Ben's Cat Wins Fourth Jim McKay Turf Sprint

The Jim Stable's Ben's Cat, in the second start of his 9-year-old season, got back to his winning ways with a dramatic off-the-pace victory in the $100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint May 15 at Pimlico Race Course .

With regular rider Julian Pimentel aboard, Ben's Cat broke well in the five-furlong grass stakes and was taken in hand early as Bold Thunder, who defeated him in his 2015 debut, grabbed control and set a fast but uncontested pace of :21.65 for the opening quarter-mile and :44.19 for the half-mile on a firm course. Dreamsgonewild, Amelia's Wild Ride, and Brewing raced in the second flight.

As the field turned for home Bold Thunder, a three-length winner in his last start at Pimlico at the same distance and surface, appeared well in control until he veered out under jockey Pierre Hernandez Ortega. Meanwhile, Ben's Cat had weaved his way through foes, found the rail, and began to gain inside of the leader.

"He really had me worried, and then that horse drifted out and made us go on the inside, and we're always at a disadvantage on the inside," said trainer King Leatherbury, who later this year will be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. "But that's what he had to do and it looked like forever catching him. Finally, right at the wire, he nailed him."

Ben's Cat surged late to top Bold Thunder by a neck in a sharp :56.04 for the distance. It as another 3 3/4 lengths back to Amelia's Wild Ride in third. Grateful Nation finished fourth.

"He's had a couple of these (races) that really worriy you, and at one point in the race you think he's not going to make it, but he manages to make it," Leatherbury said. "I was certain he was going to win in my mind, but not at the three-sixteenths pole."

Bred and owned by Leatherbury, Ben's Cat paid $6.20, $3.60, and $2.40 across the board as the favorite in a field of 10. Bold Thunder returned $4 and $2.80, and Amelia's Wild Ride paid $3 to show. The $2 exacta paid $26 and the $1 trifecta was worth $37.

"In the stretch, I really wanted to stay outside, but the leader was getting out," Pimentel said. "So I said, 'OK, let's go inside.' It's really unbelievable; he knows where the wire is. Right after we crossed the wire his ears pricked up. He said, 'I'm done.' "

It was the 29th career win in 47 starts for Ben's Cat, a Maryland-bred gelding by Parker's Storm Cat out of the Thirty Eight Paces mare Twofox. Ben's Cat now has six wins in 10 starts on the Pimlico turf, including four victories in the Jim McKay Turf Sprint.

"Ben's Cat has kind of revived me because I was dying out there for a while, and he has brought me back into the picture," said Leatherbury, who rode in before the race perched high in a place of honor on a red wagon drawn by the Budweiser Clydesdales' East Coast Hitch. "He's just one of those amazing horses and they come along once every so often, but you don't know why. He has remained sound and he has just got the heart and the will to win."

Ben's Cat has become a fixture in various turf stakes in the Mid-Atlantic region, and that will be the case again this year, at least for his next start. Leatherbury said the gelding would next run in the $150,000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup at five furlongs on the turf at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course May 30.