Artie Schiller’s always-consistent Sonny Inspired racked up career victory number six in Saturday’s $75,000 Ben’s Cat S. at Laurel Park. It was also the second stakes win for the 5-year-old, who has finished top-three in 19 of 29 lifetime outings.
While patiently letting a trio of foes fight it out on the front end over the sloppy going, Sonny Inspired made his move for the lead coming into the lane. Despite getting forced wide during the stretch run, the bay outlasted a pair of challengers to win by a length in 1:11.23 for the six furlongs.
“I was a little surprised when they all stacked up like that on the front end,” trainer Phil Schoenthal said. “I thought Gursky was going to go to the lead because that was our plan. Sonny was closer than we thought.”
Schoenthal said the Maryland Sprint (G3) on Preakness Day Saturday, May 21, but he may run before in the $1.25 million Charles Town Classic April 23. “It will be fun running for a million dollars,” he said. “And if we run third or fourth we could make a lot of money.”
Artie Schiller’s impressive list of runners this year include a trio of graded stakes winners in addition to Sonny Inspired, who is now a two-time stakes winner in 2016.
