Among Four Stakes worth $300K on Saturday’s Maryland Pride Day Program
BALTIMORE, Md. – Runnymoore Racing’s Alwaysmining made his mark on dirt, capturing multiple stakes at 2, 3 and 4 and taking a brief trip on the 2019 Triple Crown trail. Given a new trainer and surface, the connections are hoping to rediscover his winning ways starting with Saturday’s $75,000 Find at historic Pimlico Race Course.
The 40th running of the Find for 3-year-olds and up and 49th edition of the All Brandy for fillies and mares 3 and older, both scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the grass, are among four stakes restricted to Maryland-bred/sired horses worth $300,000 in purses on a 10-race Maryland Pride Day program.
Also on the card are a pair of six-furlong dirt sprints, the $75,000 Star de Naskra for 3-year-olds and $75,000 Miss Disco for 3-year-old fillies. First race post time is 12:40 p.m.
The Find will be the third straight try on turf and fourth overall for Alwaysmining, and second start since being moved to the barn of Cal Lynch. He ran third by less than a length in a 7 ½-furlong optional claimer July 31 at Delaware Park last out, his seventh start of 2021.
“We’re trying him out on [grass]. He’s a little older now, not ancient but older, so we’re trying out different venues for him. We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” Runnymoore’s Caroline Bentley said. “We were very pleased with his last race.”
With trainer Kelly Rubley in 2018 and 2019, Alwaysmining put together a five-stakes win streak in the Maryland Juvenile Futurity, Heft, Miracle Wood, Private Terms and Federico Tesio at Laurel Park that earned him a shot in the Preakness (G1), where he raced in contention to the far turn before fading to 11th.
He began last year winning Laurel’s Jennings and John B. Campbell before going to the sidelines in mid-July. Alwaysmining returned this year with a new trainer, Austin Trites, and won an optional claiming allowance Jan. 30. Of his 10 career wins, three have come in eight tries on wet tracks should forecast rainy weather move the Find off the turf.
“We’re happy with him. We’re trying to find spots for him and it’s hard. There aren’t that many out there for a horse like him,” Bentley said. “We’re trying to be a little bit choosy – we are with all our horses, everyone is – but we like him, and we enjoy watching him race. We believe he still has a good future, so we’re just trying to take care of him and put him in spots that are good for him.”
Trainer Dale Capuano, winner of the 2008 Find with Headsandtails, entered Taking Risks Stable’s Cannon’s Roar. The 7-year-old gelding owns six wins, 10 seconds and seven thirds from 31 lifetime starts and has been even better on turf, going 5-5-5 from 17 tries.
Runner-up by a length in the 2020 Maryland Million Turf last fall, Cannon’s Roar exits a third-place finish in the West Virginia House of Delegates Speaker’s Cup Aug. 7 at Mountaineer Park. The Find would be the first local race since last year’s Million for the son of Orientate, claimed for $16,000 in August 2018.
“He can run right out of his stall this time, so that should be a big plus,” Capuano said. “Cannon’s Roar is just a gem of consistency. He shows up every time. He’s been a terrific horse for us since we got him. I couldn’t be happier with him.”
Not run last year during a stakes schedule altered amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Find was last contested in 2019 and won by Mike Trombetta-trained English Minister. This year, Trombetta entered R. Larry Johnson’s 6-year-old homebred Street Copper off a 3 ¾-length optional claiming triumph July 27 on the Colonial Downs turf. He had run second three times in six previous starts this year.
“We were happy with that. He just hadn’t been getting it done, but he had been running good,” Trombetta said. “He’s trained good since. He ran really exceptionally well down there. He got a great trip and ran good, so it’s certainly worth a look in a Maryland-bred stake.”
Another son of Street Magician, Bell Gale Stable’s 2019 Maryland Million Turf runner-up Somekindofmagician, takes a two-race win streak into the Find for Gary Contessa, who took over the 7-year-old gelding’s training this year. Both victories came in starter allowances at Delaware Park, the latter by 1 ¼ lengths despite encountering traffic trouble Aug. 7 at the Find distance.
“He’s done well in the Maryland Million before and he’s coming off two wins in a row here, and he’s kind of running out of places to run,” Contessa said. “It’s not an easy spot, but he’s a decent fit in there. He’s probably going to be eight or 10-1, but you never know. He’s on an upward swing right now, he’s doing really good and he’s healthy and sound, so now would be a good time to give him a try at that level and see what happens.”
Trifor Gold, Benny Havens and Closer Look complete the field. Tappin Cat and multiple stakes winner Cordmaker are entered for main track only.
Kiss the Girl (Maryland Jockey Club)
Stakes winner Kiss the Girl targets $75,000 All Brandy
Three Diamonds Farm’s Kiss the Girl, winner of the Conniver sprinting on dirt earlier this year, will stretch out in an attempt to transfer that form to the grass in Saturday’s $75,000 All Brandy.
Kiss the Girl, a 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief, is trained by Mike Trombetta, who won the last edition of the All Brandy with My Sistersledge in 2019 before the race was shelved last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Previously trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Kiss the Girl joined Trombetta’s string last November and ran second in the one-mile Geisha prior to winning the seven-furlong Conniver to kick off 2021.
Each of her last two starts have come on the turf, running fourth in the 7 ½-furlong Peach Blossom July 7 at Delaware Park prior to a runner-up finish behind Quiet Company in a one-mile optional claimer July 23 at Pimlico. Both the winner and third-place finisher, Judi Blue Eyes, return in the All Brandy.
“She came to us [last] fall and she’s very solid. She was coming off a layoff when I got her and it took her a race or two to kind of get in her best form,” Trombetta said. “We’ve run her on the turf a few times and she’s run good. We were just trying to get some continuity and run her and see how she does, and she’s done OK. Being a Maryland-bred race, she should fit in there just fine.”
James C. Wolf’s Artful Splatter is a multiple stakes winner on the dirt that is winless in seven tries on turf, with two seconds and two thirds. Fourth after setting the pace in the Conniver, her last win was a 10 ¼-length romp over a sloppy track at the All Brandy distance in the George Rosenberger Memorial last fall at Delaware Park.
Willis Horton Racing’s sophomore filly Forever Dreaming, purchased for $300,000 as a 2-year-old in training last spring, debuted with a front-running three-quarter-length maiden claiming triumph over older horses going a mile on the Pimlico turf July 16 for trainer Michael Dickinson.
Dendrobia, second in the five-furlong Jameela July 4 at Pimlico; Good Life Cider, Awesome Jazz, Holly’s Lady and Breviary round out the field.
Maryland Jockey Club Press Release
Photo: Alwaysmining (Maryland Jockey Club)
