Icona Mama #6 with Ricardo Chiappe riding won the $100,000 Shamrock Rose Stakes at Penn National Nov. 27, 2024. (Kathy Hair/EQUI-PHOTO)
Dan Illman/The Maryland Jockey Club
LAUREL, Md. – DeSales 85 LLC’s Icona Mama enjoyed a very successful 2-year-old campaign and should be a strong contender when she makes her seasonal debut in the Wide Country.
A debut winner over the Tapeta surface at Presque Isle Downs, the Maximus Mischief filly next placed second in the off-turf Bolton Landing Stakes at Saratoga before finishing third, beaten less than a length, in Churchill’s Grade 3 Pocahontas Stakes.
“She was pretty nice [from the beginning],” Stites said. “The biggest question we had was whether she’d prefer dirt or turf. Her mother was a fairly decent turf horse. She ran really well [when washed off] at Saratoga, so we stayed on the dirt from that point on.”
After finishing fifth at 5-1 odds in the Grade 1 Frizette in New York, Icona Mama polished off her season by dominating fellow Pennsylvania-breds in the Shamrock Rose Stakes at Penn National.
Trained at Penn National by Flint Stites, Icona Mama’s training has been interrupted by Mother Nature.
“It’s been spotty,” Stites admitted. “We’ve tried to get our works in at a regular fashion, but that was really hard to do. We haven’t been able to gallop as much as we’d liked. We had several days here where the track was closed for training, but we were able to jog her, so that helped. She’s not as fit as I’d like her to be, but she’s not far from it, and she’s fairly talented. I think she can overcome it, even if she is a little short.”
Stites noticed that Icona Mama matured over the winter.
“She filled out really well physically,” Stites said. “Emotionally, she was already fairly mature. Very precocious. Loved to train. Wanted to be competitive with other horses. She didn’t do many silly things.”
Stites believes that Icona Mama “has been pretty sharp lately” and that he expects her “to break quick and be fairly close” to the pace.
Onyx Ten enjoyed a perfect pace-tracking, ground-saving trip to take Laurel’s Xtra Heat Stakes at six furlongs on Jan. 25. Trained by Capuano for breeder-owner Frank Sample, Onyx Ten cut back in distance after finishing second as the odds-on chalk in a two-turn allowance on Dec. 27. In that race, she was rank in the opening furlongs, made an early bid to the lead, and understandably faltered late.
“She’s a little nervous filly,” assistant trainer Tori Capuano said after the Xtra Heat. “I think that was the reasoning [why she was pulling in the allowance]. She just needed to settle down. She finished great [today]. She didn’t stop. She just kept going and galloped out good.”
Trainer Jose Corrales entered two for the Miracle Wood. Barak Farm and Dino’s Thoroughbreds’ Shkhara Fire rallied from last to win last year’s restricted Maryland Million Lassie. She finished second, beaten 1 ¾ lengths in the Xtra Heat.
Barak Farm’s Safe Trust, third in the Maryland Million Lassie, finished ahead of Onyx Ten when second in the Maryland Juvenile Filly on Dec. 7. She was a sharp winner of a first-level allowance over muddy going on Feb. 7.
Thrice stakes-placed, Not Too Late finished third in the Xtra Heat after setting the pace. She’ll break from the outside post for trainer Uriah St. Lewis’ Trin-Brook Stables.
Bran Jam Stable and David Clark’s Ourdaydreaminggirl finished second in her first start against winners when ten lengths behind stablemate Volleyball Princess in Aqueduct’s Ruthless Stakes on Feb. 1.
Richard Burnsworth’s Field of Roses, unbeaten from two starts, steps up in class for trainer Anthony Farrior after earning a pace-pressing victory in a $40,000 claimer on Feb. 2.
Random Guys Stables’ New Boots, claimed for $12,500 by trainer Charles DeMario when graduating by 18 ¼ lengths, completes the field.
