Thistledown: Pay the Man, Slides Choice clash once more in Angenora

The rivalary between Pay the Man and Slides Choice, the top two Ohio-bred females, will continue in Monday’s $50,000 Angenora Stakes at Thistledown. The six-furlong sprint has a field of seven.

Pay the Man and Slides Choice have been battling tooth and nail for the past several years, with Slides Choice having come out on top in their last two encounters, the Best of Ohio Distaff and the Rose DeBartolo Memorial, both at nine furlongs here last fall. In those races, the pair hooked up right from the start and raced as a team throughout to be separated by a neck and a nose.

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In last year’s Angenora, they were both beaten by Pay the Man’s stablemate Pyrite Gem. Pay the Man dueled for the lead throughout in that race, was beaten a half-length, and finished three lengths in front of Slides Choice

Pay the Man started twice this winter, winning a 6 1/2-furlong handicap at Tampa Bay Downs in her last start on March 12. The 7-year-old Bernstein mare is owned by her breeder, Pyrite Stable, trained by Miguel Feliciano, and will be ridden by Luis Gonzlaez.

Slides Choice is owned by Mary Crawford and Gerald Brown. Francisco Torres will ride for trainer Tim Hamm. In her lone start this year, she was a sharp third, beaten less than two lengths, in a $100,000 optional claiming sprint at Keeneland on April 29.