Slewperstitus with Jevian Toledo aboard glide to the wire. (The Maryland Jockey Club photo)
Dan Illman/Laurel Park
LAUREL, Md.—In the paddock before the $100,000 Glenangus Farm Maryland Million Lassie for juvenile fillies at six furlongs, Slewperstitus was the one that caught the eye. She was energetic, yet under control, displaying a rare professionalism for such a young horse.
On the track, Slewperstitus ran to her looks, gamely kicking down pacesetting Doc’s Miracle to prevail by a neck in 1:12.23.
Doc’s Miracle zipped to the front under Hazlewood and set fractions of 23.20 and 47.09 seconds while pressured from the outside by Rerun Table. Slewperstitus, who was off a hair slow, settled into stride and tracked the leaders while four wide from the second flight.
Doc’s Miracle survived the early pace battle and gave ground grudgingly in the final sixteenth when Slewperstitus made her winning bid.
“I wish I could have saved a little bit more ground on the turn, but I felt like I had too much horse,” said winning jockey Jevian Toledo. “I got the best horse, so I had to go around because I don’t want to get caught in traffic later on. I went around and I asked her. She scared me a little bit because I felt like I was going to go by so easily. When I asked her a couple of times to get on a roll, she picked it up and showed her class.”
The win was Toledo’s second of the afternoon. He eclipsed Hall of Famer Edgar Prado as the winningest jockey in Jim McKay Maryland Million history following Had to Have Him’s rallying victory in the 1/ST Bet Maryland Million Turf Sprint.
“It feels amazing,” Toledo said. “Edgar is a mentor to all of us here in Maryland. I never really thought that I’d ever be tied with him. Now passing, it’s incredible.”
Slewperstitus returned $3.80 as the heavy favorite. Stablemate Ginger Snap finished seven lengths behind Doc’s Miracle in third. Then came Share Success, Rerun Table, Noble Status, Blind Love, God I Need a Favor, and Barbados Bulldog. Divine Intentions and Witchyness were scratched early. Last Gift withdrew after acting up at the starting gate.
Slewperstitus, a 2-year-old filly by Great Notion, was bred by Nancy and Eric Rizer and is owned by Eric Rizer. Her dam, Slew of Bullets, was bred by the Rizer family and was stakes-placed sprinting on dirt at Charles Town.
Trained by Robbie Bailes, Slewperstitus showed ability from the very start.
“She showed a lot of good things [before she ran], Bailes mentioned earlier in the week. “We’ve liked her all along. She’s an easy-training filly. We were debating whether to get a little allowance race in between, but she does everything so well in the morning, the timeframe never really bothered me at all.”
Slewperstitus was an impressive debut winner at Colonial on July 9, rallying from off the pace to take a restricted maiden special weight at 5 ½ furlongs. The following month, she finished a close second to sharp Just Philtored in Colonial’s restricted Keswick Stakes. Three weeks after the Keswick, Bailes tried Slewperstitus on turf, and the filly again ran a good second to Just Philtored.
“She’s one of those horses [where] the trainer just has to make sure not to mess up,” Bailes said with a laugh.
Slewperstitus has banked $152,500, and Bailes is looking forward to her 3-year-old campaign.
“We’ll give her a little bit of time, and see where she takes us,” he said in the winner’s circle.
