Ben’s Cat Notches Unprecedented 6th Straight Mister Diz Stakes Triumph
Ben’s Cat Notches Unprecedented 6th Straight Mister Diz Stakes Triumph
Trainer King Leatherbury Honored on Maryland Pride Day Program
Phlash Phelps Takes Find Stakes to Remain Undefeated in 2015
.jpg)
LAUREL, MD – Hall of Fame trainer King Leatherbury celebrated Maryland Pride Day in fitting fashion at Laurel Park Saturday, saddling local legend Ben’s Cat for his sixth straight victory in the Mister Diz Stakes and 30th triumph of a most remarkable career.
Leatherbury, the 82-year Pride of Maryland, bred, owns, trains and campaigns the hickory 9-year-old gelding, who prevailed by a half-length in the $60,000 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint under the white and orange colors of The Jim Stable.
Leatherbury, who has saddled 6460 winners during his career, was presented with a Longines watch and a lawn jockey painted in the colors of his stable during a winner’s circle presentation following the third race on the Maryland Pride Day program that offered four stakes for Maryland-sired and Maryland-bred Thoroughbreds.
Two races later, he returned to the winner’s circle in awe of his abundantly talented and durable Maryland-bred gelding.
“I couldn’t believe that we were going to try to win this race for the fifth time last year. For a horse to win a stakes race six consecutive times is unheard of. Most of them are not even running six years down the road,” said Leatherbury, who is hopeful that Ben’s Cat will be ready to seek his seventh straight win in the Mister Diz next year.
After an alert beginning, Ben’s Cat settled off a hotly contested pace under jockey Julian Pimentel, finding himself behind a wall of four horses leaving the backstretch and around the turn into the homestretch. Tipped to the far outside when the field straightened into the stretch, the 2-5 favorite launched a sustained drive to overtake Night Officer, the 5-2 second choice ridden by Forest Boyce, nearing the finish line. Sonny Inspired finished third, another 3 ¼ lengths back.
Ben’s Cat, who was coming off a rare off-the-board finish in the Parx Dash (G3) July 11, ran six furlongs in 1:02.97.
“He likes to chase the other horses down. I had plenty of horse left at the end,” Pimentel said. “He tends to look around when he gets in front, but he was not going to get beat today.”
Ben’s Cat was a tough act to follow, but Pimentel returned to the Laurel winner’s circle after guiding Joy to a hard-fought victory by a head in the $60,000 All Brandy, a 1 1/8-mile turf test for fillies and mares.
Trained by Graham Motion for David Hayden’s Dark Hollow Farm, Joy settled just off the pace along the backstretch and around the turn before making a wide drive through the stretch to overtake a stubborn Vielsalm.
“I was a bit worried when the fractions were so slow, but she likes to run on the outside like that, and the jockey gave her a good ride and trained it perfectly,” said Motion’s assistant, Adrian Rolls.
Hayden was also highly complementary of Pimentel’s ride while expressing the ‘joy’ of winning on Maryland Pride Day.
“It’s a great day for Maryland. There are 137 horses Maryland-bred or Maryland-sired, and some of the handles have been phenomenal. It looks like a good day at the windows too,” the prominent Maryland breeder said. “It’s more fun for us because she’s fourth generation.”
Joy, the 11-10 favorite in a field of nine fillies and mares, ran 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:49.39 while capturing her first victory of the 2015 campaign. Vielsalm, the 4-1 second choice ridden by Boyce, finished 4 ¼ lengths clear of Green Wave Girl.
Hillwood Stable’s Phlash Phelps remained undefeated in three starts this year with a victory in the $60,000 Find Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up.
Phash Phelps went winless in his first six career starts before breaking his maiden in his 2015 debut over Pimlico’s turf course on April 23. He came right back to win over a fast main track by eight lengths on May 22 before returning to turf and the winner’s circle Saturday.
“We were told when we bought this horse, ‘You gotta be patient.’ The whole family is late bloomers. We had a few nooks and crannies to work out, soundness-wise, but nothing serious,” trainer Rodney Jenkins said. “If you watch him go, he’s got a beautiful stride, no effort.”
Ridden by Victor Carrasco, The 4-year-old son of Great Notion sat right behind 50-1 pacesetter Capital Fellow along the backstretch and around the turn before being passed and shuffled back to third by Road Hog. However, the streaking gelding fought back between horses to notch a half-length victory at 5-1 odds over late-closing Eyeplayeveryday. Road Hog finished third another length back. Talk Show Man, the 3-2 favorite, was never a factor in a fourth-place finish.
Charles Reed’s Monster Sleeping swung five-wide off the turn into the homestretch before surging to a 2 ¼-length victory in the $60,000 Jameela Stakes, a six-furlong turf stakes for fillies and mares.
Trained by Dale Capuano, Monster Sleeping ran the six-furlong distance in 1:09.52 under Forest Boyce while defeating favored Everything Lovely and jockey Tammi Piermarini. Eddy Gourmet finished third, a neck farther back.
“She broke well as she usually does and Forest rode her very well today. We didn’t win this race last year, but we were close,” said Capuano, whose 6-year-old mare finished second, a neck behind the winner, in last year’s Jameela.
