When you're hot, you're hot. And Gary Stevens continued to be the hottest jockey in racing when he won the Pimlico Special aboard Gentlemen yesterday, one week after winning the Kentucky Derby with Silver Charm.
Stevens withstood a furious closing rush by Skip Away, last year's champion 3-year-old colt, who has not won a race in four starts this year but has run second three times. Skip Away was gaining, but was still half a length behind Gentlemen as they flew home, with Tejano Run third and Isitingood fourth after leading most of the way.
Gentlemen, a 5-year-old chestnut bred in Argentina and trained by Richard Mandella, won for the sixth time in seven races. He ran the mile and three-sixteenths in 1:53, the second-fastest Pimlico Special on record, and paid $9.60 for a $2 bet as the 9-5 choice in the field of eight senior horses. The only race he has lost in almost a year was the Santa Anita Handicap, in which he ran third behind his stablemate Siphon.
Skip Away, who defeated Cigar by a head in the Jockey Club Gold Cup last October, has not won since. But he showed some of his form of last year when he nearly caught Gentlemen.
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