Preakness undercard recaps: Factor This feasts in Dinner Party

Pimlico's Saturday card includes 10 stakes events leading up to the day's showcase, the 2020 Preakness Stakes. Among the races already contested, Wicked Whisper earned her first victory of 2020 in the Miss Preakness (G3), Juliet Foxtrot snapped a six-race winless streak in the Gallorette (G3) and Laki gave trainer Damon Dilodovico his first graded stakes win in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3).

Courtesy of the Maryland Jockey Club, here are recaps of the day's other events: 

Catman Claws to victory in $150,000 Laurel Futurity 

Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher’s Catman graduated in style Saturday at Pimlico Race Course, taking the lead nearing the wire and tenaciously holding on by a nose over Wootton Asset in the $150,000 Laurel Futurity.

The 94th running of the Laurel Futurity for 2-year-olds was eighth on a 12-race, all-stakes Preakness Day program featuring the $1 million Preakness (G1) and $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2).

It was the second stakes win of the day for trainer Mike Maker, who previously saddled Evil Lyn to victory for the same owners in the $100,000 Hilltop. While it was Maker’s first Laurel Futurity win, jockey Daniel Centeno was previously first with Therapist in 2017.

Nautilus came from the far outside to forge an early lead ahead of Catman and Wootton Asset, who was pinched back out of the gate but recovered to take up a stalking spot in the clear on the outside. Nautilus ran a quarter in 25.33 seconds and a half in 51.23, with Pivotal Mission saving ground along the rail in fourth. Catman wrested the lead from Nautilus at the top of the stretch and set down for the wire, but Wootton Asset would not relent and raced alongside, only to come up short.

Kidnapped was 1 ¼ lengths back in third, a half-length ahead of narrow favorite Pivotal Mission in fourth. It was the third runner-up finish of the day for trainer Graham Motion, who also finished second in the $100,000 Selima for 2-year-old fillies with Invincible Gal and the $150,000 Gallorette (G3) for females 3 and up on the grass with Varenka.

Catman, a bay son of champion runner and sire Kitten’s Joy, debuted running last of 10 July 18 at Saratoga. He was one of two horses left behind the gate when a mechanical malfunction caused it to prematurely open on opening day of the Kentucky Downs meet Sept. 7, resulting in a no-contest. Five days later, Catman closed to be second by a head in a one-mile maiden special weight.

The Futurity has a rich history dating back to 1921 inaugural winner Morvich, who would go on to win the 1922 Kentucky Derby. The Futurity has also been won by Triple Crown champions Affirmed, Citation and Secretariat along with Barbaro, Spectacular Bid, Tapit, In Reality, Honest Pleasure and Quadrangle.

From its 1921 debut through 1965, the Futurity was run at Pimlico before being moved to Laurel Park in 1966. Before this year, it returned to Pimlico in 1979 and 2004.

Factor This Feasts on Competition in $250,000 G2 Dinner Party

Jockey Florent Geroux and trainer Brad Cox teamed up for their second stakes win of the afternoon when Gaining Ground Racing’s Factor This cruised to a popular front-running 2 ¾-length score in Saturday’s $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) at Pimlico Race Course.

The 119th running of the Dinner Party for 3-year-olds and up on the grass was part of a Preakness Day program of 12 stakes races, seven graded, worth $2.7 million in purses featuring the $1 million Preakness (G1) and $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2).

Previously run as the Dixie, Pimlico’s oldest stakes race and the eighth-oldest in the country was named the Dinner Party for its 1870 debut and contested at two miles. The distance has changed eight times over its history, settling at the current 1 1/16 miles in 2014.

Four races prior to the Dinner Party, Geroux rode another big favorite, Juliet Foxtrot, to victory for Cox in the $150,000 Gallorette (G3) on the Pimlico turf.

An 11-time winner with more than $1 million in purse earnings going into the race, Factor This was sent off as the 4-5 favorite in a field of seven and quickly established her presence, sent to the lead from her far outside post by Geroux. Grade 3 winner Irish Strait pressed Factor This through splits of 24.28 and 48.74 seconds, with Grade 2 winner Somelikeithotbrown – rank early in the race – taking up the chase approaching the stretch.

The top two gained separation through the lane but Factor This was able to find another gear, repel Somelikeithotbrown and draw clear. Somelikeithotbrown was 6 ½ lengths clear of stablemate Hembree in third, with Doctor Mounty another half-length back in fourth. True Valour, O Dionysus and Irish Strait completed the order of finish.

“He’s a very nice horse, Geroux noted following the race. "It was a big class relief for the horse. He just ran a great race in the Grade 1 on Derby day. It was a great spot for him and a nice confidence builder for the horse.”

Factor This was beaten less than a length after setting the pace in the 1 1/8-mile Turf Classic (G1) Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs in his prior start, but was cutting back to a distance where the 5-year-old now has five wins from eight tries, including the June 20 Wise Dan (G2). That win was part of a three-race streak interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic following victories in the Muniz Memorial Classic (G3) and Fair Grounds (G3).

The Dinner Party got its name after Maryland Governor Oden Bowie and several other notable racing figures attended the Saratoga races in 1868 and agreed during a luncheon on a plan to hold a race in 1870 for 3-year-olds. The race would be called the Dinner Party Stakes, with the winner hosting the others at a banquet following the event. The first winner of the Dinner Party, which offered $6,400 to the winner, was a horse named Preakness.

Fluffy Socks takes victory in $150,000 Selima

Head of Plains Partners’ homebred Fluffy Socks, stepping up off her maiden win last month, scooted through an opening along the rail and surged past favored leader Invincible Gal to win the $150,000 Selima Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.

The 91st running of the 1 1/16-mile Selima for 2-year-old fillies on the grass kicked off an all-stakes Preakness Day program of 12 races featuring the $1 million Preakness (G1) and $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2).

This was only the fourth time the Selima was run at Pimlico and first since Hear Us Roar’s victory in 2004. Other editions on Old Hilltop came in 1943 and 1979.

Trevor McCarthy, Maryland’s four-time champion jockey, was unhurried on Fluffy Socks near the back of the pack as maiden Domain Expertise and 8-5 top choice Invincible Gal duked it out up front through fractions of 25.57 seconds, 51.36 and 1:17.17. While waiting for room at the top of the stretch, McCarthy found a seam and sailed through to win by 2 ¼ lengths in 1:50.74 over the yielding course.

Invincible Gal, unlucky runner-up in the one-mile Sorority, finished second with 21-1 long shot Tic Tic Tic Boom getting up for third. Invincible Gal is trained by Graham Motion, who captured last year’s Selima with subsequent Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) winner Sharing.

It was the second Selima win for McCarthy following Ruby Notion in 2015. Fluffy Socks, by British-bred Slumber, debuted running fifth Aug. 9 at Saratoga prior to her maiden score going a mile Sept. 7 at Kentucky Downs.

First run in 1926, the Selima is named for the great English race mare who was imported to the U.S. in the 1750s by Benjamin Tasker Jr., manager of the famed Belair Farm in Prince George’s County. The daughter of the Godolphin Arabian, considered ‘Queen of the Turf,’ also gained fame as a broodmare.

Evil Lyn looks good in $100,000 Hilltop Triumph

Experience paid off for Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher’s Evil Lyn, racing fourth time off the claim and becoming a stakes winner for the first time in her 14th career start in Saturday’s $100,000 Hilltop at Pimlico Race Course.

The 48th running of the one-mile Hilltop for 3-year-old fillies on turf was fourth on a 12-race, all-stakes Preakness Day program featuring the $1 million Preakness (G1) and $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2).

A 3-year-old daughter of Wicked Strong trained by Mike Maker and ridden by Maryland-based Horacio Karamanos, Evil Lyn ($9.40) had made more starts than anyone in the 12-horse field and had been stakes-placed, running third in the Indiana Grand Stakes Aug. 12, her second race since being claimed for $40,000.

It was 80-1 long shot Hollywood Hoopla, breaking from the far outside post, that sprinted to the lead and held it after a quarter-mile in 23.94 seconds and a half in 48.50 with Caravel, undefeated in three career starts including the Lady Erie Stakes last out, and Ontario Colleen (G3) winner Chart right behind. Evil Lyn sat off the leaders, swept to the outside on the far turn and straightened for home in command, holding off a late rush from Vigilantes Way to win by a half-length in 1:42.25 over the yielding course.

Both Maker and Karamanos earned their first Hilltop victory. Following Vigilantes Way were Caravel in third and 16-1 long shot Lucky Jingle in fourth.

The Hilltop is a shortened version of Pimlico’s long-standing nickname, Old Hilltop, in recognition of a large infield hill prominent for viewing races. The hill was leveled in 1938.

Never Enough Time has just enough in $100,000 Skipat

R. Larry Johnson’s Maryland homebred Never Enough Time shook off the pressure of Liza Star early and got to the wire three-quarters of a length ahead of a trio of late challengers in Saturday’s $100,000 Skipat at Pimlico Race Course.

The 27th running of the six-furlong Skipat for fillies and mares 3 and up, named for the Barbara Fritchie (G3) winner of 1979 and 1981 among her 26 lifetime victories, was third on a 12-race, all-stakes Preakness Day program featuring the $1 million Preakness (G1) and $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2).

Never Enough Time ($7), fifth in the Miss Preakness (G3) on last year’s Preakness undercard, earned her second consecutive stakes victory following the Sept. 5 Alma North at Laurel Park. Trainer Mike Trombetta previously won the Skipat in 2004 with Love You Madly.

Jockey Julian Pimentel and Never Enough Time outhustled Florent Geroux and Liza Star to the front, leading through fractions of 23.46, 46.03 and 57.87 seconds. Liza Star dropped back as the field hit the top of the stretch, leaving Never Enough Time with enough of a cushion to get to the wire as eight-time stakes winner Bronx Beauty, Bye Bye J and S W Briar Rose came running late.

Bronx Beauty, a narrow favorite at 2-1, was second, followed by Bye Bye J, S W Briar Rose, Liza Star and Last True Love. Chalon, the defending champion and program favorite, was scratched.

Never Enough Time, a 4-year-old daughter of graded-stakes winning sprinter Munnings, now owns five wins from nine career starts and is three-for-five this year.

Bred in Connecticut, Skipat won 26 of 45 career races and over six years, earning $614,215 between 1977 and 1981. Two of her wins came in the Barbara Fritchie (G3), in 1979 and 1981, the latter coming the year after she had been retired and bred and brought back to the races.