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U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, the chair of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, visited with several horsemen at Pimlico Race Course to discuss their concerns over visas for temporary workers.

3rd-Pimlico, $50,960, Msw, 5-17, 3, 4, 5/6yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.80, gd, 5 1/2 lengths.
VARNEY (c, 3, Vekoma–Summer of Fun {SW & GISP, $306,671}, by Include), who cost a whopping $775,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September Sale, got the Preakness program off to a winning start for the Bob Baffert barn, leading every step of the way to break his maiden at career start number four late Saturday morning at Pimlico. Favored at 4-5 at post time stretching out to two turns off a fourth to his 'TDN Rising Star' stablemate and Preakness entrant Goal Oriented (Not This Time) in what has become a productive Santa Anita maiden Apr. 6, the dark bay colt had to be asked to go early on by Flavien Prat, but secured the lead passing under the wire for the first time, with third choice Energize (Medaglia d'Oro) doing the chasing. Last Man Standing (McKinzie), who was pulled out into the clear with about six furlongs to race, worked into the race nicely while covering ground four deep on the turn, but Varney was always firmly in front, and despite some wayward ways and gawking about in the stretch, came away to take it by 5 1/2 lengths. One of five winners from as many to race from his dam, a stakes winner and third in the 2012 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Summer of Fun was acquired by Saudi Arabian interests for $35,000 in foal to Spendthrift's Rock Your World at Keeneland November in 2022 and produced a colt from the first crop by the Candy Ride (Arg) stallion in 2023. Sales history: $775,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 4-1-0-1, $42,800. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
O-By Talla Racing LLC, Spendthrift Farm LLC & St Elias Stables LLC; B-Spendthrift Farm LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert.

 

Flavien Prat kept VARNEY ($3.60) on task and wins the 3rd at @PimlicoRC. @BobBaffert trains the three-year-old colt by @spendthriftfarm's Vekoma.

It's time for a Pick 4: https://t.co/ekE1MG5OIw pic.twitter.com/v28DMm2CdX

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) May 17, 2025

The post Expensive Vekoma Colt Goes Wire To Wire to Graduate at Old Hilltop appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Now a winner from six furlongs to 1 3/16 miles, Awesome Aaron continued his positive trend for trainer Norm Casse with an off-the-pace upset in the GIII Pimlico Special Stakes. After a career spent at nearly every level of racing, the 6-year-old gelded son of Practical Joke proved his 5 3/4-length roll in an allowance/optional claimer at Oaklawn last time out was no fluke (nor was the 104 Beyer Speed Figure that accompanied it). That win on Apple Blossom day Apr. 12, his first since getting claimed for $40,000 at Churchill Downs off a win going six furlongs last September, was the latest in an uptick of ability for Casse, marking his fifth-straight Beyer increase dating back to December.

Making his 34th overall start and just his second run in a graded stakes (he was sixth to Elite Power in 2023 GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap), the 7-1 shot had plenty of clear running room at the break and settled into a perfect stalking trip outside of the two favorites in Encino (Nyquist) and Phileas Fogg as the field passed the wire for the first time. Still widest of a host of pursuers as Encino put up an opening half-mile in :47.17, Awesome Aaron pulled away into a clear third into the far turn and was poised to strike from the top of the lane as Encino gave way up front. Phileas Fogg, second throughout, got first jump on the lead but Awesome Aaron always had his measure and pushed right on past inside the sixteenth pole to victory.

“Just from Day One since we got him, he acted like a really good horse,” said Casse. “It was pretty obvious to me, basically right away, at some point we were going to stretch him out. That was working; he was running really well stretching out, but there was just something missing. So last time we just took the blinkers off, and that allowed him to settle just a little bit more, let him finish a little bit better. And he beat a quality field of horses at Oaklawn that day. I knew he was going to run really well today, especially stretching out even a little more. So, we expected to go over there and run really well. And we did. Johnny rode him perfect. It's truly a gratifying win. That's a big-time race that anybody would like to win, so we're very proud of that.”

The 49th stakes winner for Practical Joke, Awesome Aaron is out of a stakes-winning first dam in Do the Dance who is herself a half-sister to Japanese stakes winner/MGSP Randonnee (Blame). A classy 2-year-old, Awesome Aaron brought $350,000 from Bradley Thoroughbreds from the Fasig-Tipton Florida Select 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale. Do the Dance has not been bred or produced a foal since her now 3-year-old Nyquist colt named King Dance was exported to Hong Kong.

 

Congratulations to the connections of #FasigGrad AWESOME AARON, winner of the Pimlico Special S. (G3)!

O: Turman Racing Stable & AJ Suited Racing Stable
T: Norm Casse
J: @ljlmvelpic.twitter.com/i8ZOuZ96t2

— Fasig-Tipton (@FasigTiptonCo) May 16, 2025

Saturday, Pimlico
PIMLICO SPECIAL S.-GIII, $250,000, Pimlico, 5-16, 3yo/up, 1 3/16m, 1:56.67, ft.
1–AWESOME AARON, 122, g, 6, by Practical Joke
   1st Dam: Do the Dance (SW, $198,980), by Discreet Cat
   2nd Dam: Loure, by A.P. Indy
   3rd Dam: Loving Pride, by Quiet American
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($130,000
Ylg '20 KEESEP; $350,000 2yo '21 FTFMAR). O-Turman Racing
Stable, LLC and AJ Suited Racing Stable LLC; B-Lester Kwok &
Dr. Naoya Yoshida (KY); T-Norm W. Casse; J-John R. Velazquez.
$150,000. Lifetime Record: 34-6-3-6, $571,263. Werk Nick
Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Phileas Fogg, 122, g, 5, Astern (Aus)–Merino, by More Than
Ready. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($55,000 3yo '23 KEENOV).
O-Jupiter Stable LLC; B-Godolphin (KY); T-Gustavo Rodriguez.
$50,000.
3–Star of Wonder, 122, c, 4, Uncle Mo–Starship Warpspeed, by
Congrats. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
'TDN Rising Star'. O-WinStar Farm LLC; B-WinStar Farm, LLC
(KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $25,000.
Margins: 3/4, 4 3/4, 1 1/4. Odds: 7.00, 2.50, 1.90.
Also Ran: San Siro, Cataleya Strike, Time for Trouble, Encino, Just Steel, Red Route One. Scratched: Pyrenees. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

The post Awesome Aaron An Upset Winner Of The Pimlico Special appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Making a positive impact on the marketing of horse racing, Griffin Johnson's success with Sandman appears to only be the beginning of his story in the sport.

A heavy favorite to win the second leg of the Triple Crown, trainer Michael McCarthy doesn't mind having a target on his back.

Jim and Claire Bryce had about as important a decision as one could have when they named their Preakness Stakes (G1) runner Heart of Honor: spelling.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert's lawsuit against two men who allegedly defamed him on social media has ended as to one of them with a settlement while the other awaits a final hearing.

Ascoli Piceno and Stellenbosch renew an old rivalry in the May 18 Victoria Mile (G1) at Tokyo Racecourse.

The weather looks promising ahead of the May 16 Black Eyed Susan Stakes (G3) and the May 17 Preakness Stakes (G1), as sunny skies have helped dry the main track. There is a 40% chance of rain Friday, with a high of 82 degrees.

The Road, presented by Gainesway and Darby Dan Farm

Color Comin' In won a five-furlong maiden special weight May 15 by three lengths to be the first winner for Spendthrift Farm's freshman sire Rock Your World.

Fasig-Tipton has rescheduled the final under tack show for its Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale to May 18 and condensed the originally scheduled two-day sale into one session May 20.

Home Market Area wagering is the primary source of funding for critical horse breeding programs.

The Delaware Jockeys' Health and Welfare Benefits Fund held their fifth annual Jockey Health Day May 12. Medical staff provided Delaware Park jockeys with required physicals and baseline testing free of charge.

In a 4-3 vote during a contentious May 15 meeting in Sacramento, the California Horse Racing Board denied awarding race dates for the Humboldt County Fair at Ferndale in Northern California.

Racing will be run May 19 and May 21 next week.

A Maryland native, jockey Nik Juarez will ride his first Preakness Stakes (G1) aboard American Promise at Pimlico Race Course May 17.

If trainer Jamie Osborne and Heart of Honor seem out of place at Pimlico Race Course, it's probably because there hasn't been a starter in the Preakness Stakes (G1) bred outside of North America since the Ireland-bred Celtic Ash in 1960. 

Ace miler Rosallion will face eight runners as he aims to make a winning return in what looks like a high-quality renewal of the Lockinge Stakes (G1) May 17 at Newbury Racecourse.

For all of the wet weather and gloomy skies at Pimlico Race Course this week, the winds of change have been swirling in Maryland for much longer than a week or even a year.