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Ben's Cat looks to surpass Safely Kept in earnings with
Laurel Dash win
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| Ben's Cat is still going strong at age eight
(Barbara Weidl/Equi-Photo) |
With a victory Saturday afternoon in the $100,000
Laurel
Dash, Ben's Cat will move ahead of Hall of Famer Safely Kept in earnings
amongst Maryland-breds. The Laurel Dash is one of six stakes races on the
12-race card at Laurel Park.
Saturday's program will feature five $100,000 open stakes races on the turf
and the $125,000
Jameela
for Maryland-bred and/or sired runners. All of the races drew double-digit
fields.
The Laurel Dash drew 11 entries, including one on the also-eligible list. The
1 1/2 mile
Laurel Turf Cup features a full field of 14 while the
Lady Baltimore will send 15 turf distaffers 8 1/2 furlongs. The 5
1/2-furlong
Laurel Futurity for two-year-olds has 10 runners and its sister race, the
Selima,
attracted 13 juvenile fillies to go the same distance. The Jameela garnered 12
runners.
Ben's Cat, who became the seventh Maryland-bred to reach $2 million in
earnings this summer, will be looking to win the Laurel Dash for the third time
in four years. The King Leatherbury homebred won the 2011 off-the-turf Laurel
Dash, was upset by Jazzy Idea two years ago and scored last year's edition at
odds of 3-5.
"I am surprised there are that many horses against us but it seems like it is
that way all the time," Leatherbury sighed. "I don't know what it is. I am
carrying more weight than the entire field but I don't see anything in here that
I have to worry about."
The eight-year-old Ben's Cat will be conceding four to 10 pounds to his
rivals in his 43rd career start. He earned his 22nd career stakes victory in the Parx
Dash on July 12 to reach the $2 million milestone, then finished a neck second in the Turf Monster
Handicap at Parx
Racing on Labor Day despite a troubled
trip.
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"He is doing great. We should have won last time. We
clipped heels and still almost won," said Julian Pimentel, who will be aboard
Ben's Cat for the 31st time Saturday. "It is crazy to say but he is doing just
as good as ever, maybe even better. He is unbelievable. Early in his career he
was green but now he is so professional. He knows what he has to do and goes
about his business."
The gelded son of Parker's Storm Cat is 3-1-0 from five races this year and has 27 wins in 42 career starts for earnings of $2,165,990.
Champion sprinter Safely
Kept earned $2,194,206 during her 31-race career in the late 80's-early 90's.
"It is primarily the same horses we have been running
against," Leatherbury added. "We are all set. With a decent trip, we will win."
Four of the 10 runners entered in the Laurel Dash have
faced Ben's Cat through the years, including Stormofthecentury, A P Elvis, Bold
Thunder and Night Officer, who was third in this race a year ago.
"I think six-furlongs will be good for him," said Sheldon
Russell, who will be aboard Night Officer for the first time. "It looks like
there is some speed in the race which will be good for us. I am just going to
try and get a perfect trip because Ben's Cat is certainly the horse to beat but
with his style of running he needs a good trip but he is the horse I will try to
follow."
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