Inveigled (inside) and Copper Tax battled for the win in the 2023 James F. Lewis III. (Jim McCue/MJC)
David Joseph/Maryland Jockey Club
LAUREL, Md. – Mark B. Grier’s Inveigled, three times stakes-placed over his home track of Laurel Park, continues to train forwardly for his return to the races.
Unraced since finishing third behind stakes winners Copper Tax and Speedyness in the 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio April 20, the Jane Cibelli trainee has had three subsequent breezes at Laurel including an easy half-mile in 51.20 seconds Friday.
An Indiana-bred son of multiple graded-stakes winner Enticed that fetched $52,000 at auction last June, Inveigled has raced primarily in Maryland. Third in his September 2023 debut at historic Pimlico Race Course, he graduated by eight lengths second time out in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight in October at Laurel.
Inveigled was second to Copper Tax in Laurel’s James F. Lewis III and won an optional claiming allowance in December at Gulfstream to cap his juvenile season, running fourth in the Mucho Macho Man and Holy Bull (G3) to open 2024. Back in Maryland, Inveigled was second behind Copper Tax in the Private Terms prior to the Tesio.
“He hasn’t done a whole lot in the last six weeks or so. We just kind of backed off him a little bit because he ended up getting beat up pretty badly in that last race in the sense that I think the mile and an eighth is a little far for him and he just didn’t finish like I would have liked,” Cibelli said. “I think he’s just danced every dance, honestly. We bought him out of the 2-year-old sale, so he’s been going since he’s a yearling. We took him to Gulfstream, and he ran against some tough, tough horses there. He’s never really let us down.”
Cibelli said the next target for Inveigled is the $250,000 Governor’s Stakes for Indiana-bred 3-year-olds going a mile and 70 yards July 31 at Horseshoe Indiana. It is the state’s second-richest race behind the open $300,000 Indiana Derby (G3), also for 3-year-olds, at 1 1/16 miles July 6.
“Really, that’s always been on the horizon. I just felt like having him go into that race having him as fresh and as good as he can be,” she said. “He’d be one of the favorites, I would think, in that spot. We just backed off him a bit and [Friday] was just a nice and easy half-mile. Beginning of next month, we’ll start cranking on him and getting him ready.”
Notes … … … …….
Jockey Jean Alvelo rode two winners Saturday, Bunny Hop ($24.80) in Race 2 and Morning Thoughts ($7) in Race 6 … Both Morning Thoughts and Race 7 winner Princess Lucia ($8.20) are trained by Hugh McMahon …
Wilma Flintshire ($8.40) held off Channel Loop in the Race 9 finale to complete the winning 2-3-8-7-1-5 combination in the 20-cent Rainbow 6, which returned $2,001.30 to one single bettor. The Rainbow 6 begins anew Sunday, spanning Races 4-9. The nine-race program, which includes a $1 Jackpot Super High Five carryover of $756.12 in Race 6, begins at 12:25 p.m.
