Witty. (Jim McCue/MJC)
Among Three Stakes Worth $250,000 in Purses Sunday at Laurel
David Joseph/Maryland Jockey Club
LAUREL, Md. – Six-time stakes winner, recently Grade 2-placed and defending champion Witty and last out winner Mission Man, stablemates and younger half-brothers to retired multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire mare Caravel, are among an overflow field of 12 entered for Sunday’s $75,000 Ben’s Cat at Laurel Park.
The seventh running of the Ben’s Cat for Maryland-bred/sired 3-year-olds and up scheduled for six furlongs over the Fort Marcy turf course is the last of three stakes worth $250,000 in purses on a nine-race program that begins at 12:25 p.m.
Other stakes on the card are the $75,000 Jameela for Maryland-bred/sired fillies and mares 3 and older also going six furlongs on the Fort Marcy, and the listed $100,000 Prince George’s County for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on the Kelso turf course.
Out of the Congrats mare Zeezee Zoomzoom, Witty and Mission Man are bred and trained by Elizabeth Merryman, who continues to own Mission Man outright while having sold a share of Witty to Qatar Racing and Marc Detampel prior to his runner-up finish in the June 29 Highlander (G2) sprinting six furlongs on the Woodbine turf.
The 16-day turnaround would not be the fastest for Witty, who came back in 11 days to run fifth, beaten less than two lengths, in the Page McKenney Handicap last spring at Parx when he was trained by Merryman’s son, McLane Hendriks. A total of 12 horses were entered in the Ben’s Cat including one, Arden’sluckytobe, for main track only; a maximum of 10 will be allowed to run.
“I was thinking that Mission Man might turn back and sprint well, and I was thinking about taking a shot with him. Witty came out of his race at Woodbine very well, thankfully,” Merryman said. “Entries are so far out I figured I would enter him and see how he progresses during the week and make a last-minute decision if he draws in. If I decide I want to run him, I can scratch Mission Man and then he will draw in. At least the ball is in my court.”
Witty, a gelded 5-year-old son of Great Notion, has won three stakes each on the dirt and grass, including last year’s Ben’s Cat when it was contested at five furlongs in mid-September on the turf at historic Pimlico Race Course. There has been one previous two-time winner, Sonny Inspired, who captured the first two editions in 2016 and 2018, both at Laurel.
“Timing-wise, this race works the best moving through the rest of the year and our plans for him, so that’s one thing to consider. It’s been such a hot week we’ll just have to see if he seems like he’s going to bounce back that fast,” Merryman said. “I feel like he’s the type of horse that he kind of does better racing rather than having lots of breezes and things like that and having a lot of time between races where he has to breeze multiple times and do too much. I feel like he enjoys the racing and he’s just better off trying to keep his fitness doing that.”
Jevian Toledo, scheduled to return to riding Saturday at Laurel after recovering from a collarbone injury suffered April 21, is named to ride. Toledo has been aboard for each of Witty’s last four wins, three in stakes including the Ben’s Cat.
“I think [Witty] is getting better, actually. He’s a very big horse and it just seems this year he’s really grown into himself,” Merryman said. “He has his routine down. He’s much more mature. He’s great mentally. Taylor Leatherman that gallops him every day says all the time that he just seems like a better horse this year to her.”
Mission Man snapped a five-race losing streak with a come-from-behind 1 ¼-length restricted allowance victory going 1 1/16 miles June 23 on the Laurel turf. The 4-year-old Holy Boss gelding has not run shorter than 7 ½ furlongs since finishing seventh while facing older horses last spring at Pimlico. Summer meet leading rider Jaime Rodriguez, up for his allowance triumph, has the return call.
“Jaime suited him very well, so I was very excited to be able to get him again,” Merryman said. “He’s always been one of those kinds of horses that’s in-between, distance-wise. He doesn’t really want to go long, so I thought the six furlongs might be really good for him. He has that huge, long stretch to close. He’s still a bit on the immature side and he’s a horse that doesn’t like to be told what to do very much. That’s the tricky part. It has to all be his idea. If it’s his idea to want to run them down in the stretch, there’s no doubt that he has the ability. It’s just talking him into it.”
The Ben’s Cat also includes Phil Capuano-trained stablemates Great Idea, third or better in 11 of 19 career starts, and Johnyz From Albany, a stakes winner on dirt that was fourth in his one previous try on grass; Bump N Run, fourth to Witty in the 5 ½-furlong King T. Leatherbury April 20 at Laurel; Tiz No Clown, yet to race on turf; Tidewater and Whenigettoheaven, respectively second and third behind Witty in the 2023 Maryland Million Turf Sprint; Matta, placed in four turf stakes including a third in last year’s Ben’s Cat; Had to Have Him, third in the Jan. 27 Spectacular Bid on Laurel’s main track; and Sue Loves Barbados.
Bred, owned and trained by Hall of Fame horseman King Leatherbury, Ben’s Cat won 32 of 63 career races, 26 stakes and more than $2.6 million in purses over eight racing seasons. A four-time Maryland-bred Horse of the Year, Ben’s Cat died July 18, 2017, of complications from colic surgery at the age of 11.
