Foxy Junior (red cap) scoring the 2024 MM Distaff. (Jerry Dzierwinski/MJC)
“Maryland’s Day at the Races” at Laurel Park on Saturday
> Keefe Hope for Rebound with Worth a Dime In MM Ladies
> Slewperstitus Promising in MM Lassie
Dan Illman/Laurel Park/Edited
LAUREL, Md.— Foxy Junior puts her unbeaten record at Laurel Park on the line when she defends her title in the $100,000 Shamrock Farm Maryland Million Distaff for fillies and mares at seven furlongs.
Special first post for the 12-race program is 11:30 a.m. ET. Gates open at 10:00 a.m. ET. On the wagering side, Laurel Park offers two “Value Pick 5” wagers, each with a low 12% takeout rate. The Early “Value Pick 5” spans races 1 through 5, while the Late “Value Pick 5” sequence comprises races 8 through 12. Additionally, races 9 through 12 make up an All-Stakes Pick 4 wager with an estimated $100,000 pool.
A perfect three-for-three over this surface, Foxy Junior turned up for this year’s Jim McKay Maryland Million with a decisive 4 ¾-length win in the Twixt Stakes at one mile on Sept. 6
“She just broke really good today, and she put me there,” jockey Jomar Torres said in the winner’s circle. “I just let her go and let her get comfortable. At the three-eighths pole, she was ready to go, but I waited a little bit, considering the second wire finish. When I got to the stretch and I asked her, it’s done. She’s gone.”
Since Torres became Foxy Junior’s regular dance partner, they’ve combined for eight wins from ten dirt starts. Foaled in Pennsylvania, the 5-year-old Cuba mare is a homebred owned by Dianne Stern.
“She gets a lot of love from me,” Torres said. “She’s the best horse I’m riding right now. She’s amazing.”
John Williamson III’s Stickwiththecolors captured the restricted Conniver Stakes on March 8. She makes her first start since finishing sixth of eight in an open second-level allowance the following month.
“She got the one-hole, and that’s probably not the best situation,” remarked trainer Salzman Jr. “There’s not a lot of speed in there. I’ve been training her pretty tough, trying to get her ready. It’s all going to matter on if she can get a slow enough pace. She’s a big, long-striding, good-looking filly. I think I got her tight enough. I hope so, anyway.”
Onyx Ten won two stakes races to kick off her 3-year-old campaign for Gary Capuano and owner Frank Sample. A homebred daughter of Street Magician, Onyx Ten returned from a 176-day layoff to take a restricted allowance at Delaware on Sept. 14
“She’s been wonderful,” Capuano said. “We ran the heck out of her last fall and this winter, and she didn’t miss a beat. She was tailing off, so we gave her all summer off. She trained really good going into the Delaware race, and she showed that. She’s coming into this race as good as she came out of that race.”
A full field of 12 is expected for the Shamrock Farm Maryland Million Distaff
Keefe Hope for Rebound with Worth a Dime In MM Ladies
Expectations were high for Worth a Dime after the 3-year-old homebred filly by Mosler rallied from left field in her career debut to upset a state-bred maiden special weight sprinting on May 23.
Following four consecutive defeats, Worth a Dime attempts to rebound in the $125,000 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Maryland Million Ladies for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles over the All Along Turf Course.
Owned by Nancy Lee Farms, Worth a Dime raced around two turns for the first time in her last start, an open first-level allowance on Sept. 28. She utilized unfamiliar tactics in that race, battling for the early lead before tiring to finish fifth.
“Coming off a couple of sprint races didn’t help us,” admitted trainer Tim Keefe. “She broke right out of there, and a longer shot on the outside was pressing us the whole way. I was happy with the way she ran. It was her first time going long, and I think she’ll benefit from that. I do look forward to seeing what she can do for us. I think the longer, the better for her. Our best shot will be sitting from off the pace.”
Although Precious Avary is a New Jersey-bred, she is by Maryland sire Divining Rod, and thus is eligible for a prime spot. The 5-year-old mare won this race two years ago, then just missed by a neck in last year’s edition. Trained by Tim Shaw for Smith Farm and Stable, Precious Avary should show good speed from the inside post position as she stretches out in distance following a rallying runner-up effort in the restricted Pinot Grigio Handicap at five furlongs on Monmouth turf.
Mopo, never off the board from five turf appearances, also moves sprint to route following a second-place finish. A 3-year-old filly by Great Notion, Mopo was a game maiden winner of a maiden special weight at Pimlico at one mile on May 16 for trainer Phil Capuano and owner Mopo Racing.
Since being claimed for $40,000 earlier this year by Ness for Madison Avenue Racing Stable and Morris Kernan Jr., Concrete Faze has won five of ten starts. All those races came on dirt, however, and the Super Ninety Nine filly will switch to grass on Saturday.
“She’s been in good form since we claimed her,” Ness said. “Obviously, if I had my druthers, I’d like to run on the dirt, but this is the race that came, the only one that she is eligible for today. Her last race was a sneaky-tough race. There were really good horses in that race, and she ran a credible third.”
The Thoroughbred Aftercare Maryland Million Ladies drew a field of nine with two also-eligibles.
Slewperstitus Promising in MM Lassie
Slewperstitus hinted at immense potential when walloping nine other juvenile fillies by 8 ¾ lengths in her career debut.
The Great Notion filly earned stakes placings in her two subsequent starts at Colonial Downs.
She’ll likely start favored in the $100,000 Glenangus Farm Maryland Million Lassie for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs.
“She showed a lot of good things [before she ran], mentioned trainer Robbie Bailes. “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.”
Brittany and Sheldon Russell counter with Share Success, who wasn’t headed in her career debut at five furlongs on Sept. 5. The Engage filly sold for $115,000 as a yearling and is owned by Cash Is King Racing and LC Racing.
Share Success has breezed three times since her successful coming-out party.
“She’s great,” Brittany Russell said. “She’s trained right forward and has given us some good works in the morning. She’s been a little bit of a funny filly mentally, but I think giving her the time to train along is what she needed. I’ve liked her from an ability standpoint.”
Salzman Jr. trains Rerun Table, a Blofeld filly that rallied from just off the pace to get up in the nick of time over a sharp four furlongs at Timonium on Aug. 24 for owner Bird and Grady LLC.
“Brittany had one in there coming from Saratoga that was real fast,” Salzman Jr. mentioned. “[The jockey] didn’t panic. Turning for home, I still didn’t think she’d get there, and she still got up even when lugging in and all.”
Salzman speaks glowingly about Rerun Table.
“I think she’s a nice filly, and I always did,” he said. “I had her ready for one of the first 2-year-old races [of the year], and she got hurt like two days before the race, and I had to give her some time off. At that time, I thought she’d win that race. She’s a professional. I’m looking for a big race out of her. Naturally, I’d rather have a little more experience, but it didn’t work out.”
Ness saddles Witchyness, a Golden Lad homebred owned by Ness’s Jagger Inc. and Super C Racing. A Delaware debut winner on July 19, Witchyness hasn’t raced since.
“She ran really well,” Ness said. “She never showed like she was going to be a horse that could win first out. All her siblings have been two-turn horses. She missed the break, circled the field, and passed every horse, which doesn’t happen very often with a first-time starter. She [then] got a little sick on me, so we had to back off her. She’s doing fine, had some good workouts at Parx, so we’re trying to play catch-up here with these horses.”
Gary Capuano trains the battle-tested Doc’s Miracle, who has already started six times. A maiden winner of a two-turn sprint at Timonium on Aug. 23, she finished second in the restricted Small Wonder Stakes at Delaware 22 days later.
“When I ran her at Timonium, she really woke up,” Capuano stated. “She came back last time and ran a huge race against a good horse. She’s coming into this good, too. She’s put things together.”
The 1/ST BET Maryland Million Lassie drew a full field of 12 juvenile fillies.
Rounding out the program are four Maryland Million Starter Handicaps. Two of them, the $50,000 Turf Starter for 3-year-olds and upward, and the $50,000 Turf Distaff Starter for fillies and mares, are contested at 1 1/16 miles. On dirt, the $40,000 Maryland Million Distaff Starter for fillies and mares, and the $40,000 Maryland Million Starter for 3-year-olds and up, are run at seven furlongs.
Named for the late Hall of Fame and 13-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster who helped launch the groundbreaking concept in 1986, the Jim McKay Maryland Million has evolved into the second-biggest day on the state’s racing calendar behind only the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes.
“Maryland’s Day at the Races” celebrates the stallions that stand in the state, as well as its rich and diverse racing history, which dates to the founding of the Maryland Jockey Club in 1743 and has spawned copycat events across the United States and Canada.
