Chub Wagon heads long list of stakes winners in $100K Alma North; Laki, Whereshetoldmetogo among 25 nominees to $100K Challedon
BALTIMORE – Defending champion Harpers First Ride, fellow graded-stakes winners Informative and Phat Man, and multiple stakes winner Cordmaker top a list of 24 horses nominated to the $100,000 Deputed Testamony Saturday, July 31 at historic Pimlico Race Course.
The 1 1/8-mile Deputed Testamony for 3-year-olds and up is one of three stakes on July’s closing program along with the $100,000 Alma North for fillies and mares 3 and older and $100,000 Challedon for 3-year-olds and up, both sprinting six furlongs.
All three races are part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series.
Harpers First Ride parlayed a victory in the Deputed Testamony into an upset triumph in the historic Pimlico Special (G3) last fall, before ending the year with wins in the Richard W. Small and Native Dancer. He was sold prior to finishing off the board in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park, but was reunited with trainer Claudio Gonzalez for his most recent start, a 1 ¼-length optional claiming allowance score June 27 at Pimlico.
After finishing second to fellow nominee Mischief Afoot in an optional claiming allowance May 15 at Pimlico on the undercard of the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1), Informative shocked the Salvator Mile (G3) at odds of 79-1 June 12 at Monmouth Park. Last out, he ran fifth in June 6 Suburban (G2) at Belmont Park.
Phat Man exits a rallying two-length triumph in the 1 1/16-mile Battery Park July 10 at Delaware Park, defeating fellow nominees Magic Michael, Deal Driven, Galerio and Honor the Fleet, who respectively ran second through fifth. The 7-year-old gelding won the one-mile Fred Hooper (G2) in 2020 at Gulfstream Park.
Cordmaker has run in the Pimlico Special the past three years, finishing third in 2019 and 2020 and fourth in 2020 behind Last Judgment May 14 in his most recent start. Second in last year’s Deputed Testamony, the gelded 6-year-old son of two-time Horse of the Year and 2014 Hall of Famer Curlin became a stakes winner for the sixth time in the March 13 Harrison Johnson Memorial at Laurel Park.
Stakes winners Air Token, Bourbon Calling, Forewarned and Wait for It, and are also nominated along with Colonelsdarktemper, riding a three-race win streak.
Chub Wagon battling Hello Beautiful down to the wire in the Shine Again S. earning Black Type at Pimlico on June 13, 2021. (Maryland Jockey Club/Jim McCue)
Chub Wagon, undefeated through eight career starts, tops an impressive list of stakes winners among 18 nominees to the Alma North. Chub Wagon ran her record to 8-0 with a victory in the July 10 Dashing Beauty at Delaware, coming four weeks after her gutsy neck triumph over multiple stakes winner Hello Beautiful in the June 13 Shine Again at Pimlico.
Hello Beautiful, whose Shine Again effort came in her first race in four months, is being pointed to the Alma North. Also prominent among nominees are Feb. 20 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) winner Hibiscus Punch; Pacific Gale, winner of the Inside Information (G2) and Hurricane Bertie (G3) over the winter at Gulfstream Park; 11-time stakes winner Anna’s Bandit, second to Chub Wagon in the Dashing Beauty, and seven-time stakes-winning stablemate Street Lute; and multiple stakes winner Never Enough Time.
Most popular among horsemen was the Challedon with 25 nominees, led by 2020 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) winner Laki; Alwaysinahurry, impressive winner of the six-furlong Concern July 4 at Pimlico; Easy Day, never off the board in nine career starts and riding a three-race win streak; multiple stakes winner Whereshetoldmetogo, exiting a four-length triumph in the Alapocas Run July 3 at Delaware; and stakes winners Hollis, Lebda and Threes Over Deuces. Air Token and Bourbon Calling are cross-nominated.
Maryland Jockey Club Press Release
Photo: Harpers First Ride surges to beat Workin On a Dream by 1-1/4 lengths in an AOC June 27, 2021 at historic Pimlico Race Course. (Maryland Jockey Club/Jim McCue)
