Wild About Star shines in The Very One

BALTIMORE – Wild About Star took it to even-money favorite Jo Jo Air on the lead in the $100,000 The Very One Stakes at Pimlico on Saturday and came out on top, pulling away to a 1 3/4-length victory under jockey Daniel Centeno in the five-furlong turf sprint for fillies and mares.

Wild About Star is now 1 for 1 outside her home state of Louisiana and a newly minted stakes winner. Wild About Star was bred and is owned by the Brittlyn Stable of Evelyn Benoit, who raced and stands her sire, Star Guitar, at Clear Creek Stud in Folsom, La.

Star Guitar, whose 2019 fee was $7,500, is a legend in Louisiana racing circles. Between 2007 and 2012, Star Guitar won 24 of 30 starts and earned more than $1.7 million. All but two of his races came in Louisiana.

Star Guitar was trained by Al Stall Jr., who also conditioned Wild About Star for her first 15 starts.

Saturday’s race was Wild About Star’s first for trainer Jose Camejo, a 41-year-old native of Venezuela who typically races in Louisiana but this summer has 40 horses for Benoit at Delaware Park.

“She wanted to promote her stallion up north,” Camejo said.

Camejo, who is racing at Delaware for the first time, is 1 for 2 at the meet. He is now 1 for 1 at Pimlico.

Wild About Star improved her record to 6 wins from 16 starts. She paid $13 to win Saturday and was timed in 56.93 seconds following fractions of 22.88 and 45.62. Jo Jo Air, the only 3-year-old in the nine-horse field, held second by three-quarters of a length over Misercordia.