‘Kenny’ Trying Open Company In James F. Lewis III; Smart Halo Stakes Shares Top Billing At Laurel

Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser's Kenny Had a Notion, having won back-to-back stakes on different surfaces against restricted company, gets his biggest test to date in an attempt to extend his streak to three straight in Saturday's $100,000 James F. Lewis III at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

The ninth running of the Lewis for 2-year-olds co-headlines a nine-race program with the 24th renewal of the $100,000 Smart Halo for 2-year-old fillies, both stakes sprinting six furlongs. First race post time is 12:25 p.m. Eastern.

Kenny Had a Notion will be facing open company in the Lewis for the first time since his July 30 debut at Delaware Park, where he came from off the pace to get up by a head sprinting six furlongs as the favorite in a maiden special weight.

“We'll see what he's made of now. There's no restrictions on this one,” trainer Dale Capuano said. “I think he'll run his race. If he's good enough, he should be tough. We'll see.”

Kenny Had a Notion returned to Delaware to run sixth in his stakes debut in the First State Dash, contested over a sloppy track. Back at his home track of Laurel, he rolled past fellow Virginia-breds in the 5 1/2-furlong Jamestown on turf, returning three weeks later to cruise by the same five-length margin in the six-furlong Maryland Million Nursery.

Capuano-trained stablemate Alwaysinahurry, second in the Nursery and nominated to the Lewis, came back to beat winners by a neck in a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance Nov. 7 at Laurel.

“After the Maryland Million he's done so well, and this is the next race for him. So, we'll see how he does,” Capuano said of Kenny Had a Notion. “I was very impressed with him last time. He showed good speed, he was on the bit the entire race, and when he got through on the inside he just opened up in the stretch. Alwaysinahurry, who he beat and who I still say is a pretty nice horse as well, came back to win the allowance race on Saturday. That just flatters his performance a little bit more, I would think.

“The only time he's lost so far was that sloppy race at Delaware. He just didn't it going in that race,” he added. “He was a little bit short and it's nice to run him at Laurel because that's where he trains the whole time.”

Alex Cintron, up for his debut, gets a return call from Post 7 in the field of 10. All horses will carry 122 pounds.

Also entering the Lewis off two straight wins is Lugamo Racing Stable's eponymous Chitu colt, whose lone career loss came when second behind undefeated Jaxon Traveler in his Sept. 25 unveiling at Pimlico Race Course. Jaxon Traveler is being pointed to the Maryland Juvenile Futurity Dec. 2 at Laurel.

Lugamo romped by six lengths in a seven-furlong maiden special weight Oct. 16 and came back two weeks later with a 4 1/4-length optional claiming allowance triumph going one mile, both at Laurel. Angel Cruz will be back aboard for a third straight time, from Post 9.

“I wasn't going to run him but the way he's acting he's telling me he's ready to go again. My only concern is the distance,” trainer Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon said. “That's the thing. It's cutting back but you know, he's going to run his race. He's putting himself pretty much on the lead on the time without even being asked, so I hope he can do the same thing again.

“He took the last race like a breeze. He's a happy horse. He's doing really, really good,” he added. “He came out of it than he did the race before and the first race even better. He's such an amazing horse. He's out there galloping and all he wants to do now is buck, wants to rear up, wants to play. He's very happy. He's feeling really good.”

Sanchez-Salomon said Lugamo's attitude has been the perfect complement to his talent as the colt continues to develop.

“He's a really, really smart horse. He's pretty quiet in the shedrow but when the rider gets on him and he gets out to the track, he's a different horse. He transforms himself. All he wants to do is show that he's the man,” he said. “What really amazes me is when he comes back and is done training, all he wants to do is lay down until it's time for breakfast. You can lay on his back and sleep next to him and he won't even move. That's the sign of a really nice horse, so I hope he stays like that.”

Colts Neck Stables homebred Dalton will be making his Laurel debut for trainer Jorge Duarte Jr. after alternating his first four starts between Delaware and Monmouth Park. Last out, the Kantharos chestnut stalked the pace before taking a short lead into the stretch, and wound up second by a nose to Pickin' Time in the six-furlong Smoke Glacken Oct. 24. Pickin' Time came back to win the Nashua (G3) Nov. 8 at Aqueduct.

Completing the field are First State Dash winner Singlino; No Cents, a, winner of two straight at Monmouth for Laurel-based trainer Cal Lynch; Ain't Da Beer Cold, Fearless Fly, Heir Port, Texas Basin and Xtreme Mayhem.

The James F. Lewis III is named for the late longtime horseman who served as first president of Maryland Million Ltd. and past president of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association. A breeder, owner and trainer, Lewis' top horses included 1974 Test (G2) winner Maybellene, 1974 Flirtation (G3) winner Heartful and multiple stakes winner Swift Attraction. His daughter, Lisa Lewis, has been training since the early 1990s.

Out of Sorts, Prodigy Doll Seeks Stakes Success in $100,000 Smart Halo
Juvenile fillies Out of Sorts and Prodigy Doll, impressive last out winners over Laurel's main track, will square off for the first time as they make their stakes debut in Saturday's $100,000 Smart Halo.

Respect the Valleys' Out of Sorts, a $1,000 yearling purchase last fall, is taking the step up to stakes company just 13 days off a 10 ¾-length maiden special weight romp Nov. 1 at Laurel. The Dramedy filly ran a half-mile in 46.73 seconds before being geared down in the stretch by jockey Sheldon Russell, completing six furlongs in 1:11.62.

“I know it's back kind of quick but I think her maiden win she did it easy enough and she's come right out of it so we'll give it a shot,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “I think she ran a pretty good number. Naturally, I wish she would have broken her maiden a few weeks earlier so we could have given her a little bit more time. She won by a lot but she did it easy. She did it within herself and she's come out of that race bouncing and doing well, so that's kind of all you can ask for when you're trying to wheel one back quick.”

Out of Sorts broke slowly and raced near the back of the field in her debut, a maiden special weight also going six furlongs Sept. 25 at Pimlico Race Course. Favored in each of her two starts, she showed some late interest to get up for fourth and reaffirmed the connections' faith in her.

“With her it's kind of been about her mind. She seemed to be fragile-minded early on and after that first run she really seemed like she grew up. She came around mentally. Not that she was ever bad or ever a problem by any means but with the 2-year-old fillies, sometimes they can have all the ability in the world but they have to have the mind to back it up,” Russell said.

“I feel like now she's had some racing and she kind of gets it, she's very, very mature in the morning. She's very businesslike,” she added. “I do know she had the ability. Now that we see her brain can handle it and she's maturing, I think that makes us feel even better about what we have.”

Sheldon Russell will ride back from Post 2 of eight. All fillies will carry 122 pounds.

HnR Nothhaft Horse Racing's Prodigy Doll enters the Smart Halo off two sharp wins, the first coming in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight over her home track of Penn National Oct. 22. Trainer Bernie Houghton shipped her to Laurel for an entry-level optional claiming allowance going six furlongs 20 days later, and she cruised by nine lengths in front-running fashion.

“She's a nice one. She certainly surprised the heck out of me the other day. I talked the owner into letting me run her,” Houghton said. “She won the first time at Penn National and did it pretty easy so you couldn't really gauge her. It's a big jump going from a maiden race at Penn National to an allowance race at Laurel. I really liked her and I thought she would run well. Did I think she would run like she did? Not exactly. That shocked me a little bit.”

Prodigy Doll, by champion juvenile Shanghai Bobby, made two starts in Kentucky in June before being sold privately and moved to Houghton, who brought filly Crabcakes to Laurel to win four stakes from 2016-18. The trainer gave her three months between races and she has responded with back-to-back wins.

“When I got her I said we've got to give her a little time off. She'd run twice already as a 2-year-old, early, and I don't like to run them that much,” Houghton said. “We gave her time off and I just freshened her up a little bit.

“She had the experience with two races under her belt, she just needed time. I think that race at Penn National was a good confidence booster for her. She just handled those horses,” he added. “The step up in class is always a concern for me but she came out of the race great, she had a nice, slow easy work the other day and she's ready. She's coming into the race perfectly.”

Lucky 7 Stables' stakes winner Street Lute suffered her first career loss when she finished second by a neck behind Miss Nondescript in the Maryland Million Lassie Oct. 24. In her previous start, she won the 5 ½-furlong Small Wonder Sept. 26 at Delaware Park.

Five fillies exiting maiden victories – Be Sneaky, Supreme Blessing and Swirling Dancer at Laurel and shippers Docs Seven from Arlington Park and Donnybrook Girl from Parx – round out the field.

The Smart Halo recognizes the winner of the first Maryland Million race ever run, the 1986 Lassie, by a neck over In the Curl. A daughter of one of Maryland's top sires, Smarten, she went three-for-three as a juvenile for Canadian-based trainer Jim Day.

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56 Juveniles Nominated To Pair Of Juvenile Stakes At Laurel

Stakes winners Kenny Had a Notion, Pickin' Time, Singlino, Miss Nondescript and Street Lute, and a total of 28 horses coming off victories are among 56 combined nominations to the $100,000 James F. Lewis and $100,000 Smart Halo set for Saturday, Nov. 14 at Laurel Park in Maryland.

The ninth running of the Lewis for 2-year-olds and 24th renewal of the Smart Halo for 2-year-old fillies are each contested at six furlongs.

Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser's Kenny Had a Notion has won stakes in back-to-back starts and became a stakes winner on two surfaces with his triumph in the six-furlong Maryland Million Nursery Oct. 24 at Laurel. Just 15 days earlier, the Great Notion gelding captured the Jamestown Stakes sprinting 5 ½ furlongs over Laurel's world-class turf course for trainer Dale Capuano.

Roseland Farm Stable's Pickin' Time was a nose winner over fellow Lewis nominee Dalton in the six-furlong Smoke Glacken Stakes Sept. 27 at Monmouth Park, his most recent start. He has been worse than second once in four tries when he finished off the board in the Aug. 7 Saratoga Special (G2).

Maryland-bred Singlino, owned and trained by John Worsley, defeated Lewis nominees Maythehorsebwithu and Latin Spice in the 5 ½-furlong First State Dash Sept. 26 at Delaware Park. Most recently he was third to No Cents and Heir Port, both also nominated to the Lewis, in an open entry-level allowance going six furlongs Oct. 21 at Monmouth.

Also prominent among Lewis nominees is Lugamo Racing Stable's Lugamo, a winner of two straight at Laurel by 10 ¼ lengths whose only career loss came in debut to undefeated Jaxon Traveler; fellow Laurel maiden winners Ain't Da Beer Cold, Arrest Me Red, Depository, Town of Gold and Xtreme Mayhem; Pimlico Race Course maiden special weight winners Plamen and San Antone; and stakes-placed Basso and Newyearsblockparty.

Seventeen of 25 fillies nominated to the Smart Halo are exiting wins led by Barak Farm's undefeated Maryland homebred Miss Nondescript, who rallied to beat Street Lute by a neck with fellow nominee Trip to Freedom third in the six-furlong Maryland Million Lassie Oct. 24. It was the first loss for Lucky 7 Stables' Street Lute, winner of the 5 ½-furlong Small Wonder Stakes Sept. 26 at Delaware.

Trainer Kelly Breen, who has won two of the last three editions of the Smart Halo with Take Charge Paula in 2017 and Cofactor last year, nominated Screen Door Stables' Sky Proposal, a neck optional claiming allowance winner going six furlongs Sept. 25 at Pimlico.

Respect the Valleys' Out of Sorts, a $1,000 yearling purchase last fall, was nominated out of her 10 ¾-length maiden special weight romp Nov. 1 at Laurel for trainer Brittany Russell, who also nominated Cash is King and LC Racing's Juror Number Four, a last out fourth to Street Lute in the Small Wonder.

Laurel maiden winners Be Sneaky, Buckey's Charm, Infinite Reward, Kewpie Doll, Supreme Blessing, Swirling Dancer and Targe; Pimlico maiden special weight winner Whiskey and Rye; Small Wonder runner-up Plane Drunk and Moochie, scratched from the Maryland Million Nursery, are also nominated.

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Grand Slams for Great Notion, Sheldon Russell on MD Million Day

Great Notion, Maryland’s annual leading sire by earnings since 2018, showcased the prowess of his progeny on the 35th Jim McKay Maryland Million program at Laurel Park Saturday by accounting for four of the eight winners of stakes carded for the offspring of stallions standing in Maryland. The grand slam marks the 11th consecutive year that Great Notion has sired at least one winner on Maryland Million day.

Not to be outdone, jockey Sheldon Russell blasted home a quartet of winners as well, three of them in stakes. He captured top honors in the afternoon’s feature with a nervy, forwardly placed 3 1/4-length victory aboard the 6-1 Monday Morning Qb (Imagining) in the $150,000 Classic S.

Laurel’s second-leading rider in both wins and earnings at the current meet also rallied from last to nail the $100,000 Turf S. by a length with 15-1 Pretty Good Year (Great Notion). And Russell seemed like he was just along for the front-running ride about the day’s most impressive winner, the $100,000 Distaff H.’s 1-2 favorite, Hello Beautiful (Golden Lad), an 11 1/4-length victress trained by the jockey’s wife, Brittany Russell.

Owner/breeders came out on top in three Million divisions Oct. 24. But none championed the cause for smaller outfits better than Great Notion’s final winner of the day, Karan’s Notion, who wired the $100,000 Sprint H. field by a length at 16-1 for owner/breeder/trainer Nancy Heil and jockey Yomar Ortiz.

“I don’t believe it’s real yet. I’ve been training 50-some years, but I’ve never had a [Maryland Million] eligible horse,” said Heil, who entered the day with two wins from just 15 starters in 2020. “When he was a baby, he had these long legs, like spider legs, and we said, ‘I think he’s going to be the one.’

“Never give up,” Heil added emphatically.

Monday Morning Qb apparently took Heil’s advice to heart in the nine-furlong Classic. Earlier this season, the Cash is King and LC Racing color bearer held his own in open-company races behind deeper-end-of-the-pool sophomores like Happy Saver (Super Saver), Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic) and Max Player (Honor Code), all of whom went on to either win or hit the board in Grade I stakes.

After an 11th-place turf try in a stakes on the GI Preakness S. undercard, trainer Butch Reid Jr. refocused on the Maryland Million’s calling-card race for Monday Morning Qb, and the large-framed colt ended up being the only 3-year-old in the Classic.

“We’ll digest this one a little bit. I’m hoping we can find one more 3-year-old race before the end of the year, but they’re going to be difficult to find,” Reid said. “I’ve taken some stalls at Palm Meadows this winter so he’ll probably end up down there with us.”

This year the Turf was elongated from a mile to nine furlongs, and Pretty Good Year, who was third in the 2019 edition, showed he appreciated the added real estate by uncorking a wide-and-driving tailgate move under Russell to earn the win for Lead Off Stable, whose principal, Bobby Goodyear, is the racing manager for the 4-year-old gelding’s breeder, The Elkstone Group.

Beyond the play-on-words naming that ties together owner and horse, Pretty Good Year also happens to be Goodyear’s only campaigner.

“Distance has always been his thing,” trainer Kelly Rubley said. “We keep hitting these one-turn miles here and he hits the board and he picks up checks, but the longer the better for him. At the three-eighths pole, I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, we have a lot of horse.'”

A return to her home court after a last-place stakes foray to Ellis Park and a Grade II stakes sixth at Saratoga Race Course was the turnaround spark that ignited Hello Beautiful’s dazzling romp in the Distaff H. over seven furlongs.

Owned in partnership by Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables, all of the 3-year-old filly’s five wins have now come over the Laurel main track–by a gaudy aggregate of 40 1/2 lengths.

Brittany Russell said that last year’s champion Maryland-bred juvenile filly is not only special in her own right, but that Hello Beautiful’s sparkling career arc has enabled her training business to grow in Maryland by attracting the attention of new owners who have entrusted Russell with fresh stock.

“It’s huge. It’s very emotional. She’s been a big part of my career. I have clients and horses in the barn because of her,” Brittany Russell said.

In the Maryland Million’s pair of six-furlong juvenile stakes, the male division produced the flashier winner from a visual perspective. But the filly division produced the faster clocking.

In the $100,000 Maryland Million Nursery, trainer Dale Capuano saddled the one-two finishers.

Owned in partnership by with Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser, Kenny Had a Notion (Great Notion) ran his lifetime record to 3-for-4 with an inside stalking bid during which he first had to be ridden with restraint by jockey Jorge Ruiz to avoid running up into a tight pocket at the rail. But when given his head and clear passage, “Kenny” slipped deftly through at the fence, spurted clear, and left a number of legit chasers sputtering in his five-length wake.

Stablemate Alwaysinahurry rounded out the Great Notion-sired and Capuano-trained exacta.

“They’re both nice,” Capuano said. “Kenny is getting better and so is Alwaysinahurry. [Kenny] showed more speed than I thought he would. He was on the bit very early and the rider had to just get a seam and lucky the rail opened up and he got through.”

In the $100,000 Maryland Million Lassie, Miss Nondescript (Mossler) stalked from fourth in a strung-out field, advanced at will on far turn, then responded to deep-stretch urging from Trevor McCarthy in a long outside drive to prevail by a hard-fought neck.

Now 2-for-2 for owner/breeder Barak Farm, Miss Nondescript followed up her pace-pressing Monmouth Park maiden victory by showing a new dimension in rating from farther back.

Her victory represented the first stakes winner for freshman sire Mosler, who was a GSP turf sprint and middle-distance specialist. Although primarily based in New York for trainer Bill Mott, one of Mosler’s two stakes wins occurred over the Laurel grass course at six furlongs in the 2016 Laurel Dash.

The final clocking in the Lassie (1:10.13) bested the same-distance time produced three races later in the Nursery (1:10.55).

This year marked the return of the $100,000 Turf Sprint H. to the Maryland Million program following a seven-year absence. It had been won in each of its final three years by the late Maryland fan favorite Ben’s Cat.

Fiya (Friesan Fire), who began his career last November as a $25,000 maiden-claimer but was purchased for $400,000 at the Wanamaker’s July online sale after a 98-Beyer win that was .25 seconds off the Laurel turf course record for 5 1/2 furlongs, got pounded to 1-10 odds for the grass dash over the same distance on Saturday. He delivered with a 2 1/4-length tally that lifted his 2020 record to 4-for-4. Tom Albertrani trains for owner Robert Masiello. It was one of three wins on the day for jockey Trevor McCarthy.

Vivian Rall’s homebred Epic Idea (Great Notion), a two-time winner sprinting on the turf, successfully stretched out to 1 1/8 miles to win by three-quarters of a length, garnering her first career stakes win in the $100,000 Maryland Million Ladies S. The 5-1 wire-to-wire victress was ridden by McCarthy and trained by Ann Merryman.

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Maryland Million: Kenny Had A Notion Best In Nursery; Miss Nondescript Snatches Lassie

Under a ground-saving trip by jockey Jorge Ruiz, Louis J. Ulman and Neil Glasser's Kenny Had a Notion ran away from a dozen others down the stretch to win the $100,000 Maryland Million Nursery Saturday on the 35th edition of Maryland Million Day at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

A 2-year-old son of Great Notion trained by Dale Capuano, Kenny Had a Notion beat stablemate Alwaysinahurry by five lengths while covering six furlongs in 1:10.55. Reassured was third.

Kenny Had a Notion, a determined head winner of his maiden special weight debut July 30 at six furlongs at Delaware Park, cut back to 5 1/2 for the First State Dash there Sept. 26, contested over a sloppy track. Capuano brought him back in 13 days for the Jamestown Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong turf dash for Virginia-breds Oct. 9 at Laurel, where he romped by five lengths as the favorite.

On Saturday afternoon at Laurel, Kenny Had a Notion broke well and raced third down the backstretch behind pacesetter Tiz Golden and inside San Antone past an opening quarter mile in :22.68. But around the turn, Ruiz drove Kenny Had a Notion to the front along the rail and then cruised away. Alwaysinahurry, who also saved ground entering the stretch, split horses to get up for the place.

“They're both nice,” said Capuano of his first two finishers. “Kenny is getting better and so is Alwaysinahurry. [Kenny] showed more speed than I thought he would. He was on the bit very early and the rider had to just get a seam and lucky the rail opened up and he got through.”

Miss Nondescript Gives Sire Mosler First Stakes Winner
Barak Farm's Miss Nondescript, making her second start and first for trainer Michael Trombetta, rallied down the stretch and got up in the final strides to win the $100,000 Maryland Million Lassie by a neck over Street Lute, giving freshman sire Mosler his first stakes winner.

Miss Nondescript, who broke her maiden at first asking Sept. 4 at Monmouth Park, covered the six furlongs in 1:10.13 under jockey Trevor McCarthy.

“This filly gave me a great effort today,” McCarthy said. “She had a nice break and the pace was quick … we had a perfect pace to run at.”

Miss Nondescript (outside) is up just in time to win the Maryland Million Lassie

Trip to Freedom, who broke her maiden a week earlier, shot out of the gate and went the opening quarter in :21.93 and the half in :44.38 before Street Lute and Miss Nondescript both rallied to the outside inside the final eighth. But in the final yards, it was Miss Nondescript who put her neck out front at the wire.

“I was worried that she might run out of time,” Trombetta said. “I could see her chiseling into the margin but I didn't know if she had enough time. Fortunately it worked out.”

Trombetta, who has only had the filly about a month, said there were “a real good set of circumstances” about the Lassie, with the filly having seven weeks since her debut and the quick early pace of Saturday's race. When asked about the offspring of Mosler, Trombetta said, “From what I'm seeing of these guys I think they'll run on whatever you ask.”

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