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Hello Beautiful Dominates Rivals In Maryland Million Distaff

Hello Beautiful welcomed a return to action at Laurel Park Saturday, scoring a thoroughly dominating 11 1/4-length victory in the 100,000 Maryland Million Distaff.

The Distaff, a seven-furlong sprint for fillies and mares, was one of eight stakes and four starter stakes on the 35th Jim McKay Maryland Million program for offspring of stallions standing in Maryland.

Hello Beautiful, who is owned by Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables, went to post as the 1-2 favorite in a field of nine on the strength of her past domination of Maryland-bred competition, including a victory in the 2019 Maryland Million Lassie.

After venturing out of town for her last two starts, including a sixth-place finish in the Sept. 5 Prioress (G2) at Saratoga, Hello Beautiful re-established her dominance at Laurel while running seven furlongs in a dazzling 1:21.84.

The Brittany Russell-trained 3-year-old daughter of Golden Lad broke alertly to take an early lead on the backstretch, only to receive a strong inside challenge by Limited View, who took a narrow lead into the far turn. Sheldon Russell, the trainer's husband, was content to rate Hello Beautiful to the outside of the challenger before sending her to the lead on the turn into the homestretch.

Hello Beautiful powered away from her outmatched opponents without pressure to score by open lengths.

“It's been a tough year for us, for sure. We tried a few things and she had some bad luck. It's really satisfying to get her home today and have Sheldon back aboard. That helps a lot,” Brittany Russell said.

Hello Beautiful, who was named Maryland-bred champion juvenile filly last year after capturing the Maryland Million Lassie by 3 3/4 lengths and the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship by 11 3/4 lengths, had won only once in four prior starts this year. After coming off a seven-month layoff with an off-the-board finish in a turf sprint, Hello Beautiful regained her winning ways by 8 ¼ lengths in a Laurel allowance June 20. She was shipped out of town for her next two starts, finishing off-the-board in the Audubon Oaks at Ellis Park and the Prioress at Saratoga.

“Like Brittany says, she might be a horse for the course. She loves Laurel. She gives me some sort of feel here, and time-wise it's shockingly good how fast she can run and keep going,” Sheldon Russell said. “I wanted to put her to the test today because the waters get deeper and let's see what she really has. Ideally, I'll leave it up to them to see where she goes but she gave me a dynamite performance today. It was great job by Brittany and her team. It was against older horses, too, so I just wanted to see what she's got and she showed up today. Hopefully we can keep it going and win a big one with her somewhere down the line.”

Quiet Imagination closed to finish a never-threatening second, a length ahead of Le Weekend.

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Multiple Stakes-Winning Filly Hello Beautiful May ‘Take A Shot’ In Saratoga’s Test

All but one of eight career starts have come over her home track of Laurel Park, including a pair of juvenile stakes victories, but standout 3-year-old filly Hello Beautiful may hit the road for her next, and biggest, race yet.

Trainer Brittany Russell said Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stable and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful is under consideration for the seven-furlong Test (G1) Aug. 8 at Saratoga Race Course.

It would be the first time in graded company for Hello Beautiful, the highest-earning offspring of second-crop sire and multiple graded-stakes winner Golden Lad bred in Maryland by Ellen Charles' Hillwood Stable.

“It looks like we're going to take a look at the Test. It's going to depend on who comes. There's been some good fillies running the last few weeks and it's just going to kind of depend on where they go,” Russell said. “She's going to have the big test up there if we go. We'll nominate and take a look and if she's doing well we might take a shot up there.”

Hello Beautiful owns four wins, two seconds and a third for purse earnings of $199,360, having raced exclusively in Maryland since her unveiling last May at Pimlico Race Course. She captured the Maryland Million Lassie and Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship last fall at Laurel by a combined 15 ½ lengths.

The combination of a planned break and a 2 ½-month pause in live racing from mid-March to late May amid the coronavirus pandemic pushed Hello Beautiful's sophomore debut to a June 1 sprint over Laurel's world-class turf course, where she faded to seventh, her only time off the board. She rebounded with a front-running 8 ¼-length allowance romp 19 days later on a sloppy and sealed main track.

“She's certainly answered each question on the dirt for us, and that's what we have to stick with. She's a good dirt filly, and if she's going to be that kind she's going to have to run against good horses,” Russell said. “So there's no time like the present, as long as she's doing well.”

Hello Beautiful has had one timed work since her most recent race, a half-mile breeze in 49.40 seconds July 8. Russell plans to give Hello Beautiful another work this weekend over Laurel's main track, which was closed for training July 12-14 to undergo routine maintenance.

“We're moving forward, just kind of doing the same thing I did with her going into the Maryland Juvenile [Filly] Championship. She works about every 10 days,” Russell said. “We'll just try and keep it simple, but she's doing really well and that's all we can really ask.”

“[The Test is] not for a couple weeks, and a lot can happen in a couple weeks,” she added. “We just have to focus on keeping her happy so at least we can take a fresh, happy filly up there and see what we can do.”

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Hello Beautiful: Russell-Trained Multiple Stakes-Winning Filly Earns Shot At Grade 1 Test

Rebounding off a disappointing start to the season with one of the best races of her career, multiple stakes-winning 3-year-old filly Hello Beautiful is expected to take a step up in competition for her next start.

Laurel Park-based trainer Brittany Russell said Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stable and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful earned a shot at a graded-stakes following her 8 ¼-length allowance romp June 20.

“I'm going to talk to the guys. We're going to definitely give her at least six weeks. She deserves it. Last year we spaced her races out pretty well and she really responded to that. We'll just see what the schedule looks like and how it fits timing-wise,” Russell said.

“I think we'll try and find something in graded company and see if she can step up outside Maryland. You're only 3 once, and if she's good we might as well take a shot soon,” she added. “It's exciting to have one that we feel like we can do big things with.”

Her regular rider, Russell's husband Sheldon Russell, hustled Hello Beautiful to the front for the six-furlong sprint and the dark bay or brown daughter of Golden Lad did the rest, keeping Fifteen Royals at bay through a half-mile in 45.85 seconds before opening up by five lengths at the head of the stretch. Despite being geared down approaching the wire, Hello Beautiful finished up in a sparkling 1:09.88 over a sealed, sloppy main track.

“She likes to run on the engine early on, so I wanted to make sure I got the good break,” Sheldon Russell said. “As soon as she gets in front she pricks her ears, and I just felt like she traveled nicely in my hands. I was never really worried, but it was nice for her to show that she's improved and she's trained on. Hopefully she stays healthy and we can have some fun with her this year.”

Bred in Maryland by Ellen Charles' Hillwood Stable, Hello Beautiful got a belated start to the year, first by design and then extended by the coronavirus pandemic which paused live racing in Maryland for 2 ½ months until late May. Anxious to get her going, the connections tried a 5 ½-furlong sprint on the grass June 1 where she ran seventh, the worst finish of her career.

“I don't really know what the options were for races, but Brittany opted to give her a run on the grass and I was just maybe a little too confident,” Sheldon Russell said. “I know it was short back and I know a couple people were worried about that, but she came out of that turf race like she hadn't even run. We worked her last week, she put in a bullet workout, and we had no options but to run her. Brittany and her team had her ready.”

For the effort, Hello Beautiful earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure, second only to the 95 she was assigned following her 11 ¾-length score in the seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship Dec. 7 to close her 2-year-old campaign. She won the six-furlong Maryland Million Lassie one start earlier in her stakes debut.

“There's high expectations naturally after her 2-year-old year, and we kind of got off on the wrong foot with the turf race. You just had to toss that and just have to forget that that's even on her page now. It was one of those things where we wanted to see her [rebound] that so we know how to move forward,” Brittany Russell said.

“She was the most proven one of the bunch so she should win like that, given her 2-year-old races. So, seeing that was a bit of a relief. You feel like we have the same filly and she's taken a step forward, which is what you want to see as a 3-year-old,” she added. “She ran a big number, too. That's encouraging. That makes us feel like now we can try something bigger.”

The allowance win was the fourth victory from eight starts for Hello Beautiful, who was serenaded through the stretch by Maryland Jockey Club announcer Dave Rodman's call: “Here she is … a thing of beauty! Hello, beautiful!”

Though the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks (G1) has been rescheduled for Sept. 4, Brittany Russell said the plans call for keeping Hello Beautiful going short and targeting some of the bigger sprint races.

Among the options is the Aug. 8 Test (G1) at Saratoga, contested at seven furlongs and coming seven weeks out from her most recent win.

“She's proven that she can go seven-eighths. Some of the better races are seven-eighths, the sprints, so I think we're just going to do that right now. It'll look good for her if we can get a big one, even if she runs second or third,” Brittany Russell said. “With the Oaks being later in the year this year, you kind of hope that for some of them, that's their goal, so maybe the sprints will be off their radar. Hopefully things just work out for us.”

Her trainer said Hello Beautiful exited the race in good order and would have a couple of easy days before going back to the track by mid-week.

“We always go everything after they run just to make sure there's nothing jumping out at us that you wouldn't know until they go back to the track. She looked great,” she said. “That's kind of why we decided to run her back as quick as we did from the turf race, because I walked her a couple days and took her out and just tried to give her a jog day and she was jumping out of her skin so much I turned around and galloped her, just to keep her happy. We'll just see what her energy level is like and let her tell us what she wants to do.”

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