Laurel: Pay Billy gets cut but wins Tesio + Preakness invitation
Pay Billy emerged from Saturday’s Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park with minor wound and the lion’s share of the $150,000 purse and a guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the Preakness on May 17 at Pimlico.
“Win and you’re in here. The fees are paid. If he’s doing well, it’s a good possibility,” trainer Michael Gorham said about a potential Preakness start.
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Pay Billy also exited the winner’s circle with a cut on his left rear hock after a roughly run edition of the 1 1/8-mile test for 3-year-olds.
Ridden by Raúl Mena, Pay Billy established a forward position on the first turn while racing wide and in between horses. Hard-luck Sacred Thunder, who was behind Pay Billy, clipped heels and stumbled badly. That likely was the cause of Pay Billy’s wound.
“A couple of jockeys tried to get position,” Mena said. “It was a race (where), even on paper, there didn’t look like there was a lot of speed. A couple of riders were thinking the same way. Somebody had to take the position. In the corner all the riders got a little bit tight. I didn’t want to be on the lead, so I put my horse in the clearest path and got out of the trouble.”
Pay Billy settled outside in fourth position. Long shots Right Wing Runner and Bold Diversion carved out splits of 24.13 and 48.60 seconds with Bold Diversion tucked neatly behind them on the rail. Mena asked Pay Billy for a run on the second turn, and they advanced to the lead in tandem with Just a Fair Shake, who was traveling four wide.
Just a Fair Shake poked a nose in front, but Pay Billy resolutely battled back on the fence to prevail by 1 1/2 lengths with a time of 1:52.78 on the fast main track. Just a Fair Shake, fresh off a first-level allowance victory for trainer Daniel McKenzie, stayed for second, 1 3/4 lengths better than Surfside Moon. Happily Delusional, Kentucky Outlaw, Studlydoright, Bold Diversion, Sacred Thunder, Right Wing Runner and Arcadian were next under the wire.
Pay Billy waited out a stewards’ inquiry and then returned $6.60 to win as the betting favorite.
“He’s a very classy horse,” Mena said. “When he comes behind horses, he’s just very relaxed, and he scares me sometimes, because he drops the bit. I had to pop him on the shoulder at the half-mile pole, because he was too relaxed. But I know if he goes to the lead, he gets too aggressive. When (Just a Fair Shake) came to me, my horse grabbed the bit and came fighting with him.”
Gorham felt confident Pay Billy was up to the stretch challenge.
“It looked like (Mena) didn’t ask him yet,” Gorham said. “Once that horse came to him, then he asked him, and he responded.”
Pay Billy was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm. A $38,000 yearling purchase, the bay colt was bought by RKTN Racing for $60,000 at last April’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales juvenile auction.
An Improbable half-brother to stakes-winning sprinter Espionage out of Grade 3-winning sprinter Harlington’s Rose, Pay Billy’s second and third dams also were stakes winners.
A maiden winner at six furlongs in his fourth and final start at 2, Pay Billy next wired a first-level allowance field by five lengths Jan. 25 before finishing second, beaten by a nose in Laurel’s Miracle Wood on Feb. 22. He rebounded from that loss to take down the Private Terms Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 22.
“He’s just getting better all the time,” Gorham said after the Private Terms. “A big, strong horse that’s way more relaxed now. He does everything perfect. He works good, he acts good, he feels good in the barn. He’s just happy to be here and wants to do more.