Lady Shipman goes about her business in The Very One

On a wet day at Pimlico, dazzling turf sprinter Lady Shipman went about her business registering a 2 1/4-length victory as the 2-5 favorite in the $100,000 The Very One going five furlongs on Saturday's Preakness undercard.

Saddled with post 12, the four-year-old Midshipman filly broke a tad slow but was still able to secure a decent trip stalking in third a couple of lengths behind Everything Lovely. Heading that rival passing the quarter pole, Lady Shipman soon took over and outclassed her rivals to the wire in a time of :57.85 on good ground.

Owned by Ranlo Investments, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin and ridden by Joel Rosario, Lady Shipman paid $2.80.

"She's such a star and can handle good, soft, firm [turf]," McLaughlin said. "The post position, 12 of 12, wasn't ideal but it worked out great. Everything's good.

"We don't really have a plan. This race was a little quick back. Because she was doing so well we decided to take a shot. We'll just have to look ahead. I'm not sure what we'll do next."

An Eclipse Award finalist last season for champion female sprinter following a strong second in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1), Lady Shipman has now won stakes at Gulfstream, Belmont, and Pimlico from four outings this term. A trip to Dubai for the Al Quoz Sprint (G1) resulted in a seventh-place finish.

A year on from American Pharoah's romp in the Preakness (G1), Justin Squared brought Zayat Stables and trainer Bob Baffert back to the Pimlico winner's circle following the $100,000 Chick Lang.

Under Martin Pedroza, the gray three-year-old by Zensational set modest fractions of :23.01 and :46.17, opened up a four-length lead in midstretch and held on to win by two lengths over Counterforce in a time of 1:11.41 on the muddy main track. The 4-5 favorite paid $3.60.