Phlash Phelps goes for repeat in Find
After losing six straight races to begin his career, Phlash Phelps learned how to win. Starting in April 2015, he has collected five victories in his last six starts. Phlash Phelps seeks to continue his remarkable run when he tries to win the $75,000 Find for the second straight year Saturday at Pimlico.
The Find is one of five turf stakes worth a collective $330,000 on Maryland-Virginia Breeders’ Day on the next-to-last day of Pimlico’s spring meet. In addition to the Find and $75,000 All Brandy for Maryland-breds, there are three $60,000 stakes for Virginia-bred or Virginia-sired horses.
Trainer Rodney Jenkins said the five weeks between Phlash Phelps’s most recent victory, which came in a high-priced optional claimer, and Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile Find should be ideal for the 5-year-old gelding.
“This is a race I pointed him for after his last run,” Jenkins said. “It fits right in the schedule. It’s about a month and a week, and that’s right about what he likes.”
The competition in the six-horse Find includes Eyeplayeveryday, who will be making just his second start since finishing a half-length behind Phlash Phelps in last year’s Find. Eyeplayeveryday prepped for this spot by finishing third in a high-priced optional claimer on June 3. He will be ridden for the first time by Feargal Lynch.
The 1 1/8-mile All Brandy for fillies and mares features Vielsalm, who came within a head of scoring a 76-1 upset in the Grade 3 Gallorette a month ago. She was also second by a head in last year’s All Brandy.
Her five opponents include Ginger N Rye, beaten 3 1/4 lengths by Vielsalm in the Gallorette, and Monster Sleeping, who returns to restricted company for the first time since winning last fall’s Maryland Million Ladies by 3 3/4 lengths.
The trainers of both Ginger N Rye and Monster Sleeping said they think their horses did not relish the “good” turf they ran on in the Gallorette.
“I actually don’t think she handled the footing,” said Horatio DePaz, who trains the 4-year-old Ginger N Rye. “She seemed uncomfortable down the backside and fought for the lead. She’s a pretty sound filly, and she handles the ground pretty well, so I think that day the soft turf just kind of got to her.”
Dale Capuano made similar comments about the 7-year-old Monster Sleeping, who was 11th in the Gallorette.
“The turf was soft, and she doesn’t like the soft turf, so it was a tough race, but she actually didn’t run horrible, considering,” Capuano said. “She came out of it fine, and she worked well the other day.”
The first of the stakes for Virginia-bred and Virginia-sired runners, the Edward Evans at 1 1/16 miles, features a rematch between Rose Brier and Special Envoy. Last fall at Laurel, Rose Brier defeated Special Envoy by two lengths in the 1 1/16-mile Bert Allen, and in April, Rose Brier won the Henry Clark at Laurel, with Special Envoy fifth.
The 7-year-old Rose Brier is coming off a one-length defeat in the Grade 3 Red Bank at Monmouth Park. Special Envoy will be making his first start since the Henry Clark.
In the other two stakes for Virginia-bred and Virginia-sired horses:
◗ The 4-year-old filly Exaggerated, the daylight winner of the $100,000 Giant’s Causeway at Keeneland in April, challenges males for the first time in the five-furlong White Oak Farm.
◗ Complete St., Magician’s Vanity, and Secret or Not – separated by a half-length as the top three finishers in last fall’s Brookmeade at Laurel – renew their rivalry in the 1 1/16-mile Nellie Mae Cox for fillies and mares.