Play the Music after her Leinster Lightning City score (Ben Baugh)
Turf Stakes Teeming With Thrills
By BEN BAUGH
OLDSMAR, Fla.— A less than seamless trip for Glassman Racing’s Play the Music didn’t seem to deter the daughter of Mo Town as the 4-year-old filly’s intrepid spirit guided her to a two-and-a-half length victory in the 21st edition of the five-furlong $100,000 Leinster Lightning City Stakes over the Tampa Bay Downs turf course Saturday afternoon.
Mark Casse conditions Play the Music who was ridden masterfully by jockey Antonio Gallardo, who kept his mount steady, avoiding what could’ve been a less than pleasant outcome, to secure the victory. And like a Berry Gordy Motown hit, Play the Music channeled Marvin Gaye’s Come Get to This, leaving Howaboutdemapples and Jordi’s Dream in her wake.
“The only thing we worried about today was whether the race was long enough,” said Jimmy Miranda, Mark Casse’s assistant trainer. “It was five-eighths. We had a lot of speed in the race, and we had a good post position. Antonio and I talked, I said, just sit off that speed and let them do what they’re going to do. He tucked him nice in the corner, which was great, and just flared out and went with her.”
Just a Care (IRE) added to the stakes race’s drama, eventually bumping Howaboutdemapples, stumbling, unseating the rider, but both the human and equine athletes walked off under their own power.
“I didn’t have the best trip, the number five (Just a Care) came over on me at the three-eighths, and I had to check pretty hard,” said Gallardo. “If I don’t check, I would’ve gone down. I lost my position. Mark Casse and his assistants did a really good job. The filly was ready today.”
Glassman Racing purchased Play the Music at the 2022 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company April 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale for $300,000 from the consignment of Eisaman Equine.
Tampa Bay Downs was the seventh track Play the Music has campaigned at in her first 10 starts, after breaking her maiden at first asking in the summer of 2022, during the filly’s juvenile campaign.
“I was up in Kentucky Downs when this filly broke her maiden (by two-and-a-quarter lengths going seven furlongs), and she was really impressive,” said Miranda. “She ran a tremendous race, came back pretty corded up, and at the spit barn she was just looking at me like she hadn’t done anything. You kind of knew what you had. She had a couple of tough races, but she’s all class.”
Smithwick’s Spice was more than nice for Robert Matthies New Spice Stable as the Douglas Nunn-conditioned charge showed his determination in outdueling Extendo, after leading for the preponderance of the race to win the five-furlong $100,000 Leinster Turf Dash Stakes by a neck. The 8-year-old New Jersey-bred was ridden to victory by Daniel Centeno.
“This horse has done everything from long to short on the turf, he got very good on the turf when I claimed him back, and what’s unique is, is that he’s never lost at five furlongs,” said Nunn. “Today, at 11 o’clock this morning, I was ready to scratch him, I said, ‘he can’t run against the big boys.’ And my owners said, ‘what do we have to lose.’ My biggest worry was there was no Lasix today because of the new HISA regulations, and he’s eight years old, and that was my worry, but in the stretch he gave everything like he always has.”
Smithwick’s Spice reached double digits in the win column, as it was the bay gelding’s 10th lifetime victory in 40 career starts. His last stakes score came in the Joey P. Handicap at Monmouth Park in the summer of 2022. His versatility and intrepid spirit played a large role in Saturday’s victory.
“He’s been showing speed long, but to go five furlongs with these horses and then go to the lead was not my plan today at all,” said Nunn. “He broke running, and when he made the lead, I knew we had a shot.”
Smithwick’s Spice placed second in his last start under Luis Saez, going a mile-and-a-sixteenth at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 8. Nunn was encouraged by that performance coming into Saturday’s race.
“He drifted out late in the lane, getting a little tired, got beat, even Saez said he was the winning horse, ‘I just got late, I was lugging out a little bit,’” said Nunn. “Even Danny said that he did that today a little bit, but that’s a tendency of his. You just have to know him. I give Danny Centeno a lot of credit, and my owners New Spice Stable.”
