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BALTIMORE - Royal Assault won the $100,000 Sir Barton on the Preakness undercard to give trainer Nick Zito a 3-year-old stakes victory Saturday at Pimlico.
Zito lost his best Preakness prospect Friday with the scratch of The Cliff's Edge due to a foot abscess. That left Zito with long-shot Sir Shackleton for the Preakness.
Though Zito lost one stakes runner, he gained a Belmont Stakes candidate in Royal Assault.
Royal Assault enjoyed a much smoother trip than in his last race. He stumbled at the start of the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and never recovered.
Pat Day, riding the colt for the first time, guided Royal Assault to a trouble-free journey. Royal Assault rallied from last in the eight-horse field to beat Dashboard Drummer by 13/4 lengths with Humorously third.
"I actually toyed with the idea of running this horse in the Preakness but I said let's keep gradually trying to develop these horses like we do," Zito said.
The Belmont, the final leg of the Triple Crown, is June 5.
" Sarava won the Belmont a few years ago off this race," Zito said. "If you've got the horse, you can do it."
Royal Assault paid $9.60 to win. He ran the 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.63.
In other stakes action at Pimlico, Ocean Drive reunited with jockey Jerry Bailey to win the $100,000, Grade III Gallorette Handicap for fillies and mares.
Jockeys Ramon Dominguez and Richard Migliore each won a pair of stakes.
Dominguez took the Hirsch Jacobs Stakes for a third straight year when he guided Abbondanza to a win by a head over Bwana Charlie.
Dominguez also scored with Mr O'Brien in the 103rd running of the $100,000, Grade II Argent Dixie stakes.
Migliore rode Artie Schiller, who burst clear of the pack in midstretch to win the $100,000 Woodlawn Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles. Migliore also was aboard Seattle Fritz, winner of the $100,000 William Donald Schaeffer Handicap.
Gators N Bears took the $200,000, Grade III Maryland Breeders' Cup.
BIG TWO ABSENT: For the first time since 1985, neither Bob Baffert nor D. Wayne Lukas had a horse in the Preakness.
Lukas had missed only two Preakness races since 1985, and Baffert had a horse in the Preakness eight straight years before Saturday. Lukas has saddled five winners in the race, Baffert four.
TOUGH DAY FOR WOMEN: Three female trainers had entries - and it was a day to forget for all three. Off a third-place effort in the Derby, Kristin Mulhall's Imperialism went off as the third choice at 6-1, but faded badly in the last half-mile to finish fifth, 14 lengths behind Smarty Jones.
Yet Mulhall's day was a picnic compared with Jennifer Pedersen's Song of the Sword and Linda Albert's Water Cannon , who finished ninth and last, respectively. Five horses passed Song of the Sword over the final half-mile while Water Cannon was never better than ninth.
"He just didn't have it today, but he gave his all," Albert said.