Rattle N Roll Ready to Rock in Pimlico Special

Rattle N Roll looks to pick up his second straight graded stakes triumph in the $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) May 19 at Pimlico Race Course. The son of Connect won by 1 1/4 lengths at the Special's 1 3/16-mile distance last time out in the Ben Ali Stakes (G3) at Keeneland. That was a far better effort than his fourth-place, eight-length defeat going 1 3/16 miles in the 2022 Louisiana Derby (G2). The millionaire owned by Lucky Seven Stable was under consideration for the 1 1/8-mile Blame Stakes (G3), but the connections instead chose the Special. "He's a beast at a mile and three-sixteenths," trainer Kenny McPeek said. "That's the main reason we looked at it. We were originally looking at the Blame, but I decided to go ahead and put him in the Pimlico Special because of the distance." Also vying for the win Friday is Twin Creeks Racing Stables' homebred Law Professor. He's coming off a win in the Excelsior Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack last time out. Prior to that, the son of the Constitution finished a distant third in the Razorback Handicap (G3). "He ran great in the Excelsior. He's really done well over that track and the distance. It seems like two turns, a mile-and-an-eighth, right around that range, is really good for him," trainer Rob Atras said. "He's got such a high cruising speed and he just kind of ran them off their feet the other day. We're hoping for something like that on Friday. "He's definitely run against some top-caliber horses. He's a pretty nice horse. We're hoping he can handle the competition on Friday and the surface and all that," he added. "He seems to run well on any surface, so that's encouraging. He's been around and he won on the turf, so he's a pretty versatile horse. He's pretty neat." Rounding out the field for the Pimlico Special are Armando R, Clapton, Cooke Creek, Keystone Field, Kuchar, and Speed Bias. Earlier on Friday's card is the $100,000 Allaire DuPont Distaff Stakes featuring six fillies and mares 3 and up. Falconet, a daughter of Uncle Mo, makes her Pimlico debut, having finished outside the top three once in nine starts, with a 4-4-0 mark. The WinStar Farm homebred co-owned by CHC won most recently in the Top Flight Stakes. Her path to victory in the 1 1/8-mile contest may be hindered by Canadian-bred Interstatedaydream. By Classic Empire and out of the Uncle Mo mare Babcock, Interstatedaydream is 4-2-2 from nine starts with more than $500,000 in earnings. She raced at Pimlico Preakness weekend last year, winning the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2). Rounding out the field are Butterbean, Le Da Vida (CHI), Misty Veil, and Misty Mauve.