Mage's Older Sister, Gunning, Star Attraction of Skipat

On the afternoon that Mage  will attempt to stay on course for the Triple Crown in the 148th Preakness Stakes (G1), trainer Kenny McPeek will send out the Kentucky Derby (G1) winner's 4-year-old half sister Gunning  in the $100,000 Skipat Stakes on the May 20 undercard at Pimlico Race Course.

Robert Clay's Grandview Equine campaigns Gunning and bred both that filly and Mage.

At The November Sale at Fasig-Tipton in 2018, Grandview Equine paid $475,000 at auction for the Denali Stud-consigned mare Puca  in foal to Gun Runner  , the 2017 Horse of the Year in his first year at stud. Gunning was the result. Puca was bred back to another new sire, Good Magic  , producing Mage.

McPeek was concentrating on his own horse, Sun Thunder , in the Derby. Sun Thunder finished 11th, but McPeek realized he was a winner of sorts even in defeat as soon as Mage hit the wire.

"I was like, 'Wow, I got the sister!'" he said. "Robert Clay, who bred Mage, bred and owns the filly too. Their intention all along was to keep the mare. They are over the moon about it. Robert Clay has put a lot into this business. He's well-deserving.

"Gunning has been running well all winter. She was just second in a stakes at Oaklawn. She's worth a lot of money as a mare. ... We knew she was sitting on the cusp of some things, or at least the family was. We'd like to win a stakes with her, win the Skipat, and then come to Churchill for the Chicago (Stakes, G3) in late June." 

Gunning comes into the six-furlong Skipat with a 3-2-1 mark in seven career starts. She most recently finished second in Oaklawn Park's Dig A Diamond Stakes. 

First post for Saturday's 14-race card is 10:30 a.m. ET, with the Skipat, which drew a field of 10, carded as the ninth race. Post time for the Skipat is 3:31 p.m.

Other notable entries in the Skipat include Maryland-bred 11-time winner Princess Kokachin , who captured Laurel Park's Primonetta Stakes in her last start by a half-length over the Timothy Hills trainee and Skipat entrant Oxana , and Cheetara , a grade 2 winner in her native Chile, who seeks to win her third stakes in America for trainer Ignacio Correas IV. 

The stakes-placed Beguine  was supplemented into the Skipat as she makes her first start as a 4-year-old. Trainer Ned Allard gains the services of 2023 Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Javier Castellano.