MyRacehorse's Straight No Chaser outbroke the field under John Velazquez and was in front every step of the way, winning Saturday's Grade 3 $100,000 Maryland Sprint Stakes in a romp by 7 1/2 lengths. The six-furlong Maryland Sprint for 3-year-olds and up was one of four graded stakes leading up to the 148th running of the G1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico race course in Baltimore, Md.
Trained by Dan Blacker, Straight No Chaser laid down quick fractions of :22.44 for the opening quarter mile, :44.66 for the half and :56.20 for five furlongs en route to a final clocking of 1:08.27 for three-quarters of a mile on a fast track. The time was a stakes record and just over a half second slower than the track record of 1:07.70, set by champion female sprinter and champion 3-year-old filly Covfefe in the 2019 Miss Preakness Stakes.
A 4-year-old Kentucky-bred colt by the late Speightster, Straight No Chaser paid $5.20 to win as the 8-5 favorite, winning for the fourth time in seven starts while recording his first stakes victory.
Prevalence, a G3 winner at Keeneland last year but winless in six stars since, finished second at 6-1 odds after being Straight No Chaser's closest pursuer throughout the race under Irad Ortiz Jr. Nakatomi, the 5-2 second choice, finished third under Tyler Gaffalione. They were followed by Full Authority, Willy Boi, Wondrwherecraigis, War Tocsin, Threes Over Deuces, and Hello Hot Rod.
Straight No Chaser, produced from the Johannesburg mare Margarita Friday, was bred by John Eaton and Steve Laymon. He was purchased by MyRacehorse from consignor Paul Sharp for $110,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Midatlantic Sale of 2-year-olds in training in Timonium, Md.
Winning wire to wire in his debut more than a year later at Del Mar, Straight No Chaser won an allowance race three months later, then finished seventh behind Taiba in the G1 Malibu in his stakes debut last Dec. 26. He finished third behind Hopkins after setting the pace in the G3 Palos Verdes Stakes, then scored a confidence-building wire-to-wire allowance win by 7 1/4 lengths at Oaklawn Park under Velazquez on April 1.
Straight No Chaser is the second graded stakes winner for Blacker, a native of England who has been training since 2011. His first was G1 winner Hit the Road, winner of the 2021 Kilroe and G3 Thunder Road.
Maryland Sprint Stakes Quotes
Winning Trainer Dan Blacker (Straight No Chaser): “He's always been a very talented horse, superior work horse. When we first got him in the barn, he was always very impressive. So, it's really a relief to see him carry it into the afternoon.
“I think he probably ran a similar race to what he did last time, but obviously against better company today. I said, 'If he runs the same race as last time, he's going to be really tough.' And thankfully he did. I'm just really thankful to MyRacehorse for the opportunity.
“In the last eight months he's improved a lot mentally. He's gotten much more mature, much more straightforward to be around. You can see he's shipped for two races now and done really well. He's just getting better, that's the crazy thing. He's a 4-year-old now. It just shows that sometimes with these horses you've just got to be a little patient. Luckily, we've got great owners who were allowing me to be patient and giving him time to mature. He's really just peaking now.”
Winning Jockey John Velazquez (Straight No Chaser): “The break was awesome. I got told by the trainer, if one goes fast, you have to go a little bit faster. I just let him do what he wants to do. Pretty easy. That's exactly how it feels.”
Trainer Brendan Walsh (Prevalence, 2nd): “He ran great. We're delighted with him. He can be a little in and out and sometimes frustrating. We put the blinkers on today, shortened him up a little from what he had been running and it seemed to work. We ran into an absolute freak that won. He is a serious horse. His form has been very, very good up to now and he has an impeccable record so far. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with because he is a young horse. My horse is a fast horse, and he just ran him off his feet.”
Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. (Prevalence, 2nd): “He broke good. The plan was to break forward with blinkers today. (Straight No Chaser) was freaky good. He ran away from me. My horse was responding in the stretch, and I just couldn't make up any ground.”
Trainer Wesley Ward (Nakatomi, 3rd): “He ran great. He's kind of turned into a deep-closer sprinter. He hooked into what looks like the Breeders' Cup Sprint winner, if they ran it here next week. That horse was unbeatable today. He ran phenomenal. My guy ran a really good, solid race. That's how you win these big ones by being a longshot, is if him and another one hooked up there early, and the pace goes early, and we come running. That's always been my plan with him. He's kind of like a grinder. If you can get this style going you can win these big races if the pace up front heats up. I'm really proud of my horse today. He's really a hard-trying guy. “
Jockey Tyler Gaffalione (Nakatomi, 3rd): “They sprinted away from us and weren't really coming back. He ran his race, just too much to do. Hats off to the winner. He was very impressive last time, and he duplicated that performance today.”
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