Payton d'Oro Leads Gallorette Field

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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt

Payton d'Oro won the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes last year at Pimlico.
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Payton d’Oro, who won last year’s Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (gr. II) at Pimlico as part of a four-race win streak, will be gunning for her second straight win when she faces nine disaffers in the May 15 Gallorette Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Pimlico on the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) undercard. The 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro   has a lifetime record of six wins and four seconds from 14 starts and will be making her grass debut.

Payton d’Oro, who set the pace in the Black-Eyed Susan, likes to be near the lead. She has been out twice this year and sports a runner-up allowance effort and half-length score in the Bayakoa Stakes, both at Oaklawn Park. She is trained by Cindy Jones and will be ridden once again by Terry Thompson.

English and Irish champion Rainbow View, who has raced as far as 1 1/2 miles, will be making her fourth start in North America since her arrival from overseas last year and will carry top weight of 121 pounds. In 2009, she ran second in the E.P. Taylor (Can-IT) and unplaced in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic (gr. I). This year, she won an allowance race at Keeneland as the odds-on favorite at the Gallorette distance. Jonathan Sheppard trains the daughter of Dynaformer, and Julien Leparoux rides.

Way With Words is another who comes off a stakes triumph. The 6-year-old Sefapiano mare, trained by Mary Eppler, won the April 10 South Beach Stakes on turf at Gulfstream Park after going four wide. Jockey Calvin Borel rides for the first time.

Blind Date, by Maryland stallion Not For Love  , was a two-time stakes winner at Pimlico last spring and a four-time stakes for the year. Her key win came in the Virginia Oaks (gr. IIIT). Blind Date has been out just once this year, running fourth in the Primonetta at Laurel in early April. Trained by Hamilton Smith, the 4-year-old filly gets the services of jockey Kent Desormeaux.

Smith also conditions Sales Tax, who goes into the Gallorette off a third-place effort in the April 10 Dahlia Stakes on grass at Laurel. By High Yield, Sales Tax has won three stakes in her career, but none later than in 2008. Rajiv Maragh rides.

Shared Account, trained by Graham Motion, is one of several in the field making their 2010 debuts. She captured last year’s Lake Placid Stakes (gr. IIT) at Saratoga and finished second in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (gr. IT) in October in her last start. By Pleasantly Perfect  , she will be ridden by Edgar Prado.

Love's Blush, who breaks from the 1 post, has won or placed in all three starts this year, but all three have been on the main track. The Not For Love filly, trained by Rodney Jenkins, ran second in the Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct in her last start. Travis Dunkelberger rides again.

The rest of the field consists of Ave (trained by Michael Stoute), Denomination (Christophe Clement), and Quiet Meadow (Chad Brown).
 

Gallorette Handicap (gr. IIIT), $100,000, 1 1/16 miles, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, race 9, post 3:42 EDT.

Post  Horse Jockey Weight
1 Love’s Blush  T L Dunkelberger  112
2 Ave  M E Smith  116
3 Rainbow View  J R Leparoux  121
4 Quiet Meadow  J Castellano  114
5 Payton d’Oro  T J Thompson  118
6 Denomination  G K Gomez  115
7 Shared Account  ES Prado  117
8 Sales Tax  R. Maragh  112
9 Way With Words  C H Borel  113
10 Blind Date  K Desormeaux  115
Coupled entry – Blind Date and Sales Tax

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