Friday’s Jackpot Super High Five Carryover Stands at $459,622
Eight-Race Card Opens Final Weekend of Pimlico’s Preakness Meet
Star Shopping Gives Trainer Troy Robb First Career Victory
BALTIMORE – There will be a carryover jackpot of $483,561.81 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and $459,622.70 in the $1 Jackpot Super High Five wagers when live racing returns to historic Pimlico Race Course Friday, June 2 to open the final weekend of the Preakness Meet.
Post time for the first of eight races is 12:25 p.m.
The Rainbow 6 went unsolved for a 12th consecutive racing day on Monday’s special Memorial Day holiday program, when $92,152 was put into the popular multi-race wager on top of a $454,077.75 carryover from Sunday’s program. Multiple tickets with all six winners paid $214.96.
The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out only when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
Maryland’s state-record Rainbow 6 carryover reached $1,435,080.75 over 27 consecutive racing programs before a mandatory payout of $31,028.08 to multiple ticketholders July 4, 2021.
Friday’s Rainbow 6 begins in Race 3, a maiden special weight for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs. Among the field of nine are Neatnik, a $360,000 son of Good Magic trained by Arnaud Delacour and entered to make his career debut, and How Sweet She Is, who fetched $210,000 as a 2-year-old in training last spring and adds blinkers after two seconds and a third in three tries for trainer Michael Trombetta.
Race 4 is a five-furlong turf sprint for fillies and mares 3 and up which have never won two races. An overflow field of 13 was entered including Sarah Nagle-trained Ballyhooly, third by two lengths in her 4-year-old debut May 12 over Gulfstream Park’s all-weather track; My Lady’s Aunt Ma, a 2 ¼-length maiden winner going the distance over a yielding course last June at Parx; and Sweet Beauty, a daughter of Maclean’s Music trying turf for the first time after running second or third in five consecutive races.
Major Houlihan, second to undefeated runaway winner Goodgirl Badhabits in an April 29 optional claiming allowance at Laurel Park; 2022 Maryland Juvenile Fillies runner-up Fast Tracked; and Ocean Gateway, who beat her elders in an off-the-turf maiden special weight April 30 at Aqueduct for trainer Christophe Clement, are among the contenders in Race 5, an optional claiming allowance for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles.
Race 6 is an open allowance sprinting five furlongs on the turf that attracted 13 fillies and mares 3 and up including three also-eligibles and Tam Char, entered for main track only. Among the group are Chromeplated Heart, placed in seven straight starts for three different trainers in Maryland and Florida; last out winners Flirtatious Lass, Irish Valentine and Bosserati, the latter third in the 2022 Maryland Million Lassie; and multiple stakes-placed Island Philo and Skylar’s Sister.
Friday’s feature comes in Race 7, an open allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting six furlongs led by Moody Woman, a six-time winner that has placed in three stakes including the Feb. 18 Barbara Fritchie (G3); Golden Effect, a winner of two of her last three starts; Response Time, who had a two-race win streak snapped when eighth as the favorite in the March 18 Conniver at Laurel; 2021 Cheryl S. White Memorial winner Prodigy Doll; and 2022 Penn Ladies Dash winner Deco Strong.
Live action wraps up in Race 8 Friday, a six-furlong claimer for maidens ages 3, 4 and 5. Bar Down Express has run second in his two starts this year, beaten a length or less each time, including a half-length loss facing older horses May 13 at Pimlico. Inspired Irish ran fourth by less than a length in a 1 1/16-mile maiden claimer on the grass last out, also against elders. Money Room is winless in six tries since being claimed by trainer Kerry Hohlbein, who registered her first career winner May 25 at Pimlico.
Monday’s Jackpot Super High Five went unsolved for a seventh straight racing day Monday. Multiple winning tickets were each worth $215.30.
A total of $39,746 was wagered into the Jackpot Super High Five on top of a $444,608.21 carryover from Sunday. The wager was last hit for a $10,383.50 payout May 14 at Pimlico.
Launched April 1, on opening day of Laurel Park’s spring meet, the Jackpot Super High Five takes place in Race 6 every live race day. In the Jackpot Super High 5, the jackpot is paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with each of the first five finishers in exact order. On days when there is no unique ticket, 50 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with all five finishers while 50 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
If there is no ticket with all five finishers in exact order, the entire pool will be carried over to the next day’s Jackpot Super High Five.
Star Shopping Gives Trainer Troy Robb First Career Victory
Been Robbed Racing’s Star Shopping, a 4-year-old gelding making his 22nd start, got his nose down on the wire to edge Bourbon Ready in Monday’s Memorial Day holiday finale at historic Pimlico Race Course and give trainer Troy Robb his first career win.
Star Shopping ($5.20), favored at 8-5 in the claiming event for 3-year-olds and up, covered five furlongs on a firm turf course in 57.63 seconds under jockey Horacio Karamanos. It was Karamanos’ second win of the day, following Air Token ($3.60) in Race 7.
“It’s awesome,” Robb said. “It feels like I did something right.”
Robb is the 37-year-old nephew of Laurel Park-based trainer John ‘Jerry’ Robb. Monday was the younger Robb’s seventh lifetime start and fifth this year, all courtesy of Star Shopping, who had one second and four thirds in six tries since launching Robb’s career Nov. 20, 2022 at Laurel.
“That’s my whole stable, right there,” Robb said. “I run Mary Eppler’s barn and I just have that horse. She let me have that one horse in her barn. I’m thankful to her for letting me do that and try to get started.”
Star Shopping was exiting a pair of tough beats, losing by a neck when second in a Feb. 25 claimer on the dirt at Laurel before returning to be third by 1 ¼ lengths following a troubled trip May 11 over the Pimlico turf.
“They were touting him pretty good,” Robb said of Star Shopping. “They had a breakdown of his last race when he got stuck down behind horses and they showed that, so I think that’s why everybody jumped on him. He got in a little bit of trouble last time.”
In addition to working for Eppler, who is based at Pimlico, Robb spent time under his uncle and father, Larry Robb, who gave him his introduction to horses.
“My dad got me started when I was a kid, maybe 12 or 13, at Upper Marlboro. He had a couple horses there. During the summer I used to help him, and I always liked working with horses,” Robb said. “I moved on to work for my uncle for about 10, 15 years and now I’m working for Mary. Me and my cousin Donald, Jerry’s son, just wanted to try our luck. That’s pretty much it. We’ve worked with horses our whole lives and been in the business since we were kids. We’re just trying to see if we could get lucky, and we did today.”
Notes: Built Wright Stables’ Air Token ($3.60) cruised to a front-running six-length optional claiming allowance victory in Race 7 Monday, giving trainer Nick Dilodovico his fourth career win and first in Maryland. The 32-year-old Dilodovico, a son of Laurel Park-based trainer Damon Dilodovico, also ran second and third respectively with Galerio and Double Crown behind Everett’s Song ($10.60) in the Race 8 feature … Preakness Meet-leading jockey Jevian Toledo rode back-to-back winners Monday, Mo Co Gold ($4) in Race 3 and Valiant Vinny ($5.80) in Race 4 … Jorge Ruiz also doubled, aboard Willow Wood ($6.60) in Race 2 and Forloveofcountry ($5.40) in Race 5.