Kingsbarns brings sharp form into Pimlico Special
?q=100)
BALTIMORE – Kingsbarns, winner of last year’s Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and perfect from two starts as a 4-year-old, is the 7-5 morning-line favorite in Friday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Pimlico Special for 3-year-olds and up racing 1 3/16 miles.
Trained by Todd Pletcher for Spendthrift Farm, Kingsbarns won the first three starts of his career before finishing 14th in the 2023 Kentucky Derby. Freshened after a runner-up effort in the Pegasus at Monmouth late last spring, Kingsbarns has returned to the races apparently as good as ever, scoring a professional high-level allowance win on March 2 at Gulfstream, before grabbing Keeneland’s Grade 3 Ben Ali last month at the Pimlico Special distance.
Grade 3 winner Red Route One, the 8-5 second choice on the line, is one of only two horses in the race, along with Royal Ship, to have earned a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure. The winner of the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic on March 23 at Fair Grounds, Red Route One finished third in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on April 20.
“He has proven to be extremely durable and has raced at a high level his entire career,” trainer Steve Asmussen said of millionaire Red Route One. “I feel the Pimlico Special is an excellent spot for him. Distance-wise, he ran a solid fourth last year in the Preakness, so we felt he ran okay over the racetrack.”
Red Route One prefers to race from well off the pace, but Asmussen said, “He’s been handier this year than he has in the past. His victory in the New Orleans Classic was aided by a fast pace. Obviously, that did benefit him. But in his two other runs, there was not a lot of pace, and he was considerably closer than he was last year as a 3-year-old.”
Asmussen also entered stakes-placed Harlocap, recently third in a second-level allowance at Oaklawn. Wired in a slow-paced race in that effort, Asmussen said that Harlocap “needs to be ridden more aggressively to be effective.” Harlocap should show early speed from his inside post under new rider Paco Lopez.
Pyrenees has the tactical speed to lead or rate for trainer Cherie DeVaux and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. After missing almost a year, Pyrenees marched through his allowance conditions with three straight wins. He’ll scale the ladder to stakes company for the first time Friday.
“He forced us to give him time with an injury,” DeVaux told Pimlico track publicity. “At the time, he was really immature mentally. He was quite aloof in the beginning of his career. His first three races since he’s come back, you can’t ask him to do any more. He’s come back obviously better than before.”
Royal Ship captured Grade 2 races in Southern California in 2021 and 2022. Grade 2-placed last year, Royal Ship finished last of eight in Laurel’s Frank Whiteley Stakes at seven furlongs when returning from a 258-day layoff for trainer Graham Motion.
“I put a line through that race,” Motion said. “I had wanted to run him in an allowance going [1 1/16 miles], and it didn’t fill the day before. That was Plan B, to run him seven-eighths. I didn’t think he was fit enough to run [nine furlongs] that day, and I wanted to get a prep into him to run him in this race. This is the race that I have circled. He hasn’t missed a beat since I’ve had him. I certainly feel good taking a shot with him. If he’s back to his old class, he’s this kind of horse.”
Late-running stakes winner Be Better recently finished fourth in Laurel’s nine-furlong Native Dancer on April 13. Restricted stakes winner Time for Trouble placed fourth, beaten 7 3/4 lengths by Kingsbarns, in the Ben Ali. Grade 2 winner Double Crown makes his ninth start of the year after earning runner-up honors in a high-level allowance on May 7 at Parx Racing.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.