Maryland BC Sprint

Friendly Island was the top survivor in the Maryland (Matt Wooley/Horsephotos.com)

Anstu Stables Inc.’s FRIENDLY ISLAND (Crafty Friend) surged to the front
turning for home and persevered to a three-quarters of a length score in the
$190,000 Maryland Breeders’ Cup Sprint H. (G3) at Pimlico on Saturday. Breaking alertly
from the middle of the group, Friendly Island sat in second while pacesetter
Kazoo (Tabasco Cat) carved out moderate splits of :23 1/5 and :46 1/5 for the
opening half-mile. As the field bunched approaching the homestretch, Friendly
Island put away Kazoo and was never seriously challenged from there, stopping
the timer in 1:09 4/5 for the six furlongs. Trained by Todd Pletcher and piloted
by Garrett Gomez, the winner gave back $5.60, $4.20 and $3 as the 9-5 choice.

Celtic Innis (Yarrow Brae) moved well while wide and stayed on gamely for the
place, a head clear of the third. The 24-1 longshot was worth $14.40 and $5.20
while completing the $74.20 exacta. Gaff (Maria’s Mon) was steadied repeatedly between runners and could only
muster third. The 2-1 second choice paid $3.20 and finished off the $228.80 trifecta. Kazoo rounded out the $542.20 superfecta ($1) at 3-1 and was trailed
by Crafty Schemer (Crafty Prospector), Gold Cluster (Formal Gold) and Better
Than Bonds (Sweetsouthernsaint).

Friendly Island had been coming close at the graded level, placing in both
the Count Fleet Sprint H. (G3) and Mr. Prospector H. (G3), prior to breaking
through in here. He upped his mark to 13-7-1-1 with earnings of $426,214.