Tag: Hello Beautiful

Hello Beautiful, Wendell Fong Score Winter Carnival Victories At Laurel

Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful picked up where she left off in 2020 while punching her ticket for a return to graded-stakes competition with a front-running victory in Saturday's $100,000 What a Summer at Laurel Park in Maryland.

The 35th running of the What a Summer for fillies and mares 4 and older and the 25th edition of the Fire Plug for 4-year-olds and up, both sprinting six furlongs, were among six stakes worth $550,000 in purses on a Winter Carnival program that opened Maryland's 2021 stakes calendar.

It was the fifth career stakes victory for Hello Beautiful ($2.40), third in a row and third of the day for jockey Sheldon Russell, following Gale in the $75,000 Geisha and Wendell Fong in the $100,000 Fire Plug. The winning time was 1:10.67 over a main track rated good.

Russell's wife, trainer Brittany Russell, and the connections are hoping to use the What a Summer as a stepping-stone to the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3), contested at seven furlongs Feb. 13 at Laurel.

“To be fair, I think she's better going seven-eighths,” Sheldon Russell said. “So, she has options. She showed us last time I rode her that she can rate. Hopefully she can keep progressing and we can have some fun with her this year.”

Breaking from Post 3 in a field of eighth as the 1-5 favorite, Hello Beautiful was quickly on the lead and kept busy through a quarter-mile in 22.22 seconds and a half in 45.54 by 10-time winner Malibu Mischief, who moved within a half-length on the turn as their rivals lagged behind.

“It almost seems like in the races she runs in now there's always one or two [horses] that have a lot of speed, but me and Brittany sit down the night before every time she runs and people forget, our filly's fast, too,” Sheldon Russell said. “She's extremely fast out of the gate and coming into the race she was very fresh and she was doing well.”

Maryland-bred Hello Beautiful, by Golden Lad, opened up again with little urging from Russell to take a four-length advantage into the stretch and was never threatened while geared down as 10-1 long shot Club Car closed for second.

“I always ride her the same way. I bounce her out of there and if somebody wants to get crazy or get me outrun, I'll have to go to Plan B. But, she's free-rolling filly so I just jump out and leave her alone,” Russell said. “She gets comfortable in front and she's very easy to ride. A great job to Brittany and her team. I'm just very happy she won again for us.”

Club Car, fourth in the Willa On the Move Dec. 26 at Laurel, was 8 ½ lengths ahead of 23-1 long shot Bridlewood Cat in third. They were followed by Escapade, Malibu Mischief, Tarawa, New York Groove and Cause I'm Edgy.

Hello Beautiful improved to 7-0 lifetime at Laurel, including stakes wins at 2 in the Maryland Million Lassie and Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship, and 3 in the Maryland Million Distaff and Safely Kept, the latter two to cap her 2020 campaign.

Now 7-for-13 lifetime with earnings approaching $400,000, Hello Beautiful was sixth behind Frank's Rockette in her only previous graded-stakes attempt, the six-furlong Prioress (G2) last September at Saratoga.

The What a Summer honors the Eclipse Award-winning sprinter of 1977, bred in Maryland and a winner of 18 of 31 lifetime starts. Trained by the late Bud Delp and Leroy Jolley, both Hall of Famers, she won nine stakes including the Fall Highweight Handicap and Silver Spoon Handicap twice, and the Black-Eyed Susan.

Wendell Fong Gives Lynch First Winner in $100,000 Fire Plug
Gold Square's Wendell Fong came with a steady run on the far outside to run down Grade 3 winner Share the Ride approaching the wire and give trainer Natalia Lynch her first career victory in the $100,000 Fire Plug.

Wendell Fong ($15.80) ran six furlongs in 1:10.01 over a main track rated good to earn his second career stakes victory and second of the day for jockey Sheldon Russell following Gale in the $75,000 Geisha. Lynch had gone winless in her first 16 starts as a trainer dating back to last summer.

“It was me and my mom and my son watching it at home and we were screaming and crying. It was amazing,” Lynch said by phone. “I think it's been holding off until this horse. I really think it was. He just means more to me than the world. To have it with him, I'll never forget it.”

Lynch, 26 is a native of Maryland who began galloping horses while attending Walter Johnson High School in Montgomery County. She has a long association with Wendell Fong going back to when she was working as an assistant to trainer Jeremiah Englehart, overseeing his Laurel string. Lynch helped prepare the now 5-year-old son of Flat Out for his debut, which he won in the final month of 2018, as well as his lone prior stakes victory in the 2019 Gold Fever at Belmont Park.

After getting a class break in his last two starts, Wendell Fong returned to stakes company and rewarded Lynch's devotion and dedication. Lynch was winless with four seconds from 16 starters since going out on her own last summer; Wendell Fong was No. 17.

“I had spoken to Talie last night and she pretty much said to just sort of leave him alone, sort of don't send him and don't take him back,” Russell said. “He's a professional horse. Drawing from the inside I didn't really have any options but to stay quiet, and to be fair I actually clipped heels so he took a little stumble and I was probably a little further back than I wanted to be. What a cool horse to ride. He was ready today. Great job to Talie and her team. I'm very happy to get Talie her first win as a trainer.”

Breaking from the rail inside his six rivals, Wendell Fong clipped heels with 2020 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) winner Laki shortly out of the gate and trailed the field as Maryland Million Sprint winner Karan's Notion and multiple stakes winner Lebda alternated through fractions of 22.17 and 45.24 seconds. Wendell Fong began gaining ground on the turn and was set down once straightened for home, getting up by a neck in the final jump.

“It just felt like they were going really fast early on and he just got so comfortable down the backside. At about the three-eighths pole I was just showing him a little bit of daylight on the outside and he started picking them up,” Russell said. “At the top of the stretch he just jumped on the bridle and was really trying. He was well-prepared today. Great job to Talie and her team.”

Share the Ride was second, 2 ¼ lengths ahead of Lebda. It was another 2 ¼ lengths back to 2-1 favorite Laki in fourth, followed by Karan's Notion, Arthur's Hope and Penguin Power.

Wendell Fong had not won since the Gold Fever. With Lynch staying home, trainer Brittany Russell saddled the horse. Russell was one of several trainers Lynch worked for before going out on her own.

“It's really cool because I worked for Brittany and Sheldon and I wouldn't have wanted to do it with other people than them. It's just as rewarding that it was with them as well,” Lynch said. “Everyone kept calling me and telling me congratulations, but I'm more happy for him than myself.  He really deserves it. It's good to see his confidence back. It's been a while.”

The Fire Plug is named for the popular gelding that won or placed in 49 of 54 lifetime starts, mostly sprinting, and registered 14 stakes victories including at least one every year from age 3 to 7. He retired in 1991 with 28 wins and $705,175 in purse earnings.

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Hello Beautiful Kicks Off 2021 Campaign In Laurel Park’s What A Summer

With an eye on the future and a nod to her successful past, Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables' multiple stakes winner Hello Beautiful will open her 4-year-old season in Saturday's $100,000 What a Summer at Laurel Park.

The 35th running of the What a Summer for fillies and mares 4 and older and 25th renewal of the $100,000 Fire Plug for 4-year-olds and up, both sprinting six furlongs, are among six stakes worth $550,000 in purses on a Winter Carnival program that kicks off Maryland's 2021 stakes calendar.

Post time for the first of nine races is 12:25 p.m.

Hello Beautiful, by Golden Lad, won back-to-back stakes to cap both her 2 and 3-year-old seasons, taking the Maryland Million Lassie and Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship in 2019 and last year's Maryland Million Distaff and Safely Kept.

Though she will be making her earliest season debut, not having started previously before May, Hello Beautiful enters the What a Summer not having run since the Nov. 28 Safely Kept, a seven-furlong sprint where she drew off to win by three lengths.

“She's doing really well. We spaced her races out a little bit more this time,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “It's exciting. We're looking forward to it. If she keeps doing the way she's done over the course of the last few months, I feel very good about everything.

“With horses, you just go day to day,” she added. “She's in that first stall, and it's just fun to walk in the barn and see her face every day.”

Hello Beautiful won three of her last four races at 2, the only defeat in that stretch coming by a neck on the grass to subsequent two-time turf stakes winner American Giant, and lost Maryland-bred champion honors to 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) winner Sharing.

A planned break combined with a pause in live racing amid the coronavirus pandemic to push Hello Beautiful's 2020 debut to June, a failed turf try off a six-month layoff. She went back into stakes company after a runaway allowance win just 19 days later, but class and circumstance were too much to overcome in off-the-board finishes in the Audubon Oaks and Prioress (G2).

Hello Beautiful resoundingly returned to form to win the Distaff by 11 ¼ lengths, her first time reunited with regular rider Sheldon Russell in four months since breaking his wrist last July. They teamed up again in the Safely Kept and will break together from Post 3 in a field of nine.

Brittany Russell said the connections are hoping to use the What a Summer as a springboard to the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) Feb. 13 at Laurel, a seven-furlong sprint for older females entering its 69th year. Hello Beautiful is a perfect 6-0 over Laurel's main track.

“The goal, obviously, is the Fritchie, so we were trying to figure out the best way to get there and it was kind of just going to be about what she was telling us in the morning,” Russell said. “She's begging to run right now. So, that's why we're going for this and, hopefully, it serves as a good setup for the Fritchie.”

Malibu Mischief, based in New York with owner-trainer Rudy Rodriguez, lost for the first time in seven races when third by less than three lengths to Dontletsweetfoolya in the six-furlong Willa On the Move Dec. 26, her second career stakes attempt. Four of the wins during her streak, the last two at Laurel, came after being claimed for $12,500 last summer.

Trainer Jonathan Thomas will ship in the pair of Escapade and Bridlewood Cat for the What a Summer. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Escapade, who has raced primarily on grass and synthetic surfaces, was beaten a head when second to Jean Elizabeth, a winner of 10 stakes including two Grade 3s, in an off-the-turf edition of 2019 Abundantia at Gulfstream Park

Bridlewood Farm's Bridlewood Cat, by Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Street Sense, returned off a layoff to be fifth in the Garland of Roses Dec. 6 at Aqueduct. She was fourth, beaten only a half-length, in the 2020 Correction last March.

Mike Trombetta-trained stablemates Bella Aurora and New York Groove look to return to their stakes-winning form following a winless 2020. Country Life Farm's Bella Aurora won the 2019 Gin Talking on the dirt at Laurel while Commonwealth New Era Racing's New York Groove took the 2019 Presque Isle Debutante on the synthetic.

Stakes-placed Club Car, fourth last out in the Willa On the Move; Cause I'm Edgy and Tarawa round out the field.

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As Laurel Meet Winds Down, Brittany Russell Winning at Over 50%

Brittany Russell had every reason to expect that she was going to have a good run at Laurel when the current meet began Oct. 8. She is a high-percentage trainer and knew that several of her horses were sitting on winning races. But the 31-year-old, who has been on her own for less than three years, never could have expected what was about to unfold. No one could have.

Through Dec. 17, Russell has won 22 of her 42 starts at Laurel, putting her winning percentage at 52% for the meet. The Dec. 17 card was canceled due to a winter storm and she had no starters on Dec. 18. While there are no known records for highest-winning percentage ever at a meet, it’s conceivable that Russell could become the first ever trainer with a sizeable sample of starters to finish a meet at a major track above the 50% threshold.

“I was optimistic about this meet, but you never think you are going to win at 50%,” Russell said. “We walk them over well-prepared. I will say that. The percentage at this point in time is, honestly, a bit crazy.”

Russell is also on top of the Laurel trainer standings by one win over Claudio Gonzalez. She has started 42 horses at the meet to Gonzalez’s 93.

Before going out on her own, she got a good education that prepared her for what has been nothing less than a meteoric rise to the top of the Maryland standings. She spent time working for Ron Moquett, Jimmy Jerkens and, most significantly, Brad Cox. Known as Brittany Trimble before her marriage to Maryland jockey Sheldon Russell, she was an assistant to Cox for more than three years, learning from a trainer who is also known for his high-winning percentage.

“Working for Brad Cox was a great job,” she said. “He was the reason I went out on my own. He left me alone as an assistant and he taught me a lot. Brad is such a good horseman. He made me want to give this a try.”

She had worked primarily in New York for Cox, but decided to call Maryland home when starting her training career. The decision was an easy one because her then fiance was among the top riders on the circuit. Like his wife, he is having a standout meet. With 41 wins, he is the leading rider at the meet.

Russell wasted no time getting started. She won her first ever race, capturing a maiden special weight event with Oh My (Medaglia d’Oro) Feb. 25, 2018 at Laurel. She only had 11 winners in 2018, but her winning rate was 24%. She had a similar year in 2019, winning 17 races from 66 starters, good for 26%. Those are the sort of percentages that owners notice.

“You win some races and then somebody else might give you a call,” she said. “That’s how it has worked for me. People show interest when they see you are having success.”

With 11 winners, she tied for ninth place in the standings at the Laurel meet that concluded Sept. 19 of that year, but was steadily building up her stable. She is up to 40 horses and her clients include high-profile owners like Mike Dubb, Sol Kumin, Robert LaPenta, Ten Strike Racing, Chuck Zacney and Hillwood Stables. She said that bloodstock agent Liz Crow has been instrumental in helping her get owners.

Russell won with her first starter at this meet and kept on going, winning with five or her first 10 starters and nine of her first 14. Her longest losing streak at the meet has been four.

“To have that kind of winning percentage, you have to be lucky,” she said. “It’s just that a lot of our horses were ready to fire at the right time.”

But a meet like the one she has had comes with a price. In horse racing, jealousy and finger pointing are never far behind when someone is having the kind of meet Russell is. That she is female, young and has been on her own for such a short period of time, only fuels the critics and skeptics.

“You just try to ignore that stuff and focus on what’s important,” she said. “We work hard. I have a really good team behind me and my husband is a big part of that. He is a rock and, naturally, rides a lot of our horses. We work really hard. This just didn’t fall into our lap. People will say she gets all the good horses and the good owners. Well, you have to work hard to get those things.”

With all the recent success, Russell is contemplating her next steps. For the first time, she has a division at Gulfstream, where she has yet to win a race from four starters. She said she has no intention of leaving Maryland, but said she would like to branch out and have a second division in a place like New York.

“I sent a few turf horses to Gulfstream this year,” she said. “It’s tough to break into a place like that. We are trying. You kind of have to do it. You have to get your feet wet and take a swing at something like that. It might be tough for a little while, but we will keep plugging along.”

She said another goal is to win her first graded stakes. She’s won five stakes in her career, four of them with the Maryland-bred star Hello Beautiful (Golden Lad).

Russell knows she can’t count on winning with 50% of her starters forever and that even the slightest slump could drop her below that mark. But she’s got a pretty good idea of which horses she will be starting the remainder of the year and is confident that she isn’t done winning. Nor has she stopped dreaming of even bigger and better accomplishments.

“Of course, I would love to have better horses,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind having another string somewhere where there’s a bit of a higher profile. I just hope we are still on the rise. I would love two years from now to look back and be able to say that we had a good 2020, but look at what we are doing now.”

 

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Laurel Park: Hello Beautiful Annihilates Safely Kept Rivals; Eres Tu, Dontletsweetfoolya Earn Fall Festival Wins

Already a multiple stakes winner against fellow Maryland-bred/sired horses, including an 11 ¼-length romp in the Maryland Million Distaff last month, Hello Beautiful handled open stakes company with aplomb to stay perfect at Laurel Park in Saturday's $100,000 Safely Kept.

The 30th running of the Safely Kept for 3-year-old fillies was the third of six stakes worth $600,000 in purses on a Fall Festival of Racing program that included $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go going about 1 1/16 miles and $100,000 Primonetta at six furlongs, both for females 3 and up.

Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful ($3.40) three-length triumph was her second straight win and fourth in a stakes, and improved to 6-0 lifetime over her hometown track. The winning time was 1:22.26 for seven furlongs over a fast main track.

Hello Beautiful won the Maryland Million Lassie and Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship to close her 2-year-old campaign, and had tried open stakes twice this year. She lost all chance when shuffled back at the start of the Aug. 9 Audubon Oaks then was outrun when sixth in the Sept. 5 Prioress (G2). Among her competition that day was runner-up Reagan's Edge, who resurfaced in the Safely Kept.

“She's so special. It means so much,” winning trainer Brittany Russell said. “You always want to win races, but with a filly like this it's such a relief when she runs the way she did today.”

Russell's husband, Laurel fall meet-leading rider Sheldon Russell, allowed Hello Beautiful to settle off the right hip of 2020 Charles Town Oaks (G3) winner Fly On Angel through a quarter-mile in 22.69 seconds and a half in 45.08. Russell gave Hello Beautiful her cue midway around the turn and the Golden Lad filly eagerly responded to gain separation from her rivals led by Reagan's Edge, who had moved into contention at the top of the stretch but was no match for the winner.

“Sheldon and I discussed that [not having the early lead] could possibly happen so we were prepared for it,” Russell said. “To be fair, I wasn't concerned. I knew Sheldon would take care of it.”

Reagan's Edge was second, 5 ½ lengths ahead of Landing Zone, who had a four-race wins streak snapped but was able to edge previously undefeated Lady Rocket by a head for third.

The last sprint stakes for females on the 2020 calendar in Maryland is the $100,000 Willa On the Move for fillies and mares 3 and up going six furlongs Dec. 26.

“I don't know exactly what the plans are moving forward,” Russell said. “I think we'll keep her in training but I think we'll just enjoy today and make a plan from here.”

Eres Tu Becomes Stakes Winner in $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go
Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson's Grade 2-placed Eres Tu, making just her second start in 20 months, sat a perfect stalking trip before taking over the lead on the turn and turning away a late bid from On the Town to win the 10th running of the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go.

Ridden by Trevor McCarthy for trainer Arnaud Delacour, 2019 Rachel Alexandra (G2) runner-up Eres Tu ($11.80) ran about 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.62 to register her first career stakes win in her eighth start.

Based with Delacour at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., Eres Tu returned to action with a 2 ¼-length allowance victory Oct. 14 at Keeneland – her first race since running fourth in the March 2019 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2).

“She came to us at the beginning of the summer and she looked really good. It seems to me that she was a sizeable filly. She's probably 17 hands so I guess she needed plenty of time to mature, and she did,” Delacour said. “She came in in great shape so we just had to train on and never look back. The last race was very good and I was pretty confident about this race because she looks like she moved forward a little bit, so it was a good test and she lived up to expectations.”

McCarthy kept Eres Tu in the clear two wide as Awe Emma posted splits of 23.83 and 47.42 seconds. Eres Tu, whose name means 'It's you,' in Spanish, met little resistance when taking over the top spot on the turn, going six furlongs in 1:11.92. Eres Tu straightened for home in command and won by 1 ½ lengths over Lucky Stride. On the Town was third and favorite Wicked Awesome was fourth, snapping a four-race win streak.

“It was perfect,” Delacour said of the trip. “She's a pretty big filly with a long stride so she needs to be relaxed and have things her way. She was in the clear and in my opinion that's how we need to ride her.”

Delacour said he would consider bringing Eres Tu back in the $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/18 miles Dec. 26.

Dontletsweetfoolya Sprints to Impressive $100,000 Primonetta Win
Five Hellions Farm's Dontletsweetfoolya extended her win streak to four races in her stakes debut with a front-running 5 ¼-length triumph in the 33rd running of the $100,000 Primonetta to kick off the Fall Festival of Racing's stakes action.

Breaking from the middle of a nine-horse field, Jevian Toledo sent Dontletsweetfoolya ($10.40) from the gate, outrunning multiple stakes winner Never Enough Time and Giggling to lead through a quarter-mile in 22.39 seconds. Dontletsweetfoolya remained in command after a half in 45.31 and opened up in the lane when challenged by Never Enough Time to win in 1:09.79 for six furlongs.

Dontletsweetfoolya, a 3-year-old daughter of Grade 1 winner Stay Thirsty trained by Lacey Gaudet, has steadily moved up in competition this year. She graduated in maiden special weight company July 24 and won an open entry-level allowance Sept. 5, both at Laurel, then emerged from an early duel to win a second-level optional claimer Oct. 1 at Pimlico – all over older horses – by 21 ¼ combined lengths.

Never Enough Time, winner of Laurel's Alma North and Pimlico's Skipat this fall, finished second, while fellow multiple stakes winner Needs Supervision – racing for the first time since mid-March, came flying late from far back for third.

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