Juvenile Turf Fillies, G3-Placed Edie Meeny Miny Mo Top Thursday Card
LAUREL, MD –Claudio Gonzalez, heading toward his fifth consecutive year as Maryland’s leading trainer, is closing in a career milestone.
The 44-year-old Gonzalez earned his 998th win Wednesday night with Joseph Besecker’s 2-year-old colt Peace Attardi in the opener at Penn National. Gonzalez had one horse entered Thursday night at Charles Town, Momza, in a Race 3 maiden special weight.
Gonzalez has three entries Thursday at Laurel – Bakeneko in Race 6, Lady Fox in Race 7 and Mischief’s Model in Race 8. He has one horse in Friday at Laurel, main-track-only entrant Bust’em Kurt in the Race 9 maiden special weight on the grass, as well as Postino’s Champion Friday night at The Meadowlands.
A native of Chile, Gonzalez has led all Maryland trainers in annual wins since 2017 and is tops again thus far in 2021 with 81 wins and $2,569,664 in purses earned. Dale Capuano is second with 42 wins.
Gonzalez first came to the U.S. as a teenager in 1995 and later worked for trainers Juan Serey, Gary Contessa and Ben Perkins Jr. before going out on his own. According to Equibase, he registered his first win Nov. 14, 2012 at Laurel with Quiet Tiara and earned his first stakes victory the following September at Monmouth Park with Princess Perfect in the Jersey Girl Handicap.
Since relocating from New Jersey to Maryland full-time in 2017, Gonzalez owns or shares 17 meet titles at Laurel and historic Pimlico Race Course, including both full meets in 2021 – Laurel’s winter stand and an extended Preakness Meet at Pimlico.
Gonzalez has three graded-stakes wins to his credit – the 2020 Pimlico Special (G3) with Harpers First Ride, 2020 Charles Town Oaks (G3) with Fly On Angel, and 2017 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) with Chublicious.
Juvenile Turf Fillies, G3-Placed Edie Meeny Miny Mo Top Thursday Card
An overflow field of 16 2-year-old fillies are entered in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight scheduled for the Exceller turf course as live racing returns to Laurel Park Thursday.
Post time for the first of nine races is 12:40 p.m.
The narrow 4-1 program favorite in a wide-open field is Hidden Creek Farm’s Golden Belief, a daughter of Goldencents purchased for $150,000 as a 2-year-old in training in May. Based with Michael Matz at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., Golden Belief was second by a neck in her unveiling going a mile and 70 yards Aug. 9 on the grass at Delaware Park.
Matz also entered Runnymoore Racing’s Amunet, a homebred daughter of 2015 Triple Crown champion American Pharoah that was fourth in a 7 ½-furlong turf sprint Sept. 11 at Delaware in debut. Listed at 20-1 on the morning line she will break from the rail, while Golden Belief drew Post 6.
D Hatman Thoroughbreds’ Ten Twenty One is a daughter of Tapit that fetched $300,000 as a yearling last fall and is winless in two starts including one-mile maiden special weight Sept. 16 at Laurel for trainer Phil Schoenthal. The connections are also represented by Determined Star, by Honor Code, who also brought six figures at auction last fall and has been fourth in her two tries thus far, most recently a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint Sept. 9 at Laurel.
Among the first-time starters are BTR Racing Inc. and Robert C. Pruet Jr.’s Sofia’s Secret from the barn of fall meet-leading trainer Brittany Russell, and Lael Stables’ homebred Keep It Classic, by Kitten’s Joy and trained by Michael Stidham. Both are listed at 6-1.
Thursday’s feature comes in Race 8, a second-level optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up going six furlongs on the main track. The 1-2 program favorite is Edie Meeny Miny Mo, second as the favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Monmouth Oaks (G3) July 31 and most recently fifth in the six-furlong Prioress (G2) Sept. 4 at Saratoga.
Entries will be taken and post positions drawn Thursday for Sunday’s Claiming Crown Preview Day, where winners will earn an automatic berth to the 23rd Claiming Crown in December at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. Winners will also receive $2,500 toward shipping costs and have their nomination fees paid.
Nine races are also on tap Friday led by a second-level optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting 5 ½ furlongs on the Bowl Game turf course in Race 8 that drew 11 entries including stakes winners Roselba and Ellanation and Gifted Heart for main track only.
Friday’s Race 9 finale is a maiden special weight for 2-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the Exceller turf course where an overflow field of 15 was entered including The Clam King and Bust’em Kurt for main track only. West Point Thoroughbreds’ Candy Cool, a $575,000 son of Candy Ride trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, will make his third start and first over grass after finishing sixth in his first two races at 5 ½ furlongs and one mile on dirt, the most recent Sept. 19 at Laurel.
For info on the Best Breeders’ Cup Seminar click HERE
Laurel Park Press Release
Photo: Claudio Gonzalez ( Laurel Park Photo)
