LAUREL, Md. – No Guts No Glory Farm’s Alottahope became a stakes winner in spectacular fashion Saturday at Laurel Park, handing previously unbeaten Super Love his first defeat while powering to a 15-length triumph in the $75,000 Star de Naskra.
Owned and trained by Jerry Robb, who won the 2004 Star de Naskra at historic Pimlico Race Course with Move to Strike, Alottahope ($5.40) finished up in 1:22.91 over a fast main track, the third-fastest of 11 times the race has been run at seven furlongs. It has primarily been contested at six furlongs and was held at one mile in 1985.
Alottahope, a younger half-brother to eight-time stakes-winning mare Street Lute, and jockey Jevian Toledo were content to sit off the a pace of 22.70 and 45.53 seconds set by his Robb-trained and co-owned stablemate Al Loves Josie, ridden by Xavier Perez. Super Love entered the race with a perfect 3-0 record but broke awkwardly and then rushed up to join the leaders but was unable to get around Al Loves Josie on the backstretch and raced in third.
“Both of them rode good races. Xavier, his horse won on the front end [last time] and I told him, ‘You ride your race. I don’t care who’s in there,’” Robb said. “He went to the front. [Super Love] was boxed in and Toledo and went up and kept him there, which is what he gets paid to do.”
Alottahope, second to turf and dirt stakes winner Joe in the 2021 Maryland Juvenile, continued to press Al Loves Josie until taking over the top spot leaving the far turn and had nothing but daylight in front of him, sprinting clear of his rivals through the lane.
Buff Hello, the 2021 Maryland Million Nursery winner, got up to be second by 2 ¼ lengths over Al Loves Josie with 2021 Timonium Juvenile winner Cynergy’s Star fourth and Super Love fifth. Local Motive and Uncle Irish were scratched.
Jockey Horacio Karamanos lodged a claim of foul against Toledo for interference on the backstretch, but it was disallowed.
“It’s what we’ve been waiting for for four months, but he kept getting in trouble every race,” Robb said of Alottahope’s breakthrough performance. “It was no one’s fault, he just kept finding trouble.”
The Star de Naskra is named in honor of the 1979 champion sprinter bred and owned by Carlyle Lancaster. He had a record of 15-10-4 and purse earnings of more than $580,000 from 36 starts between 1977-79, winning eight stakes and three graded-stakes, the latter during his championship season.
David Joseph/Maryland Jockey Club
Photo by Maryland Jockey Club
