Pay Billy earns Preakness berth with Federico Tesio triumph
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Pay Billy, a 3-year-old colt trained by Michael Gorham, won the $150,000 Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park on Saturday. The local runner, who entered the race as the best 3-year-old in the Maryland division, punched his ticket for the Preakness Stakes in a hard-fought 1 1/2-length victory over longshot Just a Fair Shake.
“I think my horse ran a big race,” Gorham said. “He settled nice like he’s supposed to and finished strong.”
Gorham had to sweat for a few moments after the race when stewards launched an inquiry regarding an incident on the first turn. Pay Billy was one of several horses tightly bunched while moving toward the rail, and the colt made a slight move that caused eighth-place finisher Sacred Thunder to stumble badly, effectively ruining his race.
Though Pay Billy ($6.60) inarguably caused the other runner to stumble, he had very little running room himself, and stewards ultimately decided to uphold the result.
After the tight run into the first turn, Pay Billy settled into fourth on the outside of the leaders, stalking on the backstretch before launching his bid on the turn. With a short lead turning for home, jockey Raul Mena guided him to the rail, where he properly engaged with Just a Fair Shake to his outside.
The 22-1 shot was bearing down on the leader and seemed poised to take over with a furlong to go, but Pay Billy found more and pulled away to win by 1 1/2 lengths.
Mena said that it has always been a challenge to keep Pay Billy engaged during races, but nothing seems to motivate him more than company in the stretch.
“He gets too relaxed, but I know if he goes to the lead, he gets too aggressive,” Mena said. “So when Jaime [Rodriguez on Just a Fair Shake] came to me and my horse came fighting with him, that worked really well for him.”
To win the Federico Tesio, Pay Billy had to stretch out in distance for a third straight start but seemed to easily handle 1 1/8 miles against better runners. Sitting behind leaders setting modest fractions for most of the race, he finished in 1:52.78. Surfside Moon, runner-up in the Withers last time out, made a bid on the turn to finish third, but never challenged the top two.
Since 2020, only one Federico Tesio winner has gone on to take the Grade 1 shot in the Preakness. Deputed Testamony remains the only horse to win both races, accomplishing the feat in 1983. These facts don’t seem to be fazing Gorham, who seems like an eager participant at this point.
“Fees are paid. If he’s doing well, it’s a good possibility,” Gorham said, “We had discussed trying to get Derby points, and I suggested we go the low road with these races and maybe the Preakness was possible. It might work out.”
Pay Billy wasn’t even a stakes winner when the trainer first said that he was following the Laurel stakes program with Preakness dreams in mind. Since committing to this route, the colt has answered every challenge.
On a stacked 12-race card at Laurel on Saturday, the new Maryland Jockey Club set a handle record of $5,536,944, more than $2 million higher than the same weekend last year. Between the 2024 and 2025 Federico Tesio cards, the average starters in each race increased from 6.5 to 8.8 runners. Average handle per race increased by nearly $200,000.
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