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Claudio Gonzalez Secures 13th Training Title At Laurel Park

With no one in position to catch him, Claudio Gonzalez entered the final weekend of Laurel Park's extended summer meet ensured of winning its training title, but the 43-year-old cancer survivor didn't stop there.

Gonzalez sent out Robert D. Bone's 4-year-old gelding Galerio ($3.40) for his third win of the summer and sixth in nine starts dating back to February, holding off late-running long shot Crouchelli for a nose victory in Thursday's featured fourth race.

The entry-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up was the 27th win from 138 starters at the meet for Gonzalez, who will wind up tops in both categories as well as purse earnings, with $979,170 and counting. He has horses entered in two of nine races on Friday's card and four of nine races on Saturday's finale.

Damon Dilodovico was blanked with his only starter Thursday and remains second with 16 wins. Jamie Ness captured Race 7 Thursday with Bustin Hearts ($5.40) to move into a tie for third with Jose Corrales at 15 wins.

Gonzalez has now won 10 of the last 11 meets in Maryland dating back to Laurel's 2017 spring stand and owns or shares 13 titles overall. He has led the state in overall victories three consecutive years (2017-19).

“What can I say? It's a really good feeling because there are a lot of good trainers here with a lot of experience. That's why it feels good, and my whole team feels like me,” Gonzalez said. “They're working hard. They do all the hard work – my assistants, grooms, hotwalkers, exercise riders, blacksmith. Everybody works hard to make sure things go good.”

Gonzalez notched eight multi-win days during the meet, including an Aug. 13 hat trick with a trio of sophomore fillies – Landing Zone, Queen of Tomorrow and Polished Copper. The latter two are among six horses to win at least twice at the meet for Gonzalez, led by Galerio, Eastern Bay and Harpers First Ride with three each.

Laurel's summer meet began May 30 following a 2 ½-month pause in Maryland's live racing amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Gonzalez, who led a truncated winter stand with 40 wins, went 9-for-65 to start the summer before going on an 18-for-73 run since July 18.

“Every day we come and pay attention to every little thing. Little things make the difference sometimes,” Gonzalez said. “That's what I explain to everybody. We have to pay attention to everything and we're going to be OK.”

Three of Gonzalez's wins came in stakes over Labor Day weekend – the $100,000 Deputed Testamony with Harpers First Ride and $100,000 Polynesian with Eastern Bay Sept. 5, and the $100,000 Laurel Dash with Completed Pass Sept. 7.

All three horses are being pointed to stakes over Preakness weekend at Pimlico Race Course – Harpers First Ride in the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) Oct. 2, and Eastern Bay in the $250,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) and defending champion Completed Pass in the $100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint on the Oct. 3 undercard of the 145th Preakness Stakes (G1).

Gonzalez expects to run multiple stakes winner Lebda in the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) Oct. 1 and has a candidate for the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2), this year on the Preakness undercard, in 3-year-old filly Fly On Angel, upset winner of the Charles Town Oaks (G3) Aug. 28.

“They're all doing really good. They came back real good. You never know how tough it's going to be, but my horses are going to be ready,” Gonzalez said. “It's special. The Preakness is the biggest race we have here in the Maryland and it would be special to do good that weekend.”

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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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McCarthy Wins Four On Laurel Park Card; Outofthepark Takes Feature

Champion jockey Trevor McCarthy swept the late daily double on a pair of Jamie Ness-trained horses to complete a four-win day Saturday at Laurel Park.

McCarthy, 26, split horses at the top of the stretch and went on to win with favored It's a Journey ($4.40) in Race 10, then came with a rally on the far outside to edge Lucky Ramsey and 10-year-old Chocolate Ride at the wire aboard Minister's Strike ($15) in Race 11.

Earlier on Saturday's program, McCarthy finished first with Cal Lynch-trained Eloquent Lady ($5) in Race 3 and Anima Gemella ($6.80), racing first time for trainer Graham Motion, in Race 6.

Minister's Strike, owned by Ness' Jagger Inc., earned his ninth career win in the finale, a 1 1/16-mile starter optional claimer for 3-year-olds and up on the Kelso turf course. The 6-year-old son of champion English Channel, who went 4-for-8 in 2019, emerged from a three-way photo finish on top.

“He kicked pretty good for me at the top of the stretch when I pulled him out, and I just stayed right on Chocolate Ride's heels the whole way. He was the horse to beat. I just was following him every single step,” McCarthy said. “This horse has been such a warrior. We had such an awesome year with him last year. He's a huge barn favorite, my favorite. Usually he doesn't love this kind of ground, but he showed how much of a warrior he is and how much class he's got. He gave it all he had today.”

Represented by agent Scotty Silver, McCarthy is an 11-time meet titleholder in Maryland and the state's four-time leading rider (2013-14, 2016, 2019) who has dominated since returning to the circuit full-time in the fall of 2018.

“It was a great day. I'm super happy. I just want to thank everybody – Graham and Cal and Jamie for the double. Everything went really smooth, so I was very happy with the day,” McCarthy said. “My agent is doing a great job and it was just one of those days. Everything just kind of clicked. I was very privileged to ride some nice horses today and everything worked out well.”

Saturday Feature Sees Connections Hit One 'Outofthepark'
A belated start to 2020 hasn't slowed Hillwood Stable's Outofthepark, who ran his 4-year-old record to 2-0 with a come-from-behind victory over pacesetter Papal Law in Saturday's featured seventh race at Laurel Park.

A Maryland-bred son of 2014 General George (G3) winner Bandbox, Outofthepark ($6.40) was relentless through the stretch to reel in a stubborn Papal Law and edge past near the wire for a three-quarter-length score in the second-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up over Laurel's world-class turf course.

The winning time for one mile on a firm Kelso course layout was 1:35.57. Victor Carrasco was aboard for trainer Rodney Jenkins and Hillwood's Ellen Charles.

“We were real pleased. Mrs. Charles was with me today and it was exciting,” Jenkins said. “That horse has come a long way since he was a 3-year-old. He was running at the end. He wasn't just playing around.”

Carrasco settled Outofthepark in the clear in fifth as Papal Law, one of three horses entered for a $35,000 tag, led through fractions of 24.96 and 49.07 seconds, pressed to his outside by 35-1 long shot No Bull Addiction. While Papal Law started to gain separation from the field once straightened for home, Carrasco began to roll on Outofthepark around the turn and steadily gained ground on the leader to earn his third win in the last five starts.

Papal Law was a solid second, 1 ½ lengths ahead of 9-5 favorite Taxable Goods, who came on to edge No Bull Addiction by a neck for third.

Winless in his first nine career starts, including a third in the 2018 Maryland Million Nursery second time out, Outofthepark through with a waiver maiden triumph last September, running fourth in the Maryland Million Turf in his subsequent start.

Outofthepark went unraced for seven months before returning with a three-quarter-length score using similar tactics in an entry-level allowance going 1 1/16 miles over a yielding turf at Laurel June 5. Jenkins trained Bandbox to four stakes wins and more than $390,000 in purse earnings for Charles from 2010-14 and hasn't been surprised by his son's development. Since being moved to the turf, Outofthepark has a record of 3-2-1 from seven starts.

“I think that's a Bandbox trait – the older they get, the better they get. They get stronger, they get competitive,” Jenkins said. “I just think it's a growing-up period and if you've got an owner that's patient, you'll see that more than you would with someone that would run this horse at first and then tell the trainer to get rid of him.”

Live racing returns to Laurel Park for programs Friday, July 3 and Saturday, July 4. Post time both days is 12:40 p.m.

Notes: South Bend, owned by Sagamore Farm of Reisterstown, Md., rallied to be second in the $500,000 Ohio Derby (G3) Saturday at Thistledown in Ohio. Laurel Park-based Lebda, a two-time stakes winner over his home track this winter, dueled for the early lead before finishing sixth in the field of 13.

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