Cordmaker's stalking tactics pay off in Richard W. Small stakes
Cordmaker has long been a gatekeeper of the local handicap division and the double-tough gelding earned his seventh stakes victory when stalking and pouncing in Laurel Park's $100,000 Richard W. Small Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Saturday.
The Small was one of three stakes on the nine-race Saturday program along with two 7-furlong sprints for 3-year-olds, the City of Laurel and the Safely Kept for fillies.
Trained by Rodney Jenkins for Hillwood Stable, Cordmaker settled into a lovely outside tracking position under jockey Victor Carrasco as Workin On a Dream set fractions of 24.58 and 47.59 seconds while prompted by favored Shackqueenking.
Workin On a Dream kept up his good work on the lead and eventually tucked Shackqueenking to bed turning into the stretch. Cordmaker had built a nice head of steam, however, and he set off after the leader.
Cordmaker took the lead at the eighth pole and went about his business to prevail by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:50.48. Workin On a Dream was two lengths better than Shackqueenking for the place spot. Next came Forewarned, Informative, Tappin Cat, Mischief Afoot, Treasure Trove, Bustoff and McElmore Avenue. Plot the Dots scratched. Cordmaker returned $12.20 to win as the fourth choice in the betting.
“I wanted him to stay closer," Jenkins said in a post-race interview broadcast by Laurel Park. "We'd been taking him pretty far out of it and that's a lot of ground to make up in a stakes race. Victor gave him a great ride."
Cordmaker's initial stakes success came in the 2018 Jennings Stakes. He won three stakes in 2019, finished third in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special the following year and has now notched three stakes this season. A 6-year-old son of Curlin bred in Maryland by Robert Manfuso and Katharine Voss, Cordmaker has secured 11 wins from 33 starts for lifetime earnings of $734,640.
City of Laurel
Trainer Kelly Breen describes Pickin' Time a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" type of horse.
The good Pickin' Time showed up Saturday as he enjoyed a perfect three-wide tracking trip under Mychel Sanchez to capture the $100,000 City of Laurel.
Pickin' Time broke well under Sanchez and parked himself in the clear outside pacesetters Awesome Gerry and Three Two Zone through an opening quarter-mile in 23.28 seconds. Longshot Three Two Zone grabbed the advantage after a half-mile in 46.60, but Pickin' Time loomed large and was ready to strike.
The 3-year-old son of Stay Thirsty took control in midstetch and had enough left in the tank to hold off He'smyhoneybadger's late rally. Pickin' Time completed the distance in 1:23.74 and paid $12.80 to Win as the fourth choice in the wagering.
"Mychel Sanchez rode a very knowledgeable race," Breen said via telephone after the City of Laurel. "He broke well, sat on the outside, kept him in the clear and when he got to the top of the stretch, he got to the front and improved his position."
He'smyhoneybadger was 1 1/4 lengths back in second with another three lengths to third-finisher Three Two Zone. Then came Awesome Gerry, favored Everett's Song, Ridin With Biden, Plamen, and Depository. Boldish and Kenny Had a Notion scratched.
Pickin' Time turned the tables on He'smyhoneybadger after finishing 4 1/4 lengths behind that one in last month's Perryville Stakes at Keeneland. "There are times when you don't know when the horse shows up," Breen added. "I brought him down to Keeneland, he was training extremely well and just didn't fire."
Pickin' Time has won five times from 13 starts. As a 2-year-old of 2020, he scored the Smoke Glacken Stakes at Monmouth as well as the Grade 3 Nashua at Aqueduct. Bred in New Jersey by owner John Bowers Jr.'s Roseland Farm Stable, Pickin' Time won the New Jersey Breeders' Handicap for statebreds at Monmouth this summer before finishing second to top sprinter Jackie's Warrior in the Grade 2 Gallant Bob at Parx Racing on Sept. 25.
Safely Kept
Belle of the North, a daughter of Street Boss out of an unraced half-sister to Hall of Famer Zenyatta, charged down the center of the track to capture the Safely Kept Stakes.
Ridden adroitly by Horacio Karamanos, Belle of the North saved ground at the back of the pack as Malibu Beauty, Prodigy Doll, and Fraudulent Charge streaked through sharp fractions of 22.99 and 46.10 seconds.
Fraudulent Charge survived the pace dispute and moved to the front with a three-wide bid late on the turn, but Belle of the North followed favored Street Lute's cover and then altered course to the far outside with run.
Straightened with three-sixteenths left to race, Belle of the North commenced her stretch charge, and they nailed a game Fraudulent Charge inside the final sixteenth. Trained by Jose Corrales, Belle of the North polished off the distance in 1:24.02 seconds and paid $20.60 as the sixth choice in the betting.
Fraudulent Charge finished a half-length back in second with another 3 1/2 lengths to Street Lute in third. They were followed by Juror Number Four, Happy Constitution, Malibu Beauty, Prodigy Doll, and Be Sneaky. Peyton Elizabeth, Hybrid Eclipse and Princess Kokachin scratched.
Corrales was confident going into the Safely Kept. "That's what I was expecting," he said in a post-race interview broadcast by Laurel Park. "[I thought] if the race set up the way I expected, my filly would get them at the end."
A homebred owned by Stronach Stables, Belle of the North won her maiden over this course and distance on Sept. 24. She finished second to undefeated Moquist in her final prep before the Safely Kept.
Pimentel taking hiatus
Jockey Julian Pimentel announced that he will take a hiatus from riding with some speculating it could lead to a permanent retirement. According to Daily Racing Form statistics, Pimentel booted home 1,806 winners from 11,299 mounts with career earnings of $56,968,228. This year, Pimentel won 42 races from 302 mounts. Pimentel’s one Saturday mount, Castilleja, finished sixth in the first race.