Tenfold by a neck in Pimlico Special

BALTIMORE – Last year on Preakness weekend, it was hard to see Tenfold run a big race. After all, a dense fog shrouded his third-place finish behind Justify, the eventual Triple Crown winner, in the 143rd Preakness.

A year later, however, there was no missing Tenfold as he motored down the Pimlico homestretch. Given a terrific ride by Ricardo Santana Jr. amid stark daylight, the 4-year-old colt made his way through a couple of tight spots before holding off the favored You’re to Blame for a neck victory in the 49th running of the Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special on a 14-race Friday card.

Tenfold, a Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred, returned $12.20 after finishing the race’s new 1 1/4-mile distance in 2:02.36 over a fast track. The Special had been run at 1 3/16 miles for most of its prior runnings.

You’re to Blame finished another neck before Cordmaker in the field of 13 older horses, with the pacesetting Wait for It another 1 3/4 lengths back in fourth.

Tenfold was defeated only three-quarters of a length when just behind Justify and Bravazo in a frantic finish in the Preakness last May. The dark bay Curlin colt subsequently won the Jim Dandy for his richest score to date, but he had finished no better than fourth in his three subsequent starts.

Tenfold ended his 3-year-old year with a seventh in the Travers in August, then after a layoff more than six months, he was fourth in a March allowance at Fair Grounds and seventh last month in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap, both times as the favorite.

“Absolutely, it’s a very special win with a homebred for Winchell that came through [my] mom and dad’s program in Laredo [Texas],” said Asmussen, who had one previous win in the Special with Student Council in 2008. “This was a definite target because of how he ran in the Preakness last year. This was exactly the outcome we were hoping for.

“The sky is the limit for him. I don’t think he’s really laid his body down yet. He’s a sound horse, and everything in the pedigree gets better with age.”

Santana flaunted his considerable skills in the Special. Saving ground through both turns, he angled off the rail to split rivals leaving the quarter pole, then also got Tenfold through another tight spot near the eighth pole as the field bunched together.

Once clear, Santana put Tenfold to a hard drive, and it was just enough to stave off You’re to Blame, the 5-2 choice who also rallied from well behind and needed deft handling from Jose Ortiz to be a factor in the end.

“At the three-eighths, I knew I had plenty of horse, and I had to be patient and wait for the hole,” said Santana. “When the hole opened and I asked him, he gave me a nice kick. I could feel the other horse [You’re to Blame] coming on his side. The second he felt it, he kicked on.”

Tenfold now has won four of 10 starts, with the $180,000 winner’s share lifting his career earnings to $895,890.

The $2 exacta (8-13) paid $53.40, the $1 triple (8-13-6) returned $123.30, and the 10-cent superfecta (8-13-6-12) was worth $295.87.