G3-Placed Gelding Rolls to 6 ¼-Length Victory in 1 1/8-Mile Stakes
LAUREL, Md. – Cash is King and LC Racing’s Ridin With Biden, second to First Captain in last year’s Dwyer (G3), slowed things down early and came home running for an easy 6 ¼-length victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Deputed Testamony at Laurel Park.
The 1 1/8-mile Deputed Testamony for 3-year-olds and up was the richest of five stakes worth $400,000 in purses on a 10-race program that marked the last of Laurel’s three spectacular Saturdays in July featuring a total of 11 stakes worth $1.05 million.
Preceding the Deputed Testamony were four $75,000 stakes restricted to Maryland-bred/sired horses. Divine Huntress won the Miss Disco for 3-year-old fillies, Spun Glass took the Jameela for fillies and mares 3 and up on the grass, Alottahope captured the Star de Naskra for 3-year-olds, and Justwaveandsmile won the Ben’s Cat on turf for 3-year-olds and up.
With regular rider Frankie Pennington aboard for trainer Robert E. ‘Butch’ Reid Jr., Ridin With Biden ($7.60) completed the distance in 1:50.30 over a fast main track to become a stakes winner in his 15th start.
“We were fortunate enough to get a good break and get good position early on and I think that really helped us a lot,” Pennington said. “Like me and Butch talked about, [if] a crazy pace goes in front of us we’ll sit because he can sit and make a run. We ended up getting out there easy. Butch had him ready and when I asked him for home he really took off.”
Pennington kept a snug hold on Ridin With Biden as they coasted through an opening quarter-mile in 24.60 seconds and a half in 48.94 with only mild pressure from Tappin Cat, who exited a victory in the one-mile Sussex July 7 at Delaware Park in his prior start. Commandeer, racing first time since a fifth in the April 2 Ghostzapper (G3) at Gulfstream Park, and Grade 3 winner Magic Michael were also part of the early mix.
Plot the Dots came up the rail to get into a challenging position down the backstretch, moving into third after six furlongs went in 1:13.31. Pennington took a quick peek behind him rounding the far turn and had plenty left once straightened for home, opening up through the lane.
Favored at 8-5, Plot the Dots finished second, 2 ¾ lengths ahead of Magic Michael. It was another 1 ¼ lengths back to Treasure Trove in fourth followed by Tappin Cat and Commandeer. Armando R was scratched.
“He caught me by surprise. It looked like he tried to break through the gate once so I thought Frankie must have him really cranked up,” Reid said. “But he settled so nicely for him and put that half a length on them. When I saw the half-mile time I was feeling pretty good at that point.”
A 4-year-old son of multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Constitution, Ridin With Biden has placed in all five of his starts since being gelded to start this year, including an open allowance win July 17 at Delaware Park. Last out he was second by two lengths behind multiple graded-stakes winner Tax in the 1 1/16-mile Battery Park July 9, also at Delaware.
“It made him into a completely different horse,” Reid said. “It was just a very wise move by the owners and the management team to do something like that, and it’s worked wonders for this horse. He was a little bit of a bad actor back in the stall and he’s calmed down so much. He shipped down here perfectly and was great in the paddock, so I couldn’t ask for things to be any better.”
The Deputed Testamony returned to the Maryland stakes calendar in 2020 after not having been run since 2008. It pays homage to the last Maryland-bred winner of the Preakness Stakes (G1), who upset Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Sunny’s Halo in 1983. Bred and raced by Bonita Farm and Francis P. Sears and trained by Bill Boniface, Deputed Testamony also won the 1983 Haskell (G1) and Federico Tesio.
Notes: Jockey Jevian Toledo registered a triple Saturday, bookending the card with wins in Race 1 on 2-year-old maiden Spencerian ($3.60) and Race 10 with Flank Speed ($5) while also taking the $75,000 Star de Naskra in Race 7 with Alottahope ($5.40) … Victor Carrasco notched a riding double aboard Doctor Davis ($6) in Race 4 and Divine Huntress ($3.20) in the $75,000 Miss Disco in Race 5 … There will be a 20-cent Rainbow 6 carryover of $19,147.11 for Sunday’s nine-race card that begins at 12:40 p.m. Multiple tickets with all six winners Saturday were each worth $468.76.
David Joseph/Maryland Jockey Club
Photo by Jerry Dzierwinski/MJC
