Imprimis clear winner in Jim McKay Turf Sprint

BALTIMORE, Md. - The $150,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint was hit hard by scratches after rain in the Baltimore area throughout the week rendered the Pimlico turf course soft. The field of 10 scratched down to five starters, with the morning-line favorite, veteran Hogy, among the withdrawals.

But in his absence, the race still featured a rising star in the turf sprint ranks. Imprimis remained unbeaten with an emphatic performance in his stakes debut, powering to a 5 1/4-length victory.

Imprimis, a 4-year-old Broken Vow gelding, didn't debut until February, but has now won all four of his career outings by open lengths. He won his first two starts for trainer Tim Hills, but then moved to the barn of Joe Orseno, for whom he won an allowance-optional claiming race by 4 1/4 lengths on March 24 at Gulfstream.

Orseno said the layoff of eight weeks was perhaps a bigger concern to him than the condition of the Pimlico turf.

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"I knew they all had to run over it," Orseno said. He added that Imprimis is built for off going, as he has "a pretty big foot to him."

Imprimis ($3.60), with Irad Ortiz Jr. remaining in the irons following their last-out score at Gulfstream together, employed similar stalk-and-pounce tactics Friday. The gelding, sent away as the post-time favorite, sat in second behind pacesetter Rocket Heat. He readily responded when Ortiz shook him up, quickly drawing up on the leader, forging past near the three-sixteenths marker, and continuing to power clear in the lane. He finished the five furlongs in 1:03.81.

Rocket Heat held second, 1 1/2 lengths clear of Oak Bluffs, who was another 1 1/2 lengths clear of Field of Courage. Vici was eased after fading badly.

The McKay was among the Pimlico stakes this weekend launching the revived Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series, an assortment of 25 races at tracks in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania that originally debuted in 1997 and ran for five years. Orseno said that, while he will discuss options for Imprimis with owner Breeze Easy LLC, his original intention with the gelding was to continue along in the MATCH Series older turf sprint division, which has bonus money attached for the owners of the top-performing horses.

The remaining races in the division are the $200,000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup on June 2 at Penn National, the Grade 3, $200,000 Parx Dash Stakes on July 7 at Parx, the $75,000 Wolf Hill Stakes on July 29 at Monmouth, and the $100,000 Laurel Dash Stakes on Sept. 15 at Laurel.