Victory Kingdom hopes to wish foes ‘G'day and goodbye' in The Very One

BALTIMORE – There’s a first time for everything, such as, you’d assume, an Australian-bred winning the $100,000 The Very One. And if Victory Kingdom, an Aussie-bred in foal to Constitution, can’t come through Friday at Pimlico for Team Valor, well, there are a Pennsylvania-bred, a New York-bred, and the customary assortment of Kentucky-breds and Maryland-breds standing at the ready.

In all, 12 fillies and mares are signed on in the 21st The Very One, a five-furlong turf race very much lacking a clear-cut favorite. Victory Kingdom, as much as any of the rest, stands a decent chance, assuming she can trip out cleanly after breaking from post 5 with Flavien Prat aboard for his fellow Frenchman, trainer Rudy Brisset.

:: Join DRF Bets and get ready to watch and wager on the Preakness with a $250 first deposit bonus

“She got beat by the draw in her last race,” Brisset said Tuesday at Pimlico Barn D, referring to a late-closing runner-up finish in the Jan. 1 Abundantia at Gulfstream Park. “She drew the one-hole and had to be checked up twice, but still made a pretty nice run. I’m really not all that worried about the layoff because she’s a mare who runs well fresh. Since she was bred, she had two works at WinStar and four works at Keeneland, so I think I have her ready.”

Victory Kingdom figures among those stalking a pace likely to be set by Queen of Shades (post 6, Irad Ortiz Jr.) and perhaps closely contested by several others, including Pennsylvania-bred Caravel (post 3, Florent Geroux) and New York-bred Gotta Go Mo (post 12, Jose Ortiz).

Early speed, obviously, often is at a premium in a race of this type. Queen of Shades, trained by Kelly Breen, led past the furlong pole going 5 1/2 furlongs in an April 18 Keeneland allowance and finished sixth. The one-two finishers from that race, Kentucky-bred mares Dixieincandyland (post 11, Joel Rosario) and Catch a Bid (post 9, Luis Saez), are back in the The Very One. Whether the shorter distance or the presence of Ortiz in the saddle will make a difference this time for Queen of Shades is one of the more compelling questions in what’s clearly one of the deeper races of the day.

Caravel, trained by Elizabeth Merryman, bears a close look, even having been defeated in the License Fee at Belmont Park just two weeks ago. A winner in four of her five starts prior to the License Fee, the gray Mizzen Mast filly stands to benefit substantially from the race, having been away six months, and a return to peak form could land her squarely in the mix.

Gotta Go Mo, seeking a fourth straight victory, also can loom a danger when eyeballing the leaders from her outside post. The John Kimmel trainee does exit a statebred race and The Very One is easily the toughest task of her career, but her Beyer Speed Figures are competitive with the other likely favorites.

:: DRF's Preakness Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, past performances, analysis, and more

The longshots in here include four Maryland-breds – Epic Idea, Can the Queen, Buff’s in Love, and Dendrobia – as well as the Irish-bred Bath And Tennis.

The Very One goes as the ninth of 14 races (post, 3:38) and leads off a pick five ending with the Black-Eyed Susan.