With the Kentucky Derby and Derby Weekend in the rear view mirror, the Triple Crown and racing shifted to Maryland. Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore hosted two days of stakes races highlighted by the Black Eyed Susan Stakes (3 year old fillies) on Friday and the Preakness Stakes (3 year old colts) on Saturday. In addition to the Black Eyed Susan Stakes, Friday’s racing featured the $300,000 Grade 3 Pimlico Special Stakes. While the Black Eyed Susan Stakes gets the headlines, the purse in the Pimlico Special Stakes was actually larger.
We (West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, Bobby Flay and Woodford Racing) entered our four year old colt First Captain in the Pimlico Special Stakes hoping we would see the “real” First Captain. In his previous race, the Grade 1 Carter Handicap he ran a very puzzling race which no one could quite understand. His trainer (Shug McGaughey) recommended “drawing a line” through the Carter Handicap and moving forward. With the addition of blinkers, three excellent workouts and a jockey change to Luis Saez, we were optimistic First Captain would rebound.
SKIP DICKSTEIN/TIM LANAHAN
Well rebound he did, getting up in the last few jumps to win the Pimlico Special by a head. First Captain improved his record to five wins and a third place finish from seven lifetime starts with earnings of more than $470,000. The current plan is to run First Captain in the storied Grade 1 $1,000,000 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Racetrack on August 6. He’s back!