The Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships Series (MATCH) will reach its midpoint July 16 when Laurel Park hosts stakes in all four 2022 divisions.
The Saturday program will feature the $150,000 Frank J. DeFrancis Memorial Dash (3-Year-Olds and Up Sprint—Dirt division), $100,000 Alma North Stakes (Filly and Mare Sprint—Dirt division), $100,000 Prince George's County Stakes (3-Year-Olds and Up Long—Turf division) and $100,000 Big Dreyfus Stakes (Filly and Mare Long—Turf division).
With five series legs this year, the third leg offers those with starts in the first two legs of their respective divisions an opportunity to qualify for bonus money. A minimum of three starts is required.
The bonus money distribution offers up to $92,500 per division and $30,000 for the overall champion by points. For each division, first place pays $30,000 to the owner and $15,000 to the trainer; for second, $20,000/$10,000; and for third, $10,000/$7,500. For the overall champion, the owner receives an additional $20,000 and the trainer $10,000.
The Maryland Horse Breeders Association, Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association and Virginia Thoroughbred Association have each agreed to offer bonuses to breeders based on the performances of horses in the series. Pennsylvania and Virginia will recognized the top male and female state-bred runners by overall points earned, while Maryland will award bonuses to the top Maryland-bred and Maryland-sired runners by overall points earned.
The following is an overview of the four Laurel stakes.
Prince George's County Stakes
The 1 1/8-mile Prince George's County will feature a rematch between Mark Grier's Eons and Runnymoore Racing's Beacon Hill, who finished one-two a nose apart in the Bensalem Stakes at Parx Racing June 14. The Bensalem was the second stakes in the division this year.
Eons, trained by Arnaud Delacour and to be ridden by Jorge Ruiz, has made all 21 of his starts on turf. The 6-year-old Giant's Causeway horse has competed regularly in graded stakes company and won the Grade III Kent Stakes as a 3-year-old. He is tied for the division lead with 10 points after one series start.
Beacon Hill, trained by Michael Matz with Victor Carrasco named to ride, is one-for-one on the Laurel turf with an allowance win last September. He has a pair of seconds and a fourth in three starts in 2022.
Alma North Stakes
Kaylasaurus, owned by Bush Racing Stable, Liberty House Racing, Blackridge Stables and George Saufley, currently leads the overall MATCH Series standings with 15 points based on a first and a third in the first two legs the division. The 6-year-old Pennsylvania-bred mare by Munnings is one of five entered in the 6 1/2-furlong event.
Trained by Tim Kreiser and to be ridden again by Horacio Karamanos, Kaylasaurus has two wins and three seconds in seven starts on the Laurel dirt. The late runner drew the outside post against several mares who prefer to race on or very close to the lead, including Stud Los Leones' Cheetara, CJI Phoenix Group and No Guts No Glory Farm's Fille d'Esprit and Daniel Lopez and George Chestnut's Chub Wagon.
Chub Wagon, a 5-year-old Pennsylvania-bred mare by Hey Chub, has 11 victories and one second in 12 starts. Trained by Guadalupe Preciado, Chub Wagon won her only two starts in MATCH competition in 2021 and won a state-bred stakes at Parx Racing June 27 in her first start of 2022.
Fille d'Esprit, trained by John Robb, is second in the division standings with 10 points after her score in the Susquehanna Valley Stakes at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course June 17. It was her first start in the series.
Big Dreyfus Stakes
William Pape's Deciding Vote, winner of the Dahlia Stakes at Laurel to begin the series and subsequently fourth in the Neshaminy Stakes at Parx, leads her division with 13 points. Angel Suarez, aboard the 5-year-old Mr. Speaker mare in those two starts, is named to ride again for trainer Edward Graham in the 1 1/8-mile stakes.
Stuart Janney III's In a Hurry, who finished a half-length behind Deciding Vote in the Dahlia, was third in the Grade III Gallorette Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in May but missed the second leg of the MATCH division. Forest Boyce will ride for trainer Shug McGaughey.
Timory Ridall's Tic Tic Tic Boom, second in the division standings after two starts for trainer Alan Bedard, is entered in the Big Dreyfus after an even fifth in the Grade III Dr. James Penny Memorial July 12 at Parx. The 4-year-old Hit It a Bomb filly is stabled at Parx and the final round of MATCH competition will be held there Oct. 3.
Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash
Parx-based Beren, owned by Susan Quick and Christopher Felfarak, will make his second start in the 2022 series after a strong second-place finish behind Ny Traffic in the Chocolatetown Stakes at Penn National June 17. Trained by Robert Reid Jr. and to be ridden by Frankie Pennington, Beren, a 4-year-old Pennsylvania-bred colt by Weigelia, is poised to have an impact on the division with the championship round at his home track of Parx.
Ny Traffic, nominated for but not entered in the six-furlong De Francis, remains in a tie at the top of the division with 10 points. Beren has 7 points.
No rider was named at time of entry for Pocket 3's Racing's Threes Over Deuces, a Gary Capuano trainee who was fourth in the Chocolatetown after some traffic and third in the first series leg, the Frank Y. Whiteley Stakes in April at Laurel. Threes Over Deuces, a 7-year-old Flat Out gelding with earnings approaching $600,000, would qualify for bonus money with a start on Saturday at Laurel as would Kaylasaurus, Deciding Vote and Tic Tic Tic Boom.
The MATCH Series originally debuted in 1997 and ran for five years. It returned with great success in 2018 and was held in 2019 and 2021. The innovative regional racing series—the only one of its kind in horse racing—combines rich stakes and bonuses for participating owners and trainers who compete over a five- to seven-month span. Horses competing in MATCH earn points based on participation and order of finish in each series race, and the leading point-earners in each of the series divisions, as well as the owner and trainer of the overall points leader, win lucrative bonuses.
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Equibase® Speed Figure. Although earning 109 and 103 figures, respectively, in the Modesty Stakes and New York Stakes since then, the manner in which she won those races suggests there is little to keep her from remaining undefeated. In the Modesty, Bleecker Street lagged in eighth among nine horses for most of the race then when asked to run hard after entering the stretch ran the final eighth of a mile in 11.2 seconds while rallying from seventh. Cutting back from a 1 1/4 miles in the New York Stakes to this slightly shorter trip gives the exceptional filly some extra oomph in the late stages and under North American leading jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. we might see an even more visually impressive effort in the Diana.