Multiple Graded-Stakes Winning Millionaire Tops 1 1/8-Mile Turf Stakes

BALTIMORE – Pixelate, a multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire bred and owned by Godolphin, returns for a title defense with his seasonal debut Saturday in the $100,000 Prince George’s County at Laurel Park.

The third running of the Prince George’s County for 3-year-olds and up and $100,000 Big Dreyfus for fillies and mares 3 and older, both scheduled for 1 1/8 miles on the grass, are among four stakes worth $450,000 in purses highlighted by the $150,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs on the main track.

Rounding out the stakes action is the $100,000 Alma North for fillies and mares 3 and up at 6 ½ furlongs. All four races are part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series.

Post time for the first of 11 races is 12:40 p.m.

A 5-year-old son of Grade 1 winner City Zip, Pixelate has not raced since finishing second by a half-length to Halo Again in the 1 1/16-mile Buddy Diliberto Memorial Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds. It was his 23rd career start and ninth of 2021, by far his best year with $757,093 in purse earnings. Overall, Pixelate been third or better 18 times with six wins and $1,130,993 in purses earned.

“Pixelate is doing really well. The only reason he was off was he was way overdue for a freshening, so we decided to give him a little freshening and get him ready for the spring and summer and that’s where we’re at,” trainer Michael Stidham said. “Obviously by his form you can see he’s there or thereabouts every time you run him. He’s training well and we’re ready to get him back started.”

The first of Pixelate’s two wins last year came in the Prince George’s County, run at historic Pimlico Race Course, where he saved ground early never far from the lead and ultimately worked his way outside to come with a steady run and get up by a length as the favorite over Logical Myth. Two starts later, he rolled to a 2 ½-length triumph in the one-mile Mint Million (G3) at Kentucky Downs.

“That day, he sat back a little bit and closed really strong to get up and get it done,” Stidham said of last year’s Prince George’s County. “Every time we run this horse he puts in a really solid effort. It doesn’t matter who he runs against or what distance. He seems to handle anything from a mile to a mile and an eighth. He’s just one of those horses that really tries hard.”

Five of Pixelate’s six wins have come in stakes, including the 2020 Del Mar Derby (G2). He will be racing at Laurel for the first time, his 14th different track, and will have Jevian Toledo aboard from Post 1 in a field of seven.

“He’s one of those kinds of horses that really adapts well to whatever happens. If there’s a lot of pace on he’ll be sitting back off it and if there’s no pace he can lay closer,” Stidham said. “He’s very adaptable. He’s an easy horse to ride, so we’ll see how it works out.”

Also returning from last year’s Prince George’s County is Mark B. Grier’s 2020 Kent (G3) winner Eons, who finished third by two lengths following a troubled trip. The 6-year-old came back to beat Pixelate in the 1 1/8-mile Buckland at Colonial Downs in their subsequent start, and exits his fourth stakes victory in the June 14 Bensalem at Parx.

Louis Bisso Jr.’s Nick Papagiorgio is also entered off a stakes victory, his first, coming in the 1 1/16-mile Find June 19 over the Laurel turf. Narrowly beaten by Somekindofmagician in the 2021 Find, the 6-year-old gelding reversed the finish with a rallying half-length decision in just his second start of the year.

“He’s been doing very well,” trainer Michael LeCesse said. “He had a good maintenance work last week and came out of that very good. He seems like he’s ready to go again.”

Nick Papagiorgio made his season debut on the all-weather surface at Presque Isle Downs May 30, his first race in five months, running fifth in a one-mile, 70-yard optional claiming allowance. The race, coupled with the extended break, proved to be an ideal setup for the Find.

“I think the fact that he had a couple months off where he was able to relax and just rest and heal up everything was important. I don’t know if he’s ever had much time off to gather himself up,” LeCesse said. “He had a good race at Presque Isle. He got a little tired in that race, but we used it as a prep for the Find. He came out and did very well.

“The time off really helped him. I think that’s a big factor when get a horse that can have a little bit of a break and they can come back and be fresh and ready to go,” he added. “And, he’s still fresh. It’s only his third start. I expect him to run well.”

Horacio Karamanos, up for the Find, is named again from outside Post 7 at co-topweight of 122 pounds.

Bell Gable Stable’s Somekindofmagician made his season debut in the Find for Maryland-bred/sired horses, encountering some early trouble but being game while racing inside to wind up second, a nose better than B Determined. Trained by Gary Contessa, the 8-year-old gelding has earned both his stakes wins over the Laurel turf, including the Maryland Million Turf in his 2021 finale.

Completing the field are Runnymoore Racing’s Beacon Hill, beaten a nose last out by Eons in the Bensalem; English Tavern, a four-time winner at Laurel exiting an optional claiming allowance triumph May 20 at Pimlico; and Nathan Detroit, winner of a one-mile optional claiming allowance July 4 at Laurel.