Cat, has given the Sunday mount to Trevor McCarthy, who will replace Julian Pimentel, the rider of Ben’s Cat for 30 straight races since June 2012.

Pimentel resumed riding Friday after being sidelined since March 25 with two fractured bones in his foot after being stepped on by a horse. He returned to ride a single mount April 15 but then had to take off his mounts and give his foot additional time to heal.

Roniel Gerardo, Pimentel’s agent, said Friday that Leatherbury informed him two weeks ago about the change.

“The horse has been working, but Julian hasn’t been able to get on him because of his foot,” Gerardo said. “I told King we would be back in time to ride him, but he said he was going to make a switch.”

In all, Pimentel has ridden Ben’s Cat, an earner of slightly less than $2.5 million, in 41 of his 53 starts. Pimentel has 22 wins on Ben’s Cat.

“Pimentel was his regular rider, and he did a really good job,” Leatherbury said.

At times last year, it appeared that age was creeping up on Ben’s Cat. He went 2 for 8 and earned $171,000. The wins and money earned were his lowest totals for any season.

But Ben’s Cat has been working sharply since being turned out for the winter and has turned in five-furlong bullets in two of his last three drills. In all, he has worked seven times, with McCarthy aboard for four or five of them, according to his agent, Scott Silver.

Although Ben’s Cat began his 2012-14 seasons by defeating Maryland-breds in the Mister Diz Stakes – a race he has won six times overall – he has been known to move forward in his second start of the year. Last year, he was beaten by Bold Thunder in a Pimlico allowance before turning the tables on him in the McKay.

“I’m not expecting a big number Sunday,” Leatherbury said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the big number in the Jim McKay.”

Aztec Brave and Night Officer look to be the strongest challengers.

Aztec Brave, trained by Joe Sharp, closed out 2015 by finishing second, beaten a head, in a pair of $100,000 stakes, the El Prado at Gulfstream Park and the Artie Schiller at Aqueduct. Aztec Brave, who will be making his 5-year-old debut, was entered in the Elusive Quality Stakes at Belmont Park on Saturday but was expected to run at Laurel.

Night Officer finished second by a half-length to Ben’s Cat in the Mister Diz Stakes last year. He will be making his first start since ending up third, beaten a neck, in the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint in February.

Pimentel will be aboard Two Notch Road. Pimentel has won the Punch Line Stakes, a turf sprint for Virginia-breds at Laurel, in each of the last two years with Two Notch Road.