Tesio, Weber City Miss draw 58 nominations
Bodhisattva won the 2015 Tesio. Photo by Laurie Asseo.
From a Maryland Jockey Club release
A total of 58 horses were nominated to the $100,000 Federico Tesio Stakes and $100,000 Weber City Miss Stakes scheduled for April 9 at Laurel Park.
This year, the 1 1/8-mile Tesio for 3-year-olds will serve as a ‘Win and You’re In’ race for the 141st Preakness Stakes (G1), while the Weber City Miss for 3-year-old fillies run at about 1 1/16 miles is a ‘Win and You’re In’ race for the 92nd Black-Eyed Susan (G2). The former will be run May 21 and the latter on May 20, both at historic Pimlico Race Course.
Dennis Drazin’s Sunny Ridge, winner of the 2015 Sapling Stakes who opened his sophomore season with a victory in the Withers (G3) Jan. 30 at Aqueduct, heads the list of 37 nominees for the 36th Tesio. Most recently, Sunny Ridge finished fourth in the Gotham (G3) March 5, also at Aqueduct.
Also nominated are Abiding Star, a winner of three straight including the March 12 Private Terms at Laurel; Awesome Speed, who counts Laurel’s James F. Lewis III Stakes last fall among his multiple stakes wins; Flash McCaul, runner-up in the Private Terms and Maryland Juvenile Futurity; and Laurel stakes winners Marengo Road (Miracle Wood), Never Gone South (Frank Whiteley) and Vorticity (Marylander).
Mathis Stable and Head of Plains Partners’ Sophia’s Song tops 21 horses nominated to the Weber City Miss. The Bellamy Road filly has won three straight races including a four-length triumph in the one-mile Caesar’s Wish at Laurel March 12 last time out.
Sophia’s Song is one of six Todd Pletcher-trained fillies nominated, among them Clipthecouponannie, undefeated in three starts including the Franklin Square Stakes Feb. 20 at Aqueduct; Kinsley Kisses, unbeaten in two starts; and Mo d’Amour, a one-mile optional claiming allowance winner Feb. 6 at Laurel.
Laurel maiden winners In the Navy Now, third in the Caesar’s Wish, Girls Got Rhythum, Include a Check and Street Cruizer are also nominated.
