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Shadwell Farm’s Tamarkuz Notches First Winner At Colonial Downs

Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Tamarkuz of Shadwell Farm was represented by his first winner at stud on Wednesday when Cool Enough won a maiden claiming race at Colonial Downs, BloodHorse reports.

Cool Enough led every step of the way in the 5 1/2-furlong race that was rained out from the turf to the main track, and the gray or roan filly's lead extended to 5 1/4 lengths at the wire under jockey Forest Boyce. They stopped the clock in 1:05.13 over a fast main track for owners Rashid's Thoroughbred Racing and Kingdom Bloodstock, Inc., and trainer Phil Schoenthal.

A Virginia-bred from the program of Morgan's Ford Farm, Cool Enough is out of the unplaced Macho Uno mare Make Waves. The dam ran as a homebred for the Morgan's Ford operation, as did second dam Skipstone. Cool Enough was already a historic horse for Tamarkuz, as the stallion's first starter back in May at Churchill Downs.

Tamarkuz, a 10-year-old son of Speightstown, stands at Shadwell Farm in Lexington, Ky., for an advertised fee of $10,000.

A winner in eight of 20 starts for earnings of $1,840,444, Tamarkuz is best known on the racetrack for his victory in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita Park. Prior to moving to the U.S., Tamarkuz picked up victories in the U.A.E. in the Grade 2 Godolphin Mile, and the G3 Firebreak Stakes and Burj Nahaar. His U.S. resume also includes runner-up efforts in the G1 Forego Stakes and G2 Kelso Handicap.

Bred in Kentucky by John D. Gunther, Tamarkuz is out of the unraced Lemon Drop Kid mare Without You Babe, making him a half-brother to Without Parole, a Group 1 winner at the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting. His extended family includes Grade 1 winner Stay Thirsty and Grade 3 winner Andromeda's Hero.

McCarthy Rides Five Winners At Colonial Downs, Takes Lead In Jockey Standings

Jockey Trevor McCarthy reached the winner's circle five times Sunday evening at Colonial Downs and in doing so powered past Forest Boyce to take over the top spot in the New Kent, Va., track's rider standings.

The 26-year-old native of Wilmington, Del., won the jockey title at Colonial last year when the track returned to action after a six-year absence. He entered Sunday's card – a makeup from last Monday's cancellation – with five wins from 16 starts, just two days into the 2020 season. Forest Boyce was one better though, having won six times.

McCarthy connected early with Ferris Allen's No Knock Raid in the second, then won three straight beginning in the fourth. He was atop Michael Campbell's Sky Mischief, Michael Stidham's Palio and Sarah Nagle's Cark over that span.

McCarthy, leading rider leader in Maryland in 2014 and 2016, closed out his evening by guiding Wesley Ward's Sunshine City to victory in the 5 1/2 furlong eighth. “I was worried a bit in the turn but when I asked her to respond, she did. It was like pushing a button. I just tried not to overthink the ride.”

Boyce prevailed once on Sunday with Princess Grace so after three race days, McCarthy has 10 wins to Boyce's seven. On Monday, the pair have eight and six mounts respectively in Colonial's nine-race card.

McCarthy was humble when asked about his early season success. “I can't take the credit,” he said. “I give credit to the trainers and all the great staff involved behind the scenes, from exercise riders, to grooms, to hotwalkers. My agent (Scott Silver) has been picking the right horses for me to ride and the horses have been doing what they're supposed to do. I've gotten great support from my family and future wife (jockey Katie Davis).”

Colonial Downs, in its second season under ownership of the Colonial Downs Group, continues its summer meet through September 2. Racing is held every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 PM. Highlight of the season is the New Kent County Virginia Derby Night on Tuesday September 1.

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What The Beep Provides ‘Emotional’ Upset In Colonial’s Camptown Stakes

On Wednesday at Colonial Downs, What the Beep pulled off an upset with a one-length victory over heavy favorite Tan and Tight in the $60,000 Camptown Stakes for Virginia-bred or -sired fillies and mares. The homebred daughter of Great Notion was ridden by Forest Boyce for trainer Karen Godsey, who bred and broke the 5-year-old mare on her Eagle Point Farm.

“This is very emotional for me,” said a tearful Godsey. “Her mother (Toccoa) was my first winner. To win a race like the Camptown, which my grandfather helped to start, is important to me. We mainly race here and the rest of the year I am breaking horses on the farm.”

What the Beep won the M. Tyson Gilpin Stakes here last summer but hasn't raced since an off-the-board finish in an allowance race at Laurel last October.

“She got a little cut on her leg and we almost missed that last race,” Godsey explained. “So she came home and got to spend the whole winter being a horse, hanging out, and ran around an 80-acre field with all her brothers. It's nice she gets to do that, come back here and run like this. It's kind of what her momma did. I would take her home every winter and come back here and win every summer. She's a happy horse.”

The bay mare led every step of the way getting the 5 ½ furlongs over firm turf in 1:02.95 after setting fractions of 22.38 seconds, 44.37 seconds and 56.31 seconds.

The Camptown was the fourth victory in 16 starts for What the Beep who could race next to defend her title in the M Tyson Gilpin Stakes. She earned $36,000 for the tally to boost her bankroll to $189,503 and paid $15.20, $4 and $2.20.

Tan and Tight, the 2-5 post-time favorite, stalked the pace and made a mild rally in the stretch but was no threat to the winner returning $2.20 and $2.20. Bella Aurora ($2.20) finished third in the six-horse field, followed by Solarte, Determined Love and Chasing Midnight to complete the order of finish.

A compact field of four went to the gate in the $60,000 Edward P. Evans Stakes for Virginia-bred or -sired runners with heavily favored Largent, owned by Twin Creeks Racing Stables and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. The son of Into Mischief covered the mile over firm turf in 1:36.14. He was trained by Todd Pletcher who picked up his third victory in the first two nights of racing at Colonial this season. Tyler Conner had the winning ride.

“I wanted to be a little closer than I was (early in the race),” Conner said. “I let him settle where he's happy. My man Trevor (jockey McCarthy) had me in a little tight. I didn't want to take back and go around. So I just went with the momentum and hoping he's split somewhere and I could get through.”

Largent's tally was his fourth in six starts and the $36,000 winner's share boosted his bankroll to $134,670. He paid $2.40 and $2.10. There was no show wagering in the race.

Embolden, the 2019 Jamestown winner, was beaten just a length in the mile race and paid $2.10. Carbon Data and River Deep completed the order of finish.

Also of note on the card was the 3rd race, a first-level allowance race won by Robert LaPenta, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Chrysalis Stable's Farmington Road, who was making his turf debut after racing on the Triple Crown trail earlier this year. Pletcher and Conner partnered here as well with the son of Quality Road who had last raced in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, finishing eighth in a 10-horse field.

Colonial Downs will race a special make up card this Sunday at 5:30 PM.

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Colonial Downs Takes 108 Entries For Nine-Race Card On Opening Monday

Colonial Downs will usher in its second season of Thoroughbred racing under the ownership of the Colonial Downs Group on Monday July 27 with nine pari-mutuel races getting underway at 5:30 PM (EDT). There will be two non-wagering steeplechase events prior at 4:00 and 4:40 PM.

One hundred and eight horses were entered for opening night's card and $316,000 in purse money will be distributed. Seven of the nine flat races will be contested over Colonial's massive Secretariat Turf Course — the widest grass racing surface in the country at 180 feet across — and the other two will held over the 1 1/4-miles dirt track.

The featured race is a $42,000 turf allowance for 2-year-olds at 5½ furlongs. A field of nine will battle in the eighth race including seven last-time-out winners. The only two that did not prevail most recently were Sunshine City and Crown and Coke, who raced in stakes at Royal Ascot and Churchill Downs, respectively.

A jockey colony of some 30 riders will be based in New Kent for the six-week meet including Trevor McCarthy, last year's top jock with 15 wins. Through July 22 this year, McCarthy is ranked 30th in the country by purse earnings with $2,576,300. Daniel Centeno, who tied for second with 13 victories, is back as is Forest Boyce, who finished fourth in the standings. The trio will be busy on opening night. McCarthy and Boyce have nine mounts each while Centeno has eight.

Veteran jockeys Chuck Lopez and Alberto Delgado are part of the group. Lopez competed at Colonial in 2019 and collected seven wins. The 59-year-old has 4,301 wins from over 30,000 starts. Delgado will be riding for the first time since 2017. The 56-year-old, who has 2,932 victories from over 25,000 starts, rode California Chrome to his first two wins in 2013. Lopez has six mounts Monday while Delgado has two.

Mike Stidham and Jamie Ness, co-leading trainers at the 2019 meet with 10 wins each, have horses entered Monday. The former, who won the 2019 Virginia Oaks with Carnival Colors and Kitten's Joy with Doc Boy last summer, has Princess Grace in the seventh and Palio in the fifth. The latter sends Hazels Little Man out in the featured eighth.

Also supporting the opener are Graham Motion, whose English Bee captured the 2019 New Kent County Virginia Derby (G3), and Wesley Ward, whose Four Wheel Drive won the Exacta Systems Rosie's Stakes then went on the win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1). Motion's' Dance Recital appears in the seventh and Ward's Sunshine City competes in the feature. Both Ferris Allen, Colonial's all-time leading conditioner, and King Leatherbury, fifth leading all-time trainer nationally with 6,503 victories, have a pair entered.

The track will feature a nightly All-Turf Pick-5 wager that covers the program's final five races. Colonial is in a unique position because its track lights illuminate the grass course instead of the dirt oval. Three of the five legs in Monday's wager have either a 13- or 14-horse field.

The early steeplechase races will be a staple of every Monday card this summer. Opening day's pair feature 10-horse fields and seven in each raced most recently in Virginia — either at the Middleburg Spring Races or the Virginia Gold Cup at Great Meadow which both took place in June.

The 2020 race meet will be presented “spectator-free” out of an abundance of caution so Colonial Downs' personnel can focus extra care towards key operating areas, such as the jockeys' quarters, paddock supervision, racing office and the stabling area.

The season continues through September 2 with cards every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 PM. The Grade 3 Virginia Derby highlights the meet and will be contested on Tuesday September 1 along with other five stakes.

In Virginia, wagering on Colonial Downs races can be placed at any Rosie's Gaming Emporium or at any VA-Horseplay Off Track Betting location. Online betting is available through TVG.com, Xpressbet.com, Twinspires.com and NYRABets.com. All of Colonial's races will be aired on TVG. More details are at colonialdowns.com/wagering.

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