Pay Billy Leads 10-Horse Federico Tesio Field

Private Terms Stakes winner Pay Billy and Withers Stakes runner-up Surfside Moon lead a competitive edition of the $150,000 Federico Tesio Stakes April 19 at Laurel Park. The 1 1/8-mile event for 3-year-olds offers any Triple Crown-nominated runner that wins an automatic berth to the Preakness Stakes (G1), the May 17 second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course. Trained by Michael Gorham for RKTN Racing, Pay Billy won the Private Terms by 3 1/2 lengths March 22. That race came on the heels of a close runner-up finish in the Improbable colt's stakes debut, Laurel's Miracle Wood Stakes Feb. 22. "He's going as good into this race as he did his last race," Gorham said April 15. "I'm expecting a big (effort)." Gorham noted that Pay Billy breaks from post 9 in the 10-horse Federico Tesio. "He's got an outside post, so (jockey Raul Mena) will have to use him a bit and try to tuck in," Gorham said. "It should separate enough where he can get in and save some ground, and he definitely doesn't need to be on the lead." Manor Stable and Mair Lee Stables' Surfside Moon was last seen placing second, 2 1/4 lengths behind Captain Cook, in the Withers Feb. 1 at Aqueduct Racetrack. "Our horse came out of that race with a real bad cold and infection," said trainer Chuck Lawrence. "We had to give him three weeks off. Probably not a bad thing to get off the so-called Derby trail and make it a little easier for the horse." Lawrence always believed that the Malibu Moon colt would appreciate longer distances. "We always liked him from the moment we picked him out at the sale to when we broke him," Lawrence said. "He did everything right. As a 2-year-old, he ran well, but we were really anticipating and looking forward to two turns with him. Everything about his breeding and his demeanor said that he'd really excel when we went two turns." Mens Grille Racing's Studlydoright, recently named Maryland's champion 2-year-old male of 2024, is the highest money-earner in the Tesio, having accrued $307,205 in purse money for trainer John Robb. The multiple stakes-winning Nyquist colt recently finished fifth in the March 15 Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs. He has competed exclusively in stakes races since winning his debut racing 4 1/2 furlongs at Laurel Park May 5. Sacred Thunder, the winner of the James F. Lewis III Stakes Nov. 9, has hit the board in his last four races, all stakes in Maryland, and some with troubled trips. Owned by John Hazard, Sacred Thunder finished behind Pay Billy when third in the Miracle Wood and second in the Private Terms. "He always shows up," trainer Gary Capuano said. "He's training good, he looks good. The (distance) won't hurt him. He doesn't have that quick turn of foot. He grinds and grinds. If he gets a good trip and he's in contention, he'll keep coming. Kentucky Outlaw tries stakes company for the first time after capturing his first two starts by a combined 13 1/2 lengths at Parx Racing. He wired a first-level allowance field March 26 when trying two turns for the first time. Ten days later, Kentucky Outlaw breezed a bullet half-mile in :47.01 at Parx. "I could only walk him for two days," said owner/trainer Felissa Dunn. "The third day, we had to take him to the track. He was just wild." Dunn admits that Kentucky Outlaw will face his toughest test Saturday but believes the Outwork colt will "love" the 1 1/8-mile distance. "I don't think we can hold him," Dunn said, noting that Kentucky Outlaw would likely go directly to the lead.