If you were a trainer at Laurel Park Saturday you wanted jockey Trevor McCarthy in the irons because they were as hot as the sun. If you were a fan, you wanted him on your ticket to watch it turn to green.
McCarthy started his day winning the opening race on the card on the turf, a $42,000 8-1/2 furlong allowance. On the 4/5 favorite, a four-year-old Tapit gelding, STRIKE ME DOWN, McCarthy hit the wire first for trainer Graham Motion and owner Sam-Son Farm, paying $3.60, $3.00 and $2.20.
In the next race, an 8 furlongs $35,000 optional claimer, McCarthy would guide DISCREET SISTER (Discreet Cat) to fifth place for trainer Jamie Ness. He would again place fifth in the following race, a $42,000 allowance on the turf for trainer Cal Lynch aboard LACUSTRE (Gb) (Dansili (Gb).
When the stakes began, Trevor really heated up the track. In the irons for trainer Linda Rice, McCarthy won the $75,000 Challendon Stakes aboard TIZ HE THE ONE. The five-year-old son of Tiz Wonderful (Tiznow), owned by Lady Sheila Stables and Iris S. Smith, paid $10.80, $4.40 and $2.40.
This race is named for the 1939 Preakness winner and two-time Horse of the Year, Challendon (Challenger II), who was bred in Maryland by William L. Brann and Robert S. Castle, and raced under the colors of their Branncastle Farm.
Next up was the $100,000 Anne Arundel County Stakes for two-year-old fillies on the turf at 5-1/2 furlongs. Again, riding for trainer Cal Lynch, McCarthy would take MISS J MCKAY (Hangover Kid) (the name a nod to Jim McKay) across the wire first for owners Maxis Stables, Madaket Stables LLC and Wonder Stables, paying $3.60, 3.00 and $2.20.
While the temperature rose on a steamy Autumn day, so did McCarthy in the 7 furlongs $75,000 Shine Again Stakes. The hot jock guided the three-year-old daughter of Mineshaft, OUR SUPER FREAK, across the wire first for trainer Jamie Ness to take the prize for owner Jagger Inc., paying $7.40, $4.00 and $2.40.
This race was named in honor of Shine Again (Wild Again), a fourth generation homebred in Allaire duPont’s Woodstock Farm in Chesapeake City, Maryland and raced under the nom de course Bohemia Stable. Shine Again, winner of the 2001 and 2002 Grade I Ballerina Handicap, was named Maryland-bred horse of the Year in 2003 and Maryland-bred champion older mare in three consecutive years while earning state-bred champion sprinter title in two of those years.
Aboard a 4-year-old son of Alphabet Kingdom, NAKAMURA, McCarthy would place third in the 1-1/2 mile $100,000 Japan Turf Cup Stakes for trainer Graham Motion and owner Staghawks Stables. In a four-way photo finish, O Dionysus took the win over Lemon Zip, second by a head over Postulation, who was a neck better than Nakamura in fourth. Postulation, whose jockey, Jorge Vargas Jr., claimed foul on the winner, was instead taken down and placed fifth for interfering with fourth-place finisher Surprise Twist. Nakamura paid $3.20.
Again riding for Graham Motion, McCarthy would take second behind Notapradaprice in the 1-1/16-mile $150,000 Fasig-Tipton All Along Stakes (G3) on turf. Owned by Madaket LLC and Michael Dubbs, COLONIA (Fr), a four-year-old daughter of Champs Elysees (Gb), would place under McCarthy paying $3.80 and $3.20.
The All Along is named for the French-bred filly that won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Rothmans International, Turf Classic and Laurel’s Washington D.C. International in the span of 41 days in 1983 en route to becoming the first foreign-based horse to be voted U.S. Horse of the Year. A winner of nine races and more than $3 million in purses from 21 starts, she was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 1990.
On the Laurel turf at 7-1/2 furlongs, SO STREET would be oh so good under McCarthy for the win in the $100,000 Howard County Stakes and a spot in the Maryland Million Nursery on October 18. The two-year-old son of Street Magician, owned by Troy Johnson and Charles Lo, paid $3.80, $2.80 and $2.10.
McCarthy closed the day in the final race on the card with a photo duel with Sheldon Russell on the turf for third to be beat out by a whisker by Russell aboard Sea Story (Forty Tales). In the $40,000 maiden claimer, Trevor placed fourth on the Michael Stidham-trained, GRACELY, a 3-year-old daughter of Midshipman.
As the sun set on Laurel Park you could still see the steam rising off of the turf. Giddy up!
By: Maribeth Kalinich
Photo by: Dottie Miller
