Bosserati. (Jerry Dzierwinski /MJC)
Among Three Stakes Worth $250,000 in Purses Sunday at Laurel
David Joseph/Maryland Jockey Club
LAUREL, Md. – Joel Politi’s Maryland homebred Bosserati, who became a stakes winner last summer to cap a three-race win streak once moved to the grass, looks to duplicate that feat in her third race off a 10-month layoff in Sunday’s $75,000 Jameela at Laurel Park.
The 36th running of the Jameela for Maryland-bred/sired fillies and mares 3 and up, scheduled for six furlongs on the Fort Marcy turf course, is the first of three stakes worth $250,000 in purses on a nine-race program that begins at 12:25 p.m.
A 4-year-old daughter of Holy Boss, Bosserati began her career sprinting on the dirt. She captured her debut, a four-furlong maiden special weight at Timonium, and two starts later ran third in the Maryland Million Lassie. After finishing off the board in three of her next four starts, the decision was made to make a switch to the turf.
Bosserati responded with three straight wins, starting with a claiming event and open allowance each going five furlongs against older horses, before a front-running half-length triumph in the 5 ½-furlong Stormy Blues in mid-June at historic Pimlico Race Course.
Trained by Brittany Russell, Bosserati has never raced as far as six furlongs on the grass but exits a third in the 5 ½-furlong Goldwood June 22 at Monmouth Park where she set the pace in typical fashion before grudgingly giving way and finishing 1 ½ lengths back.
“I know it’s three-quarters but she’s speed and she likes it at home, and at least she’ll be back against state-breds. There’s some good Maryland-breds out there. She’s doing great,” Russell said. “She ran big at Monmouth, and it seems like she came out of it great, so it was nice to see the old Bosserati back in form.”
Russell brought Bosserati back off her layoff in the five-furlong The Very One May 17 on the undercard of the 100thBlack-Eyed Susan (G2) at Pimlico where she chased eventual winner Future Is Now, who came back to win the Intercontinental (G2) June 8 at Saratoga. Russell is hoping the third race back will produce an improved performance from Monmouth.
“For a minute I thought she was going to steal it in Jersey that day, but we were really proud of her effort,” she said. “She’s a fast filly, so at this stage I just have to keep her happy and healthy and hope that they’re good spots for her.”
Russell’s husband, jockey Sheldon Russell, gets the riding assignment from the rail in an overflow field of 12 that includes main-track-only entrant Royal Whisper. A maximum of 10 horses are allowed to run.
Trainer Mike Trombetta, who passed on the Jameela with Future Is Now, will be represented by another R. Larry Johnson homebred in Hollywood Walk. The 5-year-old Animal Kingdom mare ran third to her stablemate in Pimlico’s The Very One and sixth in the Goldwood but has placed in stakes on both dirt and turf and was fifth in last year’s Jameela after a troubled start.
Similarly back from last year’s Jameela is Shamrock Farm homebred Money’s Worth, who finished third. In her first start in five months, the Graham Motion trainee opened her 5-year-old season running second in an April 28 optional claiming allowance sprinting 5 ½ furlongs on the Laurel turf. She is seeking her first grass win after having two seconds and two thirds in five previous tries.
Also entered are Speightful Sis, a winner of two of her last three races, both sprinting on the grass; Bay Street, third in the seven-furlong Conniver over Laurel’s main track March 16; Alla Breve, last out winner of an open 5 ½-furlong allowance June 14 on the Laurel turf; One Silk Stocking, fourth by 1 ¼ lengths in the 2023 Megahertz (G3) going one mile on the grass last winter at Santa Anita; Double Fireball, beaten a head when second in the 1 1/8-mile Maryland Million Ladies on turf last fall; and Kissed by Fire, fifth by two lengths after setting the pace in the 6 ½-furlong Las Cienegas (G3) Jan. 14 at Santa Anita.
Mattitude, a winner of two straight that has made 13 consecutive dirt starts and is winless in three tries on grass including a fifth, beaten 1 ¼ lengths, in the 2022 Jameela, is the lone also-eligible.
Meaning ‘beautiful’ in Arabic, Jameela won 16 stakes including the Maskette (G1), Ladies (G1) and Delaware (G1) handicaps before being retired following the 1982 season as the first Maryland-bred to surpass $1 million in lifetime earnings. She had two foals, the first being 1988 champion sprinter Gulch, before passing away from colic in 1985. She was elected to the Maryland-bred Hall of Fame in 2013.
