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Stronach Five: Four Tracks, Four Turf Races Featured In Friday’s Wager

The popular Stronach 5, featuring an industry-low 12-percent takeout, will feature four tracks and four turf races Friday, including the $75,000 Bert Allen Stakes and $75,000 Punch Line Stakes from Laurel Park.

Along with races from Laurel, Gulfstream Park West, Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Park, the Stronach 5 will also have a $100,000 guaranteed pool.

The Stronach 5 begins at 3:58 ET with a dozen claimers going 6 ½ furlongs on the main track at Gulfstream Park West before the action moves to Laurel Park and a pair of $75,000 stakes on the turf for Virginia breds.

The Bert Allen, at 1 1/16 miles, features Largent, a son of Into Mischief who won the Edward P. Evans at Colonial Downs and was second in the Lure Stakes Sept. 7 at Saratoga. The 5 ½ furlong Punch Line drew a field of 14 including Embolden, second in the Edward P. Evans and fourth Aug. 29 in the Saranac (G3) at Saratoga.

The Stronach 5 wraps up out west with maiden California-bred or sired 2-year-olds going a mile on the turf, and 2-year-old maidens also going a mile on turf at Golden Gate Fields.

Friday's races and sequence

Leg One – Gulfstream West 8^th Race: (12 entries, 6 ½ furlongs) 3:58 ET, 12:58 PT
Leg Two –Laurel Park 7th Race: (8 entries, 1 1/16-mile turf) 4:20 ET, 1:20 PT
Leg Three –Laurel Park 8^th Race (14 entries, 5 1/2 furlongs turf) 5:02 ET, 2:02 PT
Leg Four –Santa Anita 4^th Race: (9 entries, 1-mile turf) 5:08 ET, 2:08 PT
Leg Five –Golden Gate Fields 3^rd Race: (9 entries, 1-mile turf) 5:23 ET, 2:23 PT

Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.

The Stronach 5 In the Money podcast, hosted by Jonathan Kinchen and Peter Thomas Fornatale, will be posted by 2 p.m. Thursday at InTheMoneyPodcast.com and will be available on iTunes and other major podcast distributors

The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

The post Stronach Five: Four Tracks, Four Turf Races Featured In Friday’s Wager appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Laurel Park Kicks Off Fall Meet Thursday; Five Virginia-Bred Stakes On Friday

On the heels of an historic Preakness meet at Pimlico Race Course that saw Swiss Skydiver become only the sixth filly in 145 runnings to capture the Preakness Stakes (G1), the Maryland Jockey Club is set to raise the curtain on its calendar year-ending fall stand.

Laurel Park will play host to a 44-day session beginning Thursday, Oct. 8 and running through Thursday, Dec. 31 that will feature 35 stakes worth $3.23 million in purses including the $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3).

Racing will be conducted Thursday through Sunday in October and November and Thursday through Saturday in December with a special Sunday, Dec. 27 program. There will be no racing Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, Dec. 24 and 25.

Post time will be 12:40 p.m. through Sunday, Oct. 18 and move to 12:25 p.m. for the remainder of the meet with 11:25 a.m. exceptions on Maryland Million Day, Oct. 24; Breeders' Cup Saturday, Nov. 7; and Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26.

Laurel's Thursday opening day program of eight races includes four scheduled for its world-class turf course which drew a total of 54 entries, an average of 13.5 starters per race. The feature comes in Race 7, a second-level optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting 5 ½ furlongs over the All Along turf course layout. The 9-5 program favorite is Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, R.A. Hill Stable and Joseph Besecker's Shippy, third in the Schuylerville (G3) last summer and winner of the Blue Sparkler Stakes July 11 at Monmouth Park.

Nine races are on tap for Friday, Oct. 9, highlighted by five $75,000 turf stakes for registered Virginia-bred/sired horses. The action kicks off in Race 1 with the M. Tyson Gilpin for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting 5 ½ furlongs where Eagle Point Farm homebred What the Beep will look to defend her title from 2019, when the series was held at Colonial Downs. What the Beep won her only start of 2020, the 5 ½-furlong Camptown Stakes, July 29 at Colonial.

Race 3 is the 1 1/16-mile Brookmeade for fillies and mares 3 and up featuring Bella Aurora, third in the Camptown and a winner of the Gin Talking on dirt last December at Laurel; 2019 Just Jenda Stakes winner Tasting the Stars, fifth off more than a year layoff in the 1 1/16-mile Twixt on dirt Sept. 5 at Laurel; and stakes-placed Secret Or Not, Pink Pearl and Fionnbharr.

A field of seven 2-year-olds were entered in Race 5, the 5 ½-furlong Jamestown, four coming from the Delaplane, Va. barn of Susan Cooney – Quest Realty homebred maidens Canherun, Point of Grace and Paupin and Andrew Lavin's Virginia Fib, a first-time starter.

Twin Creeks Racing Stables and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Largent, first or second in seven career starts for trainer Todd Pletcher including a win in the one-mile Edward P. Evans July 29 at Colonial, tops a field of eight in Race 7, the 1 1/16-mile Bert Allen Stakes for 3-year-olds and up. Among the competition are 2018 Hansel and Bert Allen winner River Deep and Black Prong, third in last year's Bert Allen.

Wrapping up Friday's stakes is the 5 ½-furlong Punch Line in Race 8 for 3-year-olds and up. The field of 14 includes 2019 Jamestown winner and Grade 3-placed Embolden; Fly E Dubai, third in last year's Punch Line; 2016 Jamestown winner Lime House Louie; 14-time career winner and multiple stakes-placed Sir Rockport; Reform School, third by a half-length in the six-furlong James F. Lewis III Stakes on dirt last fall at Laurel; and stakes-placed Braxton and Carbon Data.

Stakes action continues Saturday, Oct. 24 with the 35^th annual Jim McKay Maryland Million featuring eight stakes and a total of 12 races for eligible Maryland-sired horses worth $1.005 million in purses, led by the $150,000 Classic for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles. Returning to the program for the first time since 2012 is the $75,000 Turf Sprint, also for 3-year-olds and up, at 5 ½ furlongs.

The $100,000 Maryland Million Turf for 3-year-olds and up saw its distance extended from one mile to 1 1/8 miles for 2020. Other stakes are the $100,000 Nursery for 2-year-olds, $100,000 Lassie for 2-year-old fillies and $100,000 Sprint for 3-year-olds and up, all at six furlongs; $100,000 Ladies at 1 1/8 miles and $100,000 Distaff at seven furlongs, both for fillies and mares 3 and up.

Pre-entry deadline for Maryland Million is Wednesday, Oct. 14. Pre-entries can be made by calling the Laurel Park racing office at 800-638-1859.

The $100,000 James F. Lewis III for 2-year-olds and $100,000 Smart Halo for 2-year-old fillies, both sprinting six furlongs, will be held Saturday, Nov. 14 on Laurel's Salute to Veterans Day program.

Following its traditional Thanksgiving Day program, this year Nov. 26, Laurel will host the Fall Festival of Racing Saturday, Nov. 28 with six $100,000 stakes led by the Concern for 3-year-olds and Smart Halo for 3-year-old fillies, each at seven furlongs. Also scheduled are the 1 1/16-mile Thirty Eight Go Go and six-furlong Primonetta for females 3 and older and 1 1/8-mile Richard Small and six furlong Frank Whiteley Jr. for 3-year-olds and up.

Juveniles will again be in the spotlight on Maryland Spectacular Day, Saturday, Dec. 5 in the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Futurity and $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship.

The 2020 stakes season concludes in style on Christmastide Stakes Day, Saturday, Dec. 26, with eight stakes worth $850,000 in purses led by the 1 1/8-mile duPont for fillies and mares 3 and older, repositioned on the calendar after traditionally being run on the Preakness undercard.

Four races are for 2-year-olds – the $100,000 Gin Talking for fillies and $100,000 Heft, each at six furlongs, and the $100,000 Anne Arundel County for fillies and $100,000 Howard County, both going 1 1/16 miles. Rounding out the stakes action are the $100,000 Native Dancer at 1 1/8 miles and $100,000 Dave's Friend at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up, and $100,000 Willa On the Move for fillies and mares 3 and older sprinting seven furlongs.

Jockey Trevor McCarthy and trainer Claudio Gonzalez return to defend their Laurel fall meet championships from 2019. McCarthy led the six-day Preakness Meet with nine wins to earn his 13^th career individual title and seventh of the last nine in Maryland, where he has been the state's leading rider four times (2013, 2014, 2016, 2019).

McCarthy, 26, is named in six races Thursday and five Friday, including Tasting the Stars in the Brookmeade, Largent in the Bert Allen and Embolden in the Punch Line.

A 43-year-old cancer survivor, Gonzalez won five races including the historic Pimlico Special (G3) with Harpers First Ride to lead all trainers during the Preakness Meet. He has now won 11 of the last 12 meets in Maryland dating back to Laurel's 2017 spring stand and owns or shares 14 titles overall. He has led the state in wins three consecutive years (2017-19).

Gonzalez has horses entered in three races at Laurel Thursday and two Friday.

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Karamanos Edges Toledo For Laurel Riding Title; Claudio Gonzalez Tops Among Trainers

Though he didn't wind up with a victory on the card, and had to hold off the late charge from a two-time state champion, jockey Horacio Karamanos left Saturday's closing day program a winner after clinching the summer meet riding title at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

Karamanos was blanked on four mounts Saturday, finishing second three times and ending the extended summer stand with a one-win edge over runner-up Jevian Toledo, 42-41, who won twice to close the gap. Karamanos earned his first title since sharing the 2017 Preakness Meet at Pimlico crown with Feargal Lynch and Kevin Gomez.

“I kept finishing second today, I couldn't win. Sometimes you win and sometimes you don't have the luck. That's what happened to me today,” Karamanos said. “But it's the game. You need some luck. I think I had beautiful luck because I didn't get hurt or anything like that. To me, when I finish my races in one piece it's my best win, and I think for everybody it's the same.”

It is the sixth Maryland meet title for Karamanos, who won Pimlico outright in 2003 and 2010 as well as finishing first during Laurel's 2002 summer and 2007 fall stands. He ranked second in purse earnings with more than $1.35 million, trailing only Toledo's $1.52 million.

Toledo, Maryland's leading overall rider in 2015 and 2017, won twice Saturday aboard Created Special ($3.60) in Race 3 and Quiet Company ($14.80) in Race 7 to get within one, but was second with favored Beacon Hill in Race 8 and sixth on Shezalemondropkid in Race 9. Karamanos' lone win over closing weekend came in Friday's fourth race with Successful Zip ($6.60).

Seventeen-year-old apprentice Charlie Marquez, riding his last day in Maryland before moving his tack to New York with Hall of Famer Angel Cordero Jr. as his agent, captured the ninth race finale on Gennie Highway ($18) and finished third with 34 wins.

“I feel so good. We had a beautiful meet and good competition with my friends. We had good luck this year,” Karamanos said. “I had nice horses to ride and good people to ride for like [trainers] Damon [Dilodovico], Jose Corrales, Ferris Allen. I'm so happy because this is my home. This is the place I want to live forever.”

Represented by agent and ex-rider Frank Douglas, Karamanos had five wins in his first 50 mounts to open the summer meet once live racing resumed in Maryland May 30 following a 2 1/2-month pause amid the coronavirus pandemic. When the calendar turned to July, Karamanos caught fire with 11 multi-win days including hat tricks July 4, July 25 and Aug. 14.

A native of Argentina, where he won more than 1,500 races before coming to the U.S. in 2000, Karamanos landed full-time in Maryland in 2002 and tied a Laurel Park record with seven winners on a single card that October. He also owns multiple riding titles at Colonial Downs in neighboring Virginia.

Laurel was the site of Karamanos' 2,000th career victory aboard Liquid Aloha on Father's Day, June 17, 2017. Over Labor Day weekend, he won the $100,000 Twixt Sept. 5 for trainer Ferris Allen on Wicked Awesome.

“I want to say thank you to my agent, my wife who supported me and my beautiful daughter. All my friends help me, all my trainers support me,” Karamanos said. “I try hard all the time with my people so I feel really confident in myself to ride.”

Claudio Gonzalez finished as leading trainer with 27 wins to earn his 13th career title and 10th in the last 11 meets in Maryland dating back to Laurel's 2017 spring stand. Damon Dilodovico was second with 16, while Jamie Ness and Jose Corrales tied for third at 15.

One of Gonzalez's main clients, Robert D. Bone, wound up as the meet's leading owner with 14 wins, five ahead of Ness' Jagger Inc.

Live racing moves to Baltimore for the six-day Preakness Meet at Pimlico which runs Sept. 24-28 and Oct. 1-3. The final three days will feature a blockbuster lineup of 16 stakes, nine graded, worth $3.35 million in purses highlighted by the 145^th running of the Preakness Stakes (G1) Oct. 3.

Molto Bella Spoils Stablemate Las Setas' Return in Saturday Feature
Molto Bella, a stakes winner last winter for Ian Wilkes racing first time for trainer Katy Voss, scooted through an opening on the inside in mid-stretch and drew off to a 2 3/4-length win in Saturday's featured fourth race at Laurel Park.

Owned by the partnership of Randall Bloch, Six Column Stables, Voss, Fred Merritt and John Seiler, Molto Bella ($7) ran six furlongs in 1:10.12 over a fast main track in the third-level optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up originally carded for the Fort Marcy turf course.

“I didn't have to do much with her. Ian sent her down ready,” Voss said. “We've had trouble finding a good spot for her this year. Ian thinks she likes the turf better but we're having a serious problem [having] turf [races] so I thought if she ran back to any of her dirt races from last year she'd be tough. I think the race set up for her.”

Angel at War and S W Briar Rose, both entered for main track only, were the main combatants through fractions of 23.02 and 46.10 seconds. Jockey Trevor McCarthy settled Molto Bella in fourth, bided his time and took advantage of an opening once straightened for home.

S W Briar Rose passed Angel at War late for second, with Molto Bella's stablemate Las Setas completing the order of finish. Named the Maryland-bred champion 3-year-old filly after stakes wins in the Wide Country, Beyond the Wire and Weber City Miss last spring, Las Setas was racing for just the second time since the 2019 Black-Eyed Susan (G2), where she ran seventh, and first since a fifth in the six-furlong Politely Stakes last Dec. 7 at Laurel.

Voss had also considered the $100,000 Skipat on the Preakness (G1) undercard Oct. 3 for Las Setas, but wanted more time before the Maryland Million Distaff Oct. 24.

“She wasn't really ready, but I knew she needed a race and the Pimlico race is too tough and too close. This was my only option,” Voss said. “The goal is Maryland Million, and we wanted to get a race into her before that.”

Notes: Jockey Trevor McCarthy posted a hat trick Saturday with Hot Choice ($9.20) in Race 2, Molto Bella ($7) in Race 4 and Pretty Lori ($4) in Race 6. Favored at even money for her career bow and trained by Ham Smith, 2-year-old filly Pretty Lori won in 1:04.65 for 5 ½ furlongs in the off-the-turf maiden special weight … Trainer Dale Capuano swept the late double with Dixie Drawl ($3.80) in Race 8 and Gennie Highway ($18) in Race 9 … Mandatory payouts returned $1,537.40 in the $1 Super Hi-5, $1,101.65 in the 50-cent Late Pick 5 for tickets with all five winners, and $633.94 in the 20-cent Pick 6 for tickets with all six winners.

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Karamanos, Gonzalez, and Bone take Laurel Summer Meet Titles

The summer meet at Laurel Park wrapped up Saturday with jockey Horacio Karamanos just holding his lead over Jevian Toledo to win the riding title in spite of failing to reach the winner’s circle Saturday while Toledo won twice. Karamanos won 42-41 over Toledo. He ranked second in purse earnings with more than $1.35 million, while Toledo tallied $1.52 million.

“I kept finishing second today,” said Karamanos. “I couldn’t win. Sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t have the luck. That’s what happened to me today. But it’s the game. You need some luck. I think I had beautiful luck because I didn’t get hurt or anything like that. To me, when I finish my races in one piece, it’s my best win, and I think for everybody it’s the same.”

Karamanos has now won six titles in Maryland, including the Laurel fall meets in 2002 and 2007. The Argentine native won more than 1,500 races in Argentina before moving his tack to the U.S. in 2000.

Trainer Claudio Gonzalez was Laurel’s leading trainer for the summer meet with 27 wins. He earned his 13th career title and 10th in the last 11 meets in Maryland. Damon Dilodovico trailed in second with 16 wins.

Robert D. Bone, one of Gonzalez’s main clients, was the meet’s leading owner with 14 wins.

Live racing in Maryland will now move to Baltimore for the Preakness Meet at Pimlico, which is scheduled for Sept. 24-28 and Oct. 1-3. The 145th running of the GI Preakness S. will be held Oct. 3.

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