Wondrwherecraigis (inside) has the punchline for Witty Thursday (#9) on Thursday as he led by a head and won by a head in his season debut at Laurel. (Jim McCue/MJC)
• G3 Winner Gives Jockey Sheldon Russell First Win of Latest Comeback
• Mid Day Image Flirts with Course Record to Capture Turf Season Opener
David Joseph/Maryland Jockey Club
LAUREL, Md.— Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group, Madaket Stables and Michael Caruso’s Wondrwherecraigis, racing for the first time in 208 days, held off a dramatic late run from fellow multiple stakes winner Witty Thursday at Laurel Park to capture his 6-year-old debut and give jockey Sheldon Russell the first win of his latest comeback.
Wondrwherecraigis ($6.40) led from start to finish to win the third-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up by a nose in 1:09.99 for six furlongs over a fast main track. Grade 1-placed Borracho was three lengths back in third.
“[We’re] super excited. This is our horse. This is our man,” winning trainer Brittany Russell said. “He ran fast. He got it done. That was a big race off the bench.”
Wondrwherecraigis, who gave Russell her first graded-stakes win in the 2021 Bold Ruler (G3) at Belmont Park, broke alertly and was immediately engaged on the front end by Borracho to his outside, speeding through a quarter-mile in 21.94 seconds and a half in 44.47 with Grade 3 winner Chateau pressing along the rail and Witty racing near the back of a field reduced to eight by the scratches of Synthesis, John the Bear and Spun and Won.
The top two rounded the far turn together as Chateau dropped back and were still side-by-side approaching the stretch before Wondrwherecraigis put away Borracho once straightened for home, going five furlongs in 56.68. Meanwhile, Witty had moved up to fourth and was set down for a drive through the lane and was gaining on the leader but came up a head short.
“Sheldon said he didn’t know he was coming. But he got there, and he ran fast doing it,” Russell said. “He’s put in a couple of really nice drills in the morning and Sheldon had a lot of confidence in him. This was a salty little dish to come back in. He needed to run fast and he did it.”
The win snapped a career-high three-race losing streak for Wondrwherecraigis dating back to the Golden Shaheen (G1) last March at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, where he ran 10th off a season-opening win in Laurel’s Fire Plug. Runner-up in the Frank J. De Francis Dash in 2021 and 2022, the Munnings gelding was given a break after being beaten a head when second in a six-furlong optional claimer last September at historic Pimlico Race Course.
“He just carries a lot of weight. Sheldon comes back every time he works him like, ‘He’s ready, he’s ready,’” Russell said. “He has that sprinter build.”
Wondrwherecraigis was the third mount for Sheldon Russell since voluntarily going to the sidelines at the end of 2022 to rest and rehabilitate a nagging left shoulder issue. Represented by agent Marty Leonard, he was second in his return on Thunder Boss April 2 and finished fourth on Langlee Avenue April 6.
An eight-time meet champion in Maryland and the state’s leading rider in 2011, Russell owns 1,548 career wins. He also finished second aboard favored Frightland in Thursday’s Race 7 allowance for Maryland-bred/sired 3-year-olds and up to 9-1 long shot All Threes.
Brittany Russell said she hadn’t thought beyond Thursday’s comeback race for Wondrwherecraigis, who now sits at $499,670 in purse earnings from 16 starts.
“I was trying to get through today. He needed to win today to think about doing anything better,” she said. “That was a tough race. We’ll probably just regroup and give him loads of time because I’m sure he’s going to need it.”
Mid Day Image ($11.80), in his first start for trainer and co-owner David Jacobson, shook off Kadri in mid-stretch and edged clear late to win Thursday’s Race 8 finale, an optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up that marked the start of turf racing in Maryland this year.
Ridden by Angel Cruz, who swept Thursday’s late daily double, 7-year-old Mid Day Image sprinted 5 ½ furlongs over a firm Dahlia turf course in 1:00.68, just missing the track record of 1:00.55 set by 3-year-old Introduced June 1, 2019, to earn his 12th career victory.
“It felt great. It was really, really good. They did a good job in the winter taking care of it. I couldn’t complain at all. We were going good the whole way. It wasn’t soft or anything like that. The turf was good today,” Cruz said.
“I broke sharp a little bit and I just sat off the pace a little bit and when I saw that they were slowing down in front I just took advantage of that and surprised them coming to the stretch,” he added. “That made a big difference.”
Notes
Cruz also won Race 7 Thursday, a one-mile allowance for Maryland-bred/sired 3-year-olds and up, aboard Kathleen Willier’s All Threes ($21) …
Seven-pound apprentice Axel Concepcion doubled with Aristocat ($6.20) in Race 2 and Don’t Tell Deren ($6.80) in Race 4 …
Laurel will host a nine-race program Friday starting at 12:25 p.m. topped by an open 1 1/16-mile allowance for 3-year-olds and up that includes two-time Maryland Million winner Ournationonparade, 2022 Bald Eagle Derby winner Vance Scholars, six-time winner Zabracadabra and multiple stakes-placed Ain’t Da Beer Cold.
