Tenfold Notches 'Special' Win in Return to Pimlico

This time, the wire popped up in time for Tenfold.

It was only a year ago that the Winchell Thoroughbreds runner came charging out of the fog at Pimlico Race Course, taking dead aim at Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) winner Justify .

His 26-1 odds in the Preakness Stakes (G1) bespoke the magnitude of what was tantalizingly within his reach.

But then the wire arrived, and Justify held off both Bravazo and Tenfold, who fell three-quarters of a length shy of a classic victory.

Fast forward to May 17, again at Pimlico, only on a warm, clear day in Baltimore.

As the field turned for home in the $300,000 Pimlico Special Stakes (G3), it was Tenfold who was hanging on to the lead in the final sixteenth, with the favored You're to Blame and Cordmaker taking a determined run at him.

"I could feel the other horse coming on his side," said jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. "The second he felt it, he kicked on."

As trainer Steve Asmussen looked on from virtually the same spot as he did 12 months earlier in the Preakness, he saw poetic justice. Tenfold held off You're to Blame by a neck and Cordmaker by another neck, with Wait for It another 1 3/4 lengths back in fourth.

"As I was sitting and watching the race, the Preakness came back to me. I was in about the same spot, and I thought about how he came out of the fog with such a big run," Asmussen said. "It was good to see him put in another big run like that today."

The victory was the first in three 2019 starts for Tenfold, a homebred son of Asmussen's two-time Horse of the Year Curlin . After a six-month break following a victory in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) and a seventh in the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1), Tenfold returned to the races, and it did not go as planned. He finished fourth in a March 5 optional-claiming allowance race at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots and then seventh in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2).

Now, after watching an effort reminiscent of Tenfold's best performances in 2018, Asmussen can map out a campaign for the 4-year-old that figures to include major targets such as the Stephen Foster Handicap (G2) and Whitney Stakes (G1).

"The sky is the limit for him … but we had to get him back," Asmussen said. "Hopefully, he can have a huge rest of the year."

The win was the fourth in 10 starts for Tenfold ($12.20) and boosted his earnings to $895,890. 

He was bred in Kentucky and is the first foal out of the Tapit  mare Temptress, who foaled his Gun Runner  half sister April 13. The mare has also produced the 3-year-old Hard Spun  colt Bell Ringer, an unnamed Candy Ride  filly of 2017, and a full sister to Tenfold in 2018.

"It is a very special win with a homebred for Winchell that came through my mom and dad's program in Laredo (Texas)," Asmussen said.

Bortolazzo Stable's You're to Blame, the 5-2 favorite who was sixth with a furlong to go, settled for second in an effort from post 12 in the field of 13.

"I thought he ran well," said the runner-up's trainer, Todd Pletcher. "He had a pretty wide trip from that post."

A son of Distorted Humor  out of the Malibu Moon  mare Bon Jovi Girl, You're to Blame was bred in Kentucky by Bryant H. Prentice III.

Tenfold was 12th after a half-mile in :47.44 as Flying the Flag (11th) and Flameaway (13th) batted for the lead. Wait for It, who tracked the early leaders in third, surged to a half-length lead at the eighth pole but could not turn aside the late closers.

The final time was 2:02.36 on a fast track. The Pimlico Special was switched from the Preakness distance of 1 3/16 miles to 1 1/4 miles this year.  

Video: Pimlico Special S. (G3)