Preakness undercard features two wide open races

BALTIMORE – There are plenty of fast horses in the $100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint on Saturday at Pimlico, but is anyone faster through a quarter-mile on turf than That’s Right?

A revelation last year at age 3, after being moved from dirt to grass, That’s Right makes a belated 4-year-old debut on Saturday in the five-furlong Turf Sprint, which drew a full field and could twist your brain into a pretzel if you ponder the past performances too long. Thirteen were entered, but Smokin’ Jay is expected to be scratched.

That’s Right – as well as Turf Sprint starters Breakthrough, Determined Kingdom, and Grateful Bred – were supposed to race last month at Laurel Park in the King Leatherbury Stakes, which was scrapped when Laurel canceled racing because of concerns over its dirt racing surface. Instead of starting in the Leatherbury, That’s Right logged two bullet half-mile works this month at trainer Michael Moore’s base at Parx Racing.

A two-time stakes-winner last year, That’s Right has gone 3 for 3 at five furlongs and can wire this field under jockey Andy Hernandez – unless Nothing Better can beat him to the front.

“That’s Right, he’s fast, but from the rail, you got to come out running,” said Nothing Better’s trainer, Jorge Duarte Jr.

Rail-drawn Nothing Better has a lot of speed himself, but his might be more six-furlong than five-furlong pace. Duarte hopes Horacio Karamanos can wheel Nothing Better outside and get a favorable pressing trip if That’s Right beats him to the lead.

There are other pace players who might keep Nothing Better hemmed in, among them Artemus Citylimits. Artemus Citylimits is listed as the 5-2 favorite on a morning line that probably has That’s Right pegged too high at 12-1.

Artemus Citylimits is the Turf Sprint’s most likely winner if he returns to his best 2022 form, which got him close to a couple Grade 2 wins. The problem is, Artemus Citylimits didn’t look like the same horse fading to 11th last month at Keeneland while making his season’s debut in the Shakertown Stakes. The gelding took a favorable position, stalking the pace from the inside, but came up empty.

“It didn’t seem like he cared too much being on the inside there, at least that’s what the jockey thought,” said trainer Mike Maker. “Hopefully that’s it. Or maybe too many cobwebs first time back. His weight looks good. We’ll throw it out and move on.”

Coppola can win if he repeats his most recent performance, but that seems unlikely. Just a 4-year-old, Coppola had some trouble making his turf debut March 3 at Gulfstream Park following a trainer change. He took a modest step back a month later, but May 2 at Churchill sliced between horses and finished with a flourish to win a second-level turf-sprint allowance by 4 1/2 lengths.

Skipat Stakes

Ten entrants that last started at six different tracks, a host of horses with a similar pace-pressing style, and nothing close to a single standout performance, unless you buy Beguine’s 101 Beyer Speed Figure in a losing first-level allowance effort last November. Yes, the $100,000 Skipat Stakes, a six-furlong dash for older fillies and mares, looks like an exercise in dart-throwing.

Beguine is listed as the 3-1 morning line favorite, likely on the strength of that outlier Beyer figure from last November. Probably more indicative of her baseline performance level was a second-place finish among five runners in the Garland of Roses Stakes, which yielded an 88. Beguine is drawn inside, hasn’t raced since the Dec. 10 Garland of Roses, and won’t be shaking loose on the lead – hard to get too excited about her.

But then the same thing could be said about any of these fillies and mares.

The presence of Irad Ortiz Jr. drives the price down on I’m the Boss of Me, who just ran a peak race at Oaklawn Park on April 21 and probably will regress. All the Maryland horses take turns beating each other. Gunning, while she cuts back from a route to a more suitable distance, looks too slow.

Trainer Ignacio Correas IV expects a strong showing from Cheetara – perhaps we should listen to the man.

Cheetara, a 6-year-old mare, is as fast as any of these on her best day. Once a horse who wanted to go, go, go early in a race, Cheetara has been learning later-life lessons regarding patience.

“I’ve been working on her trying to get her to relax. That’s the key. If Vincent can get her to relax, I expect a big race from her,” said Correas.

Vincent is Vincent Cheminaud, who has been working with Cheetara at Correas’s Keeneland base. Cheminaud hails from France. Correas came from Argentina. Cheetara was bred in Chile and began her racing career there. Maybe it all comes together for those three on Saturday in Baltimore.