Apple Picker looked like an accomplished mudder in her first race on a wet track. The 4-year-old daughter of Connect had no trouble handling the goo as she rallied between horses midstretch and drew off to a 1 3/4-length victory over Swall May 18 in the $100,000 Skipat Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. It was the first of eight added-money races on the Preakness Stakes (G1) undercard.
Jockey Sheldon Russell waited midpack before surging down the middle of the track and meeting his wife, Brittany Russell, in the winner’s circle. He also posed in it after the previous race, when he scored on 6-1 shot Nasty Habit , trained by Anthony Farrior, in a field that included two of his wife’s horses.
“It set up great for Apple Picker,” said Brittany Russell, Maryland’s leading trainer. “Good trip, Sheldon did a great job, and she ran great. You always worry on a day when there is moisture in the racetrack. Sometimes it favors speed. But she is a tough filly and she’ll run through anything.
“We had been talking about today’s races for a couple of days and had a pretty good game plan.”
It was the fifth victory in 14 starts for Apple Picker, who fared well in the muddy, sealed surface. She was timed in 1:12.34 for her third win in four tries at six furlongs. She earned $60,000, raising her total earnings to $401,283 for owner/breeder Michael Dubb, who made the trip from New York. She paid $8.40 as the second betting choice and finished 5 3/4 lengths ahead of 6-5 favorite Disco Ebo , who faded to fifth.
“I really try to ride her the same way every time,” Sheldon Russell said. “Her only weakness is that she takes a while to get into stride. Today down the backside she crept up nicely on the inside around the half-mile pole. She was traveling good turning for home, and she’s the type of filly that if you get her clear and show her some running space, she’s going to do her best, and she did that today.”
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