Field Pass gets past Ramsey Solution at wire in BWI Turf Cup
Field Pass squeezed through along the inside in midstretch to nip pacesetting Ramsey Solution in Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup at one mile on Pimlico's firm turf course.
Conditioned by Make Maker for Three Diamonds Farms, Field Pass conceded the lead to Ramsey Solution heading into the first turn and opted for pocket position. Ramsey Solution then set moderate fractions of 24.59 and 48.33 seconds while lightly prompted from the outside by Talk Or Listen.
Ramsey Solution drifted slightly off the inside turning for home and that allowed Victor Carrasco to send favored Field Pass on through to challenge for the lead. Ramsey Solution was very game, but Field Pass was simply too good.
Field Pass ($3.40) got his neck in front of Ramsey Solution at the wire after 1:35.12 seconds. It was another 1 1/2 lengths back to Talk Or Listen in third. Posterity finished fourth and last. Pixelate scratched in favor of Monday's Buckland Stakes at Colonial Downs. English Bee also withdrew.
"I know I got the one-hole, but I just don't want to be on the lead and have somebody put pressure on me most of the way, so my plan was to swing to the outside and stalk," Carrasco said in a post-race interview conducted by Pimlico. "But I had the three-horse [Talk Or Listen] right on top of me so I had no choice but to wait and be patient and pray for the rail to open up. I had a rough time in the first part trying to get him to relax behind horses. I saw the six-horse [Ramsay Solution] was trying to drift out a little bit, so I was just patient. When I changed my stick to the left hand, he gave me another gear and moved on."
A 4-year-old son of Lemon Drop Kid bred in Maryland by Mark Brown Grier, Field Pass has won of seven of 20 starts. The BWI Turf Cup is his fourth graded stakes victory.
*Big Dreyfus Stakes
Tightly Twisted received a picture-perfect ride by Jhonatan Mendoza to defeat odds-on favorite Counterparty Risk in the $100,000 Big Dreyfus Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles.
A 5-year-old mare by Hard Spun, Tightly Twisted tracked the pace from the inside pocket as Sailingintothewind and jockey Sheldon Russell led through fractions of 24.52 and 47.96 seconds while facing only token pressure from both No Mo Lady and a three-wide Sister Hanan.
Sailingintothewind shook clear from her pace pursuers on the second turn, but Mendoza followed closely behind with Tightly Twisted. The winner eased off the rail swinging for home, blew by Sailingintothewind at the furlong marker and parried Counterparty Risk's final thrust. Tightly Twisted polished off the nine furlongs in 1:48.05 and paid $21.20 to win.
Counterparty Risk raced outside of Tightly Twisted on the backstretch, dropped to the inside on the turn under urging, angled three deep at the three-sixteenths pole, drifted out slightly once straightened and ran on to be second, a half-length behind Tightly Twisted and 5 3/4 lengths in front of Sailingintothewind. Marlborough Road, Sister Hanan, and No Mo Lady completed the order of finish.
Juanita Bennett trains Tightly Twisted for Fiasco Farms. Bred in Kentucky for Normandy Farm, Tightly Twisted won for the fifth time in 21 starts. She grabbed the restricted George Rosenberger Memorial Stakes at Delaware Park in 2019.
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Tightly Twisted prepped for the Big Dreyfus with a victory in an allowance event at Delaware on June 28. It's possible we'll see her next in the 2021 edition of the Rosenberger, scheduled on Sept. 25 at Delaware.
*Bald Eagle Derby
Indian Lake earned his first stakes victory when he took the field gate-to-wire in the $100,000 Bald Eagle Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/2 miles on firm turf.
Trained by Jamie Ness for Gap View Stables and Jagger Inc., Indian Lake immediately made the lead and the rail under Ruben Silvera. They set fractions of 24.59 and 50.83 before really backing down the pace to 1:17.51 for six furlongs.
Indian Lake dispatched pace-prompter Shackled Love turning into the stretch and held off favored Experienced's late challenge. The winner completed the distance in 2:32.08 seconds while 3/4 lengths clear of Experienced. It was another 1 3/4 lengths back to Wootton Asset in third.
They were followed home by Take Profit, Hanford and Shackled Love. Indian Lake paid $8.60 as the third choice in the wagering.
"I saw 1:17 up there and I'm like, this is a good horse," trainer Jamie Ness said by telephone after the race. "They're going to have a hard time catching him going that slow."
Ness mentioned earlier this week that he felt confident about Indian Lake's ability to stay the Bald Eagle distance after the Daredevil gelding's strong gallop-out at the conclusion of his most recent start, the $50,000 Sussex Stakes at Delaware going 7 1/2 furlongs.
"This race was a 360," Ness said Saturday afternoon. "We were going to go to Monmouth and run a 3-year-old race there on Sunday [$100,000 Tale of the Cat Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf]. I just really liked the way he galloped out at Delaware. After he got in trouble, he just dropped the reins and took off. After seeing that, I thought this horse wants to go long although he's not bred for it and he doesn't look like it."
A $5,000 yearling purchase bred in Kentucky by Serendipity Farm, Indian Lake has now won five of 17 starts and has never finished worse than fourth. He graduated for a $25,000 claiming tag traveling six furlongs on dirt at Parx Racing last fall. Three starts back, he finished second in the off-the-turf Jersey Derby at one mile at Monmouth.
*Sensible Lady Turf Dash
Can the Queen pushed pacesetter What a Trick from the outside, pounced on that foe in upper stretch and drove clear to win the $100,000 Sensible Lady Turf Dash for fillies and mares at 5 furlongs on turf.
Ridden by Victor Carrasco for trainer Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon, Can the Queen shadowed What a Trick through an opening quarter of 21.63 seconds as favored Golden Can settled behind the two leaders in third.
Can the Queen overtook What a Trick, then held off late-kicking Flyingontheground to win by 1 3/4 lengths in 56.41 seconds. What a Trick faltered to third, 2 1/2 lengths behind the runner-up.
Golden Can finished an even fourth and was followed by So Gracious, Dendrobia and Pat's No Fool. Dismissed as the sixth choice in the wagering, What a Trick paid $18.20.
"The instructions were to be forwardly placed," Carrasco said in a post-race interview broadcast by Pimlico. "I get out there the first few jumps to make sure I was either on the lead or second. When we were getting to the quarter-pole, I was just sitting on her. When I said go, she exploded."
Bred in Maryland by Carol Ann Kaye and owned by Joanne Shankle, 5-year-old Can the Queen won for the fourth time in 12 starts.