Ben’s Cat Nearing Seasonal Debut After Thursday Breeze; Triple Crown Preps at Laurel, Pimlico & OTB Sites Saturday
Ben’s Cat Nearing Seasonal Debut After Thursday Breeze; Triple Crown Preps at Laurel, Pimlico & OTB Sites Saturday
Triple Crown Preps at Laurel, Pimlico & OTB Sites Saturday
LAUREL, MD - Maryland-bred and based multi-millionaire Ben’s Cat inched closer to his 10-year-old debut with a five-furlong breeze Thursday morning at rainy Laurel Park.
Bred, owned and trained by Hall of Famer King Leatherbury, Ben’s Cat had the fastest time of four horses over the main track, going in 1:03 in the fifth work since returning from his annual winter vacation.
“He’s coming along nice,” Leatherbury said. “He’s following the same format that he’s done the last six, seven years. It’s the same format and it’s working, so we didn’t change much. We’re very satisfied. Hopefully he’ll come back as close to his good form as I can get.”
Ben’s Cat has not run since finishing seventh in the Fabulous Strike Handicap Nov. 25 at Penn National. He has 30 wins, 25 stakes wins, four of them graded, and nearly $2.5 million in earnings from 53 career starts.
“He indicates that he’s still willing. No negative impressions are we getting from him at all,” Leatherbury said. “Whenever he [races] people applaud him coming into the paddock. It brings tears to my eyes really.”
Leatherbury is looking at getting a race into Ben’s Cat prior to the Jim McKay Turf Sprint on Black-Eyed Susan (G2) Day May 20, a race he has won three straight years and four times since 2011.
“It’s just going to be something here at Laurel, if something comes up for him. He usually does not run his best race first time back each year, so I hope I can get something under him,” Leatherbury said. “My main objective is the Jim McKay.”
Triple Crown Preps at Laurel, Pimlico & OTB Sites
Along with the running of the $100,000 Federico Tesio and $100,000 Weber City Miss at Laurel, there will be several key 3-year-old preps being run around the country Saturday afternoon.
The $1 million Santa Anita Derby (G1), $1 million Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland and $1 million Wood Memorial (G1) at Aqueduct will all be shown live at Laurel and Pimlico as well as the Maryland Jockey Club’s off-track betting facilities at Timonium and the Horseshoe Casino.
At Santa Anita, the first three finishers from the San Felipe (G2) – Danzing Candy, Mor Spirit and Exaggerator – all return along with seven others including Pasadena and Zuma Beach winner Dressed in Hermes.
A field of eight have been entered in the Wood including Gotham (G3) winner Shagaf, Tampa Bay Derby (G2) runner-up Outwork, and Jerome (G3) winner Flexibility.
The Blue Grass drew a field of 14 including Fountain of Youth (G2) runner-up Zulu, Cherry Wine, fourth in the Rebel (G2), and Brody’s Cause, who finished third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).
