Trombetta takes Black-Eyed Susan aim with Call Another Play
Although he will not have a horse in the main event this weekend at Pimlico, trainer Mike Trombetta will be very busy on Friday and Saturday afternoon.
Trombetta could sent out as many as 10 runners Friday and three more on Saturday. In particular, the local conditioner will look to garner his share of the spotlight in the Grade II, $300,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for three-year-old fillies, which is the Friday co-feature.
Courtesy of her victory in the recent Weber City Miss Stakes at Laurel Park, Call Another Play punched her ticket to the Grade II, $300,000 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for three-year-old fillies. She will have regular pilot Jaime Rodriguez aboard for the main event on the Friday card, the coveted sister race for the Preakness Stakes the following day.
“I thought her last race was definitely her best race so far,” Trombetta said of Call Another Play, a Maryland-bred sophomore daughter of Audible that he conditions for owner-breeder R. Larry Johnson. “She came out of that race really well and she’s coming into this one really good. She will definitely have to step up her game a little bit on Friday going against that group of fillies in her first time trying graded stakes company, but she’s earned the chance to be in there.”
Corposo has been tabbed as the 5-2 favorite for trainer Peter Eurton with rider Tyler Gaffalione aboard, Call Another Play, 8-1 on the morning line, brings a three-race win streak into the Friday feature. She ended a modest drought dating back to graduating against maiden special weight foes at Colonial Downs last August 31 when she defeated $40,000 claimers by six lengths. She then won an allowance event by four lengths in her finale tuneup for the Weber City Miss.
In all, the three wins in her hot streak have come by a combined total of 14 lengths.
“She was doing so good that we had to take a shot at the Weber City Miss,” Trombetta said. “I thought she would run well in there, but she definitely exceeded my expectations. There are not many spots around here for three-year-old fillies running long, so we thought we would take a shot at the Black-Eyed Susan. It’s definitely a big step up for her, but I know her owner is excited to see how well she will do in there.”
Two races earlier on the card, Trombetta will send out a pair of Johnson homebreds in the $100,000 The Very One Stakes for fillies and mares on the turf. Future Is Now, a four-year-old daughter of Great Notion, was recently fifth while facing male rivals in the King T. Leatherbury Stakes at Laurel, but she was a solid second in the Captiva Island Stakes at Gulfstream Park prior to that. Hollywood Walk, a five-year-old Great Notion mare with a 4-2-4 slate and nearly $225,000 banked from 15 career tries, will make her seasonal debut in that event.
Then two races earlier on the Friday program, Trombetta will saddle Turf Rocket in the $100,000 Hilltop on the grass for Johnson, who claimed the daughter of More Than Ready for $50,000. Fresh off graduating against maiden special weight foes at Gulfstream Park on March 31, Turf Rocket will tackle winners for the first time while making her stakes debut in the Hilltop Stakes and will have the services of jockey Paco Lopez.
Trombetta will not be nearly as busy on Preakness Day when he will saddle only three horses on the card, but he will have another chance to garner a stakes tally when he sends out Crystal Quest in the $100,000 James W. Murphy on the grass. A sophomore son of Uncle Mo that he conditions for owner Live Oak Plantation, Crystal Quest has won all three of his starts this year and will have the services of rider Javier Castellano for the Murphy, scheduled as the ninth race on the Saturday card and roughly three hours before the main event.
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