Skipping Easily Wins Murray Memorial

Besides having been the last three winners of the Jim Murray Memorial Handicap, Kudos, Bienamado and Lazy Lode have something else in common: All have at least one Grade I victory.

Such an important win could be in the future of Skipping, the winner in this year’s Murray, a race named for The Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist.

A 13-10 favorite making his second start in the country for Juddmonte Farms and trainer Bobby Frankel, Skipping blew away 7-2 second choice Startac in the final furlong to win by two lengths.

The 5-year-old Rainbow Quest horse, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, completed the 11/2 miles on the turf in 2:261/5.

This was the fourth victory in 11 starts for Skipping and gave Frankel his sixth victory in the Murray, which was run for the first time in 1990.

After earning his first victory in the race, Desormeaux did some reminiscing about Murray, who died in the summer of 1998.

“I thought it was fitting the way the race unfolded because it was named after Jim Murray,” he said. “I remember reading an article by Jim about how he was infatuated by Bill Shoemaker because Shoe was so silky smooth.

“Well, this horse couldn’t have given me a smoother run. It was nice and poetic like the way Jim wrote. I didn’t need to do much. I just had to aim this guy in the right direction and let him stretch his legs. I knew he could take Startac any time I wanted. This is a very nice horse.”

Startac, a Grade I winner himself in the Secretariat Aug. 18 at Arlington Park, finished a length in front of 9-1 shot Our Main Man, then came Sharbayan, Straight Flush, Poker Brad and Lasting Tribute.

Spotting the winner four pounds (120 to 116), Startac may have done better had he not fallen into the role of pacesetter.

“We would rather have had something to run at, but the way things unfolded, we found ourselves on the lead,” jockey Mike Smith said. “He focuses better when he has a target, but I didn’t want to take him back and get him rank. He ran well, but the winner ran some race.”

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Azeri, a winner of two Grade I races in a row, was given highweight of 122 pounds for the $200,000 Milady Breeders’ Cup Handicap Saturday at Hollywood Park.

The Milady is the first of three Grade I races that will be run during Hollywood Park’s lone six-day week of the meet. The Memorial Day card will feature the $500,000 Shoemaker Breeders’ Cup Mile and the $500,000 Gamely Breeders’ Cup Handicap, along with a $1-million guaranteed pool in the pick six.

Azeri, a 4-year-old daughter of Jade Hunter owned by the family of the late Allen Paulson and trained by Laura De Seroux, won the Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita on March 10, then came back four weeks later to take the Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park.

A winner in five of six races in her career, Azeri is expected to be opposed by Affluent, also a multiple-stakes winner, as well as Ask Me No Secrets, Collect Call, Cashmina and Alexine.