Taj Mahal has spot in Preakness after Federico Tesio victory
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Taj Mahal worked twice as hard as any rival in the $150,000 Federico Tesio Stakes on Saturday at Laurel Park, but it didn’t make an ounce of difference in the end. The wonder colt scraped the stars in a wild front-running ride under Sheldon Russell, eased back to the field, and rocketed away again to win by 8 1/4 lengths.
“Look, I knew that wasn't Sheldon’s ideal way for it to set up, but I think he just sort of locked on and went with him,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “He said he was really fresh warming up. He worked like this last week. He was pretty much on the engine, but he never stopped. I was hopeful, but when you’re watching them catch him up, you do get a little concerned.”
With his crushing Tesio triumph, Taj Mahal earned an automatic berth in the Preakness at Laurel next month. The trainer acknowledged his inexperience and the monumental task of competing in such a race, but after his performance Saturday, declining the chance could be impossible.
“If you're gonna go to the big one, you don't want to just get the job done,” Russell said. “You want to do it the right way. I feel like he's progressed with each run, so imagine what he gets out of this run.”
Breaking from the far outside in the field of 10 3-year-olds, Taj Mahal had to handle his first test around two turns like a sprinter. The third-time starter, already a stakes winner in the $100,000 Miracle Wood on Feb. 21, accelerated while moving across the entire field, showing an incredible early burst to make it to the rail for the first turn of the 1 1/8-mile race.
“The goal was not to make the lead because we had the outside post,” Sheldon Russell said. “If somebody wants to go, there's gonna come a time where he has to sit off something. So the plan was that this might be the race where someone else does the dirty work and he looms outside, but he was just there the second, third, fourth jump, and he wasn’t going to stop until he got across.”
Already ahead by four lengths through an opening quarter-mile in 23.93 seconds, the jockey chose not to contain the colt through a half-mile in 47.80. He extended to lead by 10 lengths on the backstretch, a visually absurd trip that left him with questions to answer late.
When Taj Mahal eased back toward the field entering the far turn, there was a brief moment when it seemed like he would cave, or perhaps that seemed like the only option after such a taxing race to that point.
Then, as if starting an entirely different race, the undefeated colt found another gear and kicked clear by 4 1/2 lengths at the top of the stretch. In the end, no rival came close as he secured his third straight victory. He completed the 1 1/8-mile distance in 1:52.92 and paid $4.40 to win.
“Look, my job was to slow him down, but just slow him down in a comfortable gear,” Sheldon Russell said. “At the half-mile pole, he was just waiting for them. He took a deep breath, and I knew once I could hear them coming, I could rev him back up, and I mean, he ran all the way to the line, so fair play to him.”
Taj Mahal’s victory served as an eye-catching feature on a Saturday card featuring 12 races and five stakes at Laurel Park. The track brought in $5.4 million in handle.
Wild Warrior, the winner of the $100,000 Private Terms last month, finished second by 1 1/4 lengths over Let’s Go Lando. Gary Capuano trains both horses and, as Sheldon Russell made his way back to the paddock, the trainer playfully complained to the jockey about his good fortune. Russell had to ask where the trainer’s pair finished, inciting Capuano further.
Since the Tesio first granted an automatic berth to the Preakness in 2016, no horse has used the victory to achieve Triple Crown glory. In fact, no horse has come particularly close. But Taj Mahal’s performance Saturday remains a rare one, unique from a visual standpoint and undeniably decisive at the end. As his trainer said, it’s exactly what she needed to see.
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