Among Five Stakes, Four on Turf, Worth $450,000 Sunday, June 13
BALTIMORE – Multiple stakes winner Logical Myth and stablemate Midnight Tea Time, both graded-stakes placed ex-claimers with well over $800,000 in combined purse earnings, come in from Kentucky to further fortify a strong field for Sunday’s $100,000 Prince George’s County at historic Pimlico Race Course.
The 1 1/8-mile Prince George’s County for 3-year-olds and up is among five stakes worth $450,000 in purses and one of four scheduled for the grass on a 10-race program. Having debuted in 2019, it was not run during a pandemic-shortened 2020 stakes schedule.
Other grass stakes are the $100,000 Searching at 1 ½ miles for females 3 and older, $100,000 Stormy Blues for sophomore fillies and $75,000 Ben’s Cat for Maryland-bred/sired 3-year-olds and up, both sprinting five furlongs.
The lone dirt stakes, the $100,000 Shine Again for fillies and mares 3 and up, is part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series and features undefeated Chub Wagon facing off against Anna’s Bandit, Hello Beautiful and Dontletsweetfoolya, who have combined to win 29 races and 18 stakes.
First race post time is 12:40 p.m.
Claimed for $40,000 last May at Churchill Downs, JPS Racing’s Logical Myth capped a three-race win streak over the winter at Fair Grounds with stakes victories in the Buddy Diliberto Memorial and Colonel E.R. Bradley, both going 1 1/16 miles, then ran second in the Fair Grounds (G3) to Captivating Moon and third in the Muniz Memorial Classic (G2) behind multiple Grade 1 winner Colonel Liam, each at the Prince George’s County distance.
“Obviously down at Fair Grounds, we had a tough little circuit down there this winter. He wasn’t embarrassed by Colonel Liam. He’s taken every step forward that we’ve asked him to take,” Sharp said. “We’re looking forward to having a fun summer with him.”
Owned by John Paul D’Anna, a licensed realtor and marketing associate at JHL Auctioneers in Timonium, Md., Logical Myth exits a fifth-place finish in the one-mile Opening Verse April 29 at Churchill which, like the Muniz, was contested over a turf course rated good.
“We were concerned about the soft turf that day,” Sharp said. “I think at the end of the day, we kind of questioned whether or not he likes that turf course. Those have been some of the [worst] races of his lifetime so we’re kind of throwing out his last start. You take that out of the mix and he’s been pretty much perfect for us since we claimed him, and a fun horse that’s taken the owners a lot of nice places. He owes us nothing at this point.”
Bella Cavello Stables’ Midnight Tea Time rallied from off the pace to be third, beaten a length by Somelikeithotbrown, in the 1 1/16-mile Dinner Party (G2) May 15 at Pimlico on the undercard of the 146th Preakness (G1). Prior to that he beat 2020 Saranac (G3) winner Bye Bye Melvin by a neck in a third-level allowance at Keeneland.
“Midnight Tea Time ran huge on Preakness day. He seemed to really like the turf there at Pimlico and the mile and an eighth is definitely his preferred distance,” Sharp said. “Obviously we’d rather not have to run the two against each other, but I think given the circumstances we’re feeling very confident about either one of them in that spot.”
Midnight Tea Time has made his last 25 starts for Sharp since being claimed for $75,000 out of a runner-up effort Aug. 15, 2018 at Saratoga. He was the runner-up in a pair of stakes last year, beaten a total of four lengths, and has run second or third 18 times with four wins from 32 races.
“He’s been camera shy at times but he’s always right there. He’s done really well for the owners and he’s been a horse that’s just shown up and taken us to some fun places. As we’ve raised the bar he’s continued to step up as he’s gotten older,” Sharp said. “I would say the two horses physically don’t resemble each other, but as far as honesty and running style I think they both are very similar, game horses that you can rely on to show up every time.”
J.D. Acosta has the assignment on Logical Myth from Post 8 while Sheldon Russell gets the call on Midnight Tea Time from far outside Post 12.
Also with a pair of runners in the Prince George’s County are trainers Arnaud Delacour and Michael Stidham. Delacour entered the pair of Mark B. Grier’s Grade 3 winner Eons and Lael Stables’ Talk Or Listen, runner up in the Dinner Party by a head over Midnight Tea Time.
Bred in Ireland, Talk Or Listen began his racing career overseas where he was Group 3-placed in France. His lone win from six North American starts came Jan. 10 in his seasonal debut, a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance at Tampa Bay Downs.
“He ran very well in the Dinner Party. He had a good trip. Hopefully the added sixteenth of a mile I don’t think will bother him and he can run a decent race,” Delacour said. “It looks like it’s going to be a very competitive race. They always are. Hopefully he can negotiate a good trip. He likes the course so we’ll hope for the best.”
Eons, also 5, won his only previous start at 1 1/8 miles in the July 2019 Kent (G3) at Delaware Park. He has gone winless in nine tries since, all but one of them in stakes, including a second in the Feb. 6 Tampa Bay (G3) and fourth by less than two lengths in the April 24 Henry S. Clark at Pimlico.
“He hasn’t won for two years now. I was trying to get him in an easier race, an allowance at Delaware Park, unfortunately it came off the turf. The horse is doing well and I think he’ll be very efficient at a mile and an eighth,” Delacour said. “We’re probably going to try to ride him a little bit closer to the pace. The last time he was last and I don’t know if he didn’t like the course or it was more like, ‘eh,’ and he didn’t bother. But he’s not that type of horse, not a deep closer. He needs to be a little more in the race so we’ll see if we can make that happen.”
Mychel Sanchez is named on Eons from Post 2 and Daniel Centeno will be aboard Talk Or Listen from Post 6.
Godolphin homebred Pixelate won the Del Mar Derby (G2) last fall and the Woodchopper in December at Tampa Bay Downs before opening this year running behind Colonel Liam in the Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) and Muniz Memorial. Last time out, the 4-year-old City Zip colt was run down late by Corelli and lost the 1 1/16-mile Clark at Pimlico by a nose.
“He’s just one of those horses that’s just been very sound. Every time we enter him up he goes out there and tries really hard,” Stidham said. “He’s just one of those kinds of horses you’d like to have in your barn.”
Stallionaire Enterprises’ Doc Boy was fifth to his stablemate in the Woodchopper and sixth in the Clark. By Into Mischief, the 4-year-old won the 2019 Kitten’s Joy at Colonial Downs and 2020 Columbia at Tampa and was third by less than a length in the 2019 Laurel Futurity at Laurel Park.
“He hasn’t been quite as successful as Pixelate in his races, although he is a stakes winner,” Stidham said. “He’s been kind of up and down. He’s run some really good races and then in other spots he hasn’t run as well. He’s been a little bit of a more difficult horse to place.”
Joe Bravo will be up on Pixelate from Post 1 while Doc Boy will carry Feargal Lynch from Post 4.
Calumet Farm homebred English Bee, a 5-year-old son of turf champion English Channel, won three stakes in 2019 including the one-mile James W. Murphy at Pimlico and 1 1/8-mile Virginia Derby (G3) at Colonial Downs. He has won only once in 10 subsequent starts, the 2019 Parx Fall Derby with seconds in the Canadian Turf (G2) and Wise Dan (G2) last year.
Most recently, English Bee ran seventh by 2 ½ lengths after encountering traffic in the Dinner Party. Victor Carrasco replaces Joel Rosario from Post 11.
“He had a terrible trip. He got stopped at the eighth pole,” trainer Graham Motion said. “It was a disaster, but he ran well. He always runs his race, this horse. He’s very consistent, I think. Very steady.”
Completing the field are Alwaysmining, a multiple stakes winner on dirt with just one previous turf race; Argonne, unraced since last August; Glad Moon; 7-year-old Mokheef, a one-length winner going 1 1/8 miles on the Pimlico turf May 14; and Shane’s Jewel, entered for main track only.