Thistledown: Hamm has four-horse entry

It will be the old guard versus the new when the 9-year-old Pay The Man takes on a Tim Hamm-trained entry that includes Significant Bling and Blazing Bling in the $50,000 Michael G. Mackey Memorial at Thistledown on Saturday. Hamm’s fillies are 3-year-olds and are part of a four-horse stable coupling with Startin Something and Private Cause in the field of 14 Ohio-bred fillies and mares.

Pay The Man is a multiple Ohio champion and has won nearly a million dollars in her career. Thistledown has been a favorite track for the Miguel Feliciano-trained mare as she has won 17 of 24 lifetime starts locally.

Ricky Feliciano will ride

Significant Bling was named Ohio horse of the year as well as 2-year-old filly champion of 2012. This season, the daughter of Too Much Bling won her first outing at Beulah Park on April 6 in the $50,000 Royal North for Ohio-bred fillies. Most recently, she finished fourth in the $100,000 Inaugural at Presque Isle Downs on May 12. Both races were at the same six-furlong distance as the Mackey. This will be Significant Bling’s first attempt against older fillies and mares. Deshawn Parker, aboard for her last five starts, retains the mount.

Blazing Bling won 4 of 8 races last year, including the $75,000 Best of Ohio J.W. Galbreath here Oct. 12. She is winless in three starts this year, with two seconds and a third in Ohio-bred stakes company. Blazing Bling signaled her readiness for the Mackey with a bullet work last Sunday. Jose Garcia will ride for the first time.

This is the first year for the Michael G. Mackey Memorial, which was formally the Angenora. Mackey served as general manager at Thistledown, and other tracks, including Hialeah Park, Detroit Race Course, and Tampa Bay Downs. Mackey died of cancer last July at the age of 72.