‘Double’ Can Only Include Bailey

A week ago, in the Kentucky Derby, Jorge Chavez rode Monarchos to victory while Jerry Bailey’s mount, Talk Is Money, was last in the 17-horse field.

Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, however, Bailey brought Include from next to last for a narrow victory in the $750,000 Pimlico Special over Chavez and heavily favored Albert The Great.

If Bailey is looking for a harbinger, he has found one in Include, who has done his part in what could turn out to be a double in Pimlico’s two biggest races for the jockey. Next Saturday, in the $1-million Preakness, Bailey will ride Congaree, the third-place finisher in the Derby, for the first time as he shoots for his sixth Triple Crown victory.

The last jockey to sweep the Pimlico Special and the Preakness in the same year was Gary Stevens, who won in 1997 with Gentlemen and Silver Charm.

Include, a 4-year-old colt trained by Bud Delp and bred and owned by Robert Meyerhoff, had won seven of 10 races going into Saturday, including three in a row this year. Running 1 3/16 miles--the Preakness distance--in 1:55 3/5, Include earned $450,000, paying $7 as the second choice in the six-horse field.

Albert The Great, trained by Nick Zito, took the lead from pacesetter Laredo at the head of the stretch, but couldn’t outlast Include in a long stretch drive and lost by a neck.

“My horse came through a narrow opening [at the quarter-pole] and never batted an eye, he never flinched,” Bailey said. “Albert The Great never quit that much. My horse just ran him down.”

Albert The Great, winner of the Widener Handicap in his last race, went off at 3-5.

“My horse gave everything,” said Chavez, who will ride Monarchos again when they try for the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Pleasant Breeze finished third, 3 3/4 lengths behind Albert The Great.

Five days after he won his 4,000th race, trainer Wayne Lukas won the $150,000 Genuine Risk Handicap at Belmont Park with Katz Me If You Can, who beat Lucky Livi by three-quarters of a length and paid $34.20.

Katz Me If You Can, ridden by Joe Bravo, had lost six in a row.

Lukas’ 4,000th win came last Monday when Added Spice won the ninth race at Delaware Park. Ahead of Lukas in victories are Dale Baird with 8,478; Jack Van Berg with 6,300 and King Leatherbury with 5,910. Lukas, who ran his first thoroughbreds in 1974 while he was still primarily training quarter horses, has an unofficial total of 943 stakes wins, which means that about 23% of his victories have come in stakes races. Overall, Lukas’ horses have earned $220 million, almost twice the total of the late Charlie Whittingham, second on the list with $110.6 million. Bobby Frankel could move into second in earnings before the month is out.

Janet, ridden by David Flores for trainer Darrell Vienna, won the $200,000 Yerba Buena Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Bay Meadows, beating the 9-10 favorite, Keemoon, by three-quarters of a length. They were trailed by Alexine and Shebane in the four-horse field. . . . La Vida Loca beat Bold Answer by one length to win the $113,800 Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Downs. Serena’s Tune, the early leader, faded to ninth in the 10-horse field. . . . Favored Proud Man ran second, beaten by three-quarters of a length, as Kalu, the second choice, won the $250,000 Hawthorne Derby. . . . With Dollar Bill apparently a definite starter in the Preakness, Pat Day will retain the mount on that colt, leaving trainer Nick Zito looking for a rider for A P Valentine. Day, who has won the Preakness five times, needs one more win to tie Eddie Arcaro’s record.