Sibelius catches Mish at the wire in Pelican Stakes

Sibelius took the next step on the road back to Dubai by rallying down the center of the main track and nailing upset-minded Mish on the wire in Saturday’s $100,000 Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

Mish finished 1 1/2 lengths in front of favored Nakatomi.

It was the second straight year that Sibelius won the Pelican. Last year, that win and one in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector at Gulfstream preceded a trip to Dubai, where Sibelius won the $2 million Golden Shaheen Stakes in March. Coming off a repeat win in the Mr. Prospector in December at Gulfstream, the Pelican was designed for Sibelius to return to Dubai to seek a repeat victory in the Golden Shaheen.

“Hopefully, he comes out of it sound and well tomorrow and it’s all systems go back to Dubai,” trainer Jeremiah O’Dwyer said in a post-race interview broadcast on America’s Day at the Races.

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Under Junior Alvarado, Sibelius had a wide journey down the backstretch, sitting in the second flight of runners as Doctor Oscar and Super Ocho duked it through fractions of 21.58 seconds and 43.83. Mish, under Samy Camacho, raced on the inside of Sibelius and got first run on that rival turning for home.

Mish had a head in front of Doctor Oscar at the furlong marker, at which time Sibelius was fourth but moving while in the clear. Mish kept running, but Sibelius caught him in the shadow of the wire to get the victory.

“Coming down the lane you know he’s getting there, but will he get there in time?” O’Dwyer said. “Junior said he was very confident he was always going to get there.”

Sibelius, a 6-year-old gelding by Not This Time, covered the six furlongs in 1:08.90 - .15 of a second slower than he won it last year. Sibelius returned $6.80 as the second choice.

“It was nice to see him do it the way he did, we left it up to Junior and Junior had full control what he wanted to do,” O’Dwyer said. “We knew were drawn wide, we knew there was speed on the inside, we trusted Junior and Junior trusted the horse and he got the job done.”

Though Nakatomi finished third as the favorite, trainer Wesley Ward said he was pleased enough with the horse to continue on to Dubai as well. Ward said Nakatomi is better when he can come around horses and in the Pelican he tried to split rivals under Tyler Gaffalione.

“It served its purpose,” Ward said. “This was just a prep. We already got the invite to Dubai and we’re going.”

Chi Town Lady wins Minaret

Earlier on the card, Ward did win the $50,000 Minaret Stakes with Chi Town Lady, who overcame a slow start and a lengthy layoff to beat Unifying by a neck.

Chi Town Lady, the Grade 1 Test winner of 2022, was making her first start since June, when she finished third in an allowance race at Belmont. Her connections toyed with the idea of breeding her but wanted to see if she still had the desire to race.

After spotting the field at least two lengths at the break, Chi Town Lady came with a strong late run under Tyler Gaffalione to get up at the wire.

“That was great, she’s the one that needed to win,” Ward said. “This was a prep for her. If she didn’t do what she did, she was off to the breeding shed.”

Chi Town Lady, a 5-year-old daughter of Verrazano owned by Castleton Lyons, covered the six furlongs in 1:09.29 and returned $8 to win.

Ward said Chi Town Lady would be pointed to the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland in early April.

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