Il Villano, Skyring capture Pimlico stakes; Paynter impresses

"We'll keep him short and probably head for the (six-furlong) Jersey Shore at

Monmouth Park (July 14)."

Il Villano paid $9.20, $4.20 and $2.40 for his win as the 7-2 third choice.

Laurie's Rocket came with a game run to challenge Innocent Man for second, just

getting the best of the even-money favorite by a head on the line. It was

another 3 1/4 lengths back to Trippi's Secret in fourth, who finished in a

blanket finish with Scaramagna and He Can Run. The trio were separated by a head

and a neck on the wire while Mandorla brought up the rear. Lemon Juice was

scratched to run later on the card.

"I thought it was good for the first time at this level," trainer Patrick

Biancone said of Innocent Man. "It was his first time in a stakes. He was the

least experienced horse in the race. He stumbled at the start, but they need to

learn. I'm very happy with him."

Il Villano ran second in his debut before breaking his maiden at Parx Racing

last fall. He quickly followed up with a trip to Aqueduct to take the Lord

Henribee Stakes before returning to Parx to add the Southampton to his line. The

Pollard's Vision colt opened his sophomore season back at Aqueduct in the Count

Fleet Stakes, where he finished third after leading in the early running.

Il Villano entered the Chick Lang off a more than three-month break, having

last been seen finishing second in the Grade 2 Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream

Park. Saturday's win improved his line to 7-4-2-1 and he has now banked $230,300

lifetime.

Bred in Kentucky by Vossfeld Bloodstock Group LLC, Il Villano has passed

through the sales ring four times but only sold twice, bringing $34,000 as a

Kentucky Winter Mixed yearling before selling for $60,000 at the July Sale. He

is the first stakes winner out of the Wekiva Springs mare Do the Wekiva and

comes from the same family as Grade 2 victor Answer Do and Grade 3 heroine Daisy

Do.

Skyring debuted at Oaklawn Park in January, but took four tries to break his

maiden, finally getting the job done on March 17 by a neck. The bay son of

English Channel was immediately stepped up to face Grade 3 company in his next

two tries, but finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Illinois Derby

and Lexington Stakes. He got back on the winning track on Kentucky Derby Day at

Churchill Downs, posting a neck victory in an optional claimer going 1 1/16

miles.

Cutting back to eight furlongs for the Murphy, Skyring finally followed in

his turf champion sire's hoofsteps to make his first grass start and gutted out

the win to move his mark to 8-3-1-0 and increase his career earnings to

$136,077.

"This is the first time he ever saw (grass) except when he was grazing on it

as a baby. Never been on it in his life," Lukas said. "I wouldn't have any

hesitation putting him back on the dirt, either. I think he's very versatile. I

even flirted with the idea of switching these two horses (Skyring and Preakness

runner Optimizer). But when I found out this race was a mile, I didn't think

Optimizer would have any chance.

"This horse I liked the best of all mine all day long. I felt real good about

him. I was anxious to get him on the grass. (Jockey) Corey (Nakatani) rode him

at Churchill and loved him. We said, well, English Channel, maybe we should try

the grass. It really worked out well."

The Kentucky-bred bay is out of the Seattle Slew mare Violet Lady, making him

a half-brother to Grade 2 hero Greenspring and Grade 3-placed stakes winner

Caballero Negro as well as the stakes-placed trio of Loow Key, Dyna Penny and

Dressed to Kill. Skyring's second dam is the Grade 1-scoring Topsider mare Top

Corsage, and this female line is also responsible for multiple Grade 1 victor

Slewpy.

"In the morning, I had to quit working him with other horses for the simple

reason that there's no such thing as an easy work with him," Lukas added. "He

thinks we're getting paid at 6 a.m."

Earlier on the card, Zayat Stables'

Paynter got back to his winning ways in a 1 1/16-mile allowance restricted

to three-year-olds. The Bob Baffert pupil took the lead soon after the start but

was pressured the entire way by Brimstone Island to his inside through fractions

of :24 1/5, :48 1/5 and 1:12 1/5.

It was only when nudged by jockey Mike Smith that the Awesome Again colt

began putting some distance between himself and Brimstone Island. Paynter

continued drawing off until he was 5 3/4 lengths clear on the wire in a final

time of 1:42 4/5.

The bay was the prohibitive 1-9 favorite and returned $2.20, $2.10 and $2.10

for his first win since breaking his maiden in February at Santa Anita. In his

two subsequent starts, Paynter ran fourth in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby and

second most recently in the Grade 3 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs. He now

boasts a 4-2-1-0, $152,224, career record.

Paynter's dam, the Cee's Tizzy mare Tizso, is a full sister to Horse of the

Year and champion sire Tiznow as well as multiple Grade 2-scoring

multi-millionaire Budroyale.