IRISH WAR CRY, ridden by Jose Ortiz, reverted to peak form Friday when leading every step of the 48th running of the Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special on the Preakness Eve card.

Owned by Isabelle Haskell de Tomaso and trained by Graham Motion, Irish War Cry returned $10 as third choice in a field of eight older horses after finishing 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.51 over a sloppy track. ONE LINER did all of the chasing when settling for a dead-heat for second with UNTRAPPED, about four lengths behind the winner. DISCREET LOVER, the longest shot in the field, was fourth, with the others far back.

Irish War Cry was rebounding off a poor effort in the Gulfstream Park Mile in late March when winning for the first time since the Wood Memorial a little more than a year ago.

Jim Dunleavy will have the full Pimlico Special recap up before long on www.drf.com.