Keeneland Select Pick of the Day | May 15, 2021

Race 12 at Pimlico | Saturday May 15 | Post Time 5:38 PM Eastern

Dinner Party Stakes | Purse $250,000 | One Mile and One Sixteenth on Turf | Three Year Olds and Upward

Pace scenario: 

I foresee an early pace scenario in which Flying Scotsman (7), who is owned by Calumet farm the same as English Bee (2), is going to insure an honest pace. If he were not in the race, Somelikeithotbrown (1) may be capable of controlling the tempo like he did winning the Mohawk Stakes or Bernard Baruch Stakes last year. Having a “Rabbit” in a race is within the rules and that’s what I think trainer Sisterson is doing here with Flying Scotsman. Flying Scotsman wired the field three back in February with a :46 second half-mile and 1:09 six furlong split. He tried the same thing in the much tougher Grade 1 Kilroe Mile in March then faded and he tried it again last month in the Maker’s Mark Mile and faded. 

Contenders:

English Bee (2) closed fast last June in the identical Wise Dan Stakes and missed by a neck to Factor This, who had controlled the tempo on the front end. Flying Scotsman’s presence here insures something similar is unlikely to happen and with Rosario getting on English Bee for the first time, and with a repeat of his effort in the Wise Dan, or when flying from eighth to second in the Canadian Turf last February, English Bee can win. 

That being said, Sacred Life (5) could also be a beneficiary of any hot pace battle. He rallied from eighth of nine to get third in the Maker’s Mark Mile last month. That followed seven months off so we can expect a much better effort and he proved he belonged in top company on turf when missing by a half-length in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Stakes in the fall of 2019 as well as when winning the Oceanport Stakes last August. 

Betting Strategies –

Win bets:

English Bee (2) and Sacred Life (5) to win at odds of 5 to 2 or more. 

Exacta:

English Bee (2) and Sacred Life (5) over Somelikeithotbrown (1), English Bee (2), Kuramata (3), Midnight Tea Time (4), Sacred Life (5) and Bye Bye Melvin (8).

Trifecta: English Bee (2) and Sacred Life (5) over Somelikeithotbrown (1), English Bee (2), Kuramata (3), Midnight Tea Time (4), Sacred Life (5) and Bye Bye Melvin (8) over Somelikeithotbrown (1), English Bee (2), Kuramata (3), Midnight Tea Time (4), Sacred Life (5) and Bye Bye Melvin (8).