Copper Tax got the one mile and one-eighth in 1:52.01 over a fast main track in a formful renewal of the Tesio that saw the top two wagering choices run one-two. Favored Speedyness carved out all of the early fractions before giving way late and settling for the runner-up honors.

Copper Tax, with bug boy J. G. Torrealba in the irons for the second consecutive outing, stumbled badly leaving the starting gate and was very wide around the first turn.

“I was hoping, you know [that we had a chance after the troubled beginning],” Capuano said. “Of course, I was watching Jaime [Rodriguez] and Ness’s horse [Speedyness] on the lead, and I’m like, nobody’s going with him and that’s not good. But he just kept sustaining that run.”

Although the winner theoretically punched his ticket to the Preakness Stakes next month, Capuano was reluctant to commit to the Grade 1 event at Pimlico right away.

“I don’t know, that’s a stretch,” Capuano said. “We’ll see. We’ll see how he comes out. And, you know, like I said before, he’s not a big horse. We’ll make that decision in a week or two.”

Capuano has saddled two prior Preakness starters in his career: Cherokee’s Boy, who was eighth in 2003, and Captain Bodgit, who was a near-miss third as the favorite in the 1997 classic won by Silver Charm.

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Rose Petal Stable’s Harry Loso, Jr. and his father, Harry Loso, Sr. were in the winners’ circle following the race and offered their insights into the prospects of possibly running in the Preakness Stakes on May 18. 

“He came right back in and loaded fine,” Harry Loso, Jr. said. “Of course, we’ll leave it up to Gary. The Preakness is a big race. It’s one leg of the Triple Crown. But every race for us is a big race. It’s been a great ride.”

In the early stages of the Tesio, Copper Tax was reserved well off the early tempo as 5-2 favorite Speedyness set modest early fractions of 24.07, 47.21 and 1:11.90 for the first three calls under jockey Jaimie Rodriguez. Speedyness shook off the early presence of two longshots down the backside, but Inveigled and Copper Tax both launched serious bids entering the far turn.

Inveigled took the first run, launching a bold bid on the turn. But Speedyness appeared to have something left in reserve and rebuffed that runner turning for home. 

But Copper Tax had other intentions when being called upon by Torrealba, and he closed willingly down the center of the track to overhaul the loose leader in the lane to score by three parts of a length. 

Copper Tax, off as the second choice, paid $8.40 to win and topped an exacta that returned $17.90 for a buck. Speedyness held second, while Inveigled, who flattened out after his mid-race bid, finished third, 2 ½ lengths behind the runner-up. Longshot Malinois was eased in the lane after bleeding and walked off.

It was his second straight stakes tally since being humbled in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs and the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct. It his third stakes triumph over the Laurel Park strip.

“Well, he’s always showed the talent, you know,” Capuano added. “That race in New York [the Remsen] was just, you know, the sloppy track, the inside speed, was just a tough spot. And like we talked before, so many good horses have come out of there. And that race at Tampa, like I said, he didn’t get a hold of the track the week before, and in hindsight, you probably shouldn’t have run, but you’re there. And he just didn’t get much of a trip that day and just never got a hold of it. He bounced back.”

Copper Tax had to overcome quite a bit in this afternoon’s contest, and his three stakes wins over the strip all have been by less than a length.

“He’s got this,” Capuano said, tapping his chest above his heart.