Student Council Sloshes Way to Victory in the Pimlico Special

BALTIMORE, May 16 -- Any hope jockey Shaun Bridgmohan had of winning the Kentucky Derby aboard Pyro two weeks ago was dashed by the overwhelming performance of Big Brown. Once one of the top stars of the 3-year-old division, Pyro labored home eighth in the race for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Less than two weeks later, however, the Bridgmohan-Asmussen team connected in another big Grade I race, albeit not on the same level, as 6-year-old handicap stalwart Student Council rallied furiously in the upper stretch to run down Gottcha Gold to win the Grade I $250,000 Pimlico Special at Pimlico.

The 41st running of the Special marked its return to the Maryland stakes schedule after being shelved last year because of shortages in the state's purse account. It led a race card packed with six stakes races that was marred by races being forced off the turf by rain. Forty-eight horses scratched from the card.

Student Council won the 1 3/16 -mile race, famed for the match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral, in a time of 1 minute 54.87 seconds on a muddy track.

"It's a great feeling," Bridgmohan said afterward. "It's a little disappointing about the Derby, but it keeps you waking up in the morning to the next one."

The race also was a homecoming for Student Council's owner Ro Parra, who grew up in Lexington Park.

"I was born in Ecuador, South America, and I grew up in Maryland, in Lexington Park, and met my wife there," Parra said. "I was telling someone earlier that I'd been to at least 15 Preaknesses, always in the infield, never in the grandstand. This is the first time I've been to Pimlico and watched a race in the grandstand."

The two Maryland horses in the field, Ryan's for Real and Xchanger, finished second to last and last in the seven-horse field.

Cassidy Gets Happy

Sweet Vendetta, bred and part-owned by former Partridge Family heartthrob David Cassidy, received a patient and perfectly timed ride from jockey Channing Hill to win the Grade II $200,000 Black-Eyed Susan for 3-year-old fillies at odds of 7-1.

Hill, who rides in New York, kept Sweet Vendetta in a steady gallop along the rail in sixth and watched a pace battle unfold in front of him.

As the field turned for home, Sweet Vendetta swung out four wide at the top of the stretch to close fast and beat Shes All Eltish by 1 1/2 lengths.

The winner ran the 1 1/8 -mile race in a sharp 1:49.60.

Cassidy appeared in the winner's circle and pointed out that Hill's father, Alan, rode My Juliet to victory in the 1975 Black-Eyed Susan.

Scratched

Behindatthebar, the 10-1 morning-line third choice in the Preakness, was scratched from the field Friday by trainer Todd Pletcher after he discovered a foot bruise.

Pletcher reported he noticed a problem when he took the colt, who won the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, out for a 6 a.m. gallop Friday morning.

"The way he went this morning, he was a little bit off on his left front," Pletcher said. "It's unfortunate timing. I would expect that it could possibly be resolved by the beginning of next week."

Upset Winner

Six years ago, trainer Nancy Alberts was the toast of the Preakness, when her homebred Maryland long shot Magic Weisner almost took the 2002 Preakness Stakes from War Emblem, finishing second by three-quarters of a length.

On Friday, Alberts, based at Laurel Park, was back in the winner's circle after a stakes race for only the second time since Magic Weisner won the Ohio Derby in his Preakness year when Termsofengagement upset the field in the $75,000 Woodlawn Stakes under jockey Anna Rose Napravnik.

In an expertly timed move, Napravnik went from last to first in the 1 1/16 -mile race taken off the turf to win by two lengths over M J's Enchanteur.

Alberts was happy the race was switched to the sloppy track.

"We didn't want to run on soft turf," she said. "We thought we'd have a better chance on dirt. He certainly showed he likes the mud. This horse has just blossomed."