Maryland Million Classic | Horse Racing Free Tips

Monday Morning Qb’s Classic Victory Caps Four-Win Maryland Million Day For Russell

Jockey Sheldon Russell, a month into his return from a broken wrist, put an exclamation point on his comeback with four wins Saturday capped by a record-setting victory aboard Monday Morning Qb in the $150,000 Maryland Million Classic at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

The 1 1/8-mile Classic for 3-year-olds headlined the 35th Jim McKay Maryland Million Day program of 12 races featuring eight stakes and four starter stakes on 'Maryland's Day at the Races,' celebrating the progeny of stallions standing in the state.

Given a textbook ride by Russell, Monday Morning Qb ($15.80) hit the wire in 1:48.13 over a fast main track, the fastest Classic since the race was moved to its current distance in 2009. The Classic was run at 1 1/4 miles from 1986-92 and 1 3/16 miles from 1993-2008.

Russell, 33, captured the $50,000 Starter Handicap with trainer Dale Capuano's Jumpstartmyheart in the opener and went on to wins in the $100,000 Distaff with Hello Beautiful, trained by his wife, Brittany, and $100,000 Turf with Pretty Good Year. Russell moved into sixth in Maryland Million history with 11 total wins.

“I'm a little bit of a pessimist. I'm thinking, 'How many does he have in him today? Did he use up all his luck before he got to me?' That's a natural trainer instinct,” winning trainer Robert E. 'Butch' Reid Jr. joked. “But, Sheldon's a good rider. I've known him for years and he's won some nice races for us, so I had complete confidence in Sheldon.”

Russell was leading the Laurel Park summer meet standings when he was injured in a gate mishap July 17 at Delaware Park. He returned Sept. 24 on opening day of the Preakness Meet at Pimlico, where he went 1-for-16 but rode Excessive in the Preakness Stakes (G1). A seven-time meet champion in Maryland and the state's leading overall rider in 2011, Russell was 7-for-30 at Laurel's fall meet before Saturday's 4-for-9 performance.

“It's just fantastic. I haven't really been back that long. We sort of came back Preakness week and I was able to pick up a Preakness mount and sort of pick my head up a little bit,” Russell said. “Business has been great, so I can't really complain. My agent, Marty Leonard, has done a great job.

“Going into today I had nine mounts and looking at all of them, you think they all sort of had a live sneaky outside chance,” he added. “It was good that Dale's horse put me on a good start to the day. When you win some races early on in the day it sort of gives you a second win and you want to win another one, but four wins is great. I couldn't have asked for a better day.”

Winner of the Heft Stakes for juveniles last December at Laurel, Monday Morning Qb became only the second 3-year-old ever to win the Classic, following Bonus Points in 2017.

Russell was able to settle Monday Morning Qb in second off an opening quarter-mile in 23.47 set by 2019 Classic runner-up Prendimi. Off the board in the James W. Murphy Oct. 3 at Pimlico, his grass debut, the Maryland-bred Imagining colt took over the top spot after a half in 46.81, gained some separation after going six furlongs in 1:10.94 and had plenty left to turn back historic Pimlico Special (G3) winner and Classic favorite Harpers First Ride.

“I thought there was a little more speed. For him to be in the catbird seat laying second was kind of a surprise to me,” Reid said. “I just told Sheldon to break him sharp and wherever he was comfortable was fine with me. The horse has no problem coming from off the pace or on the lead, whatever you want to do.

“The biggest thing you have to think about with him, and the only instruction that I gave Sheldon was, if you're in tight turning for home to open up and get away from horses a couple lengths and try and make him switch leads. Sheldon did a great job.”

Harpers First Ride, who had a two-race stakes win streak snapped, was second, three-quarters of a length ahead of 45-1 long shot Tattooed. It was five lengths back to Tap the Mark in fourth, followed by Cordmaker, Top Line Growth and Prendimi. Top Line Growth, the 2019 Iowa Derby winner, entered the Classic with a perfect 4-0 record at Laurel.

“He's a beautiful horse. I think he won the best-turned-out horse and I'm not surprised at all, because he's stunning,” Russell said. “Mr. Reid said he's sharp and just get him into a good position. Going into the first turn you could see I had a handful. He was really strong, he was eager, he was well-prepared today and that's sort of how he ran.”

Reid said he expects Monday Morning Qb to be part of a small string he'll have this winter at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream Park's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.

“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.”

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Competitive Field Of Seven Will Start In Saturday’s $150,000 Maryland Million Classic

In a rare circumstance, no previous winner or defending champion returns in Saturday's $150,000 Maryland Million Classic at Laurel Park, leaving a wide-open and competitive field of seven to contest the richest race on the 35th annual Jim McKay Maryland Million program.

The 1 1/8-mile Classic for 3-year-olds and up headlines a 12-race card featuring eight stakes and four starter stakes on 'Maryland's Day at the Races,' celebrating the progeny of stallions standing in the state. First race post time is 11:25 a.m.

With 2019 victor Forest Fire sitting this one out, 2020 marks just the sixth time in the past 23 years and only the ninth in event history that the Classic will not have either the previous year's winner or a past champion in the lineup.

Returning from last year are runner-up Prendimi, beaten a half-length after setting the pace, and fifth-place finisher Tattooed, making his third straight Classic appearance. Among the competition are historic Pimlico Special (G3) winner Harpers First Ride, fellow multiple stakes winner Cordmaker, and stakes winners Monday Morning Qb and Top Line Growth.

G.J. Stable's Prendimi made his Laurel debut in last year's Classic for trainer Luis Carvajal Jr., who missed the race to be in California for the Breeders' Cup with Imperial Hint, only to have the multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire scratched the morning of the Sprint (G1) with a minor foot issue.

“It's very nice to have him in my barn. I used to gallop the mare and now we have this guy. Every baby she brings is a good horse, and Prendimi has never disappointed me,” Carvajal said. “The first time I ran him at Laurel, he definitely didn't disappoint me. Unfortunately last year I couldn't be at Laurel because I was at Santa Anita for the Breeders' Cup. This year Imperial Hint is retired so there's no Breeder's Cup for me, but it will be nice for me to be at Laurel for the Maryland Million.”

The 2019 Classic was not only Prendimi's first time at Laurel, it is the only other time the 5-year-old Dances With Ravens gelding has been nine furlongs. Daniel Centeno is named to ride from Post 1.

“I'm looking forward to it. Last year we didn't have much of an idea of if he was going to like the track or if he was going to be able to handle the mile and an eighth. There was a question mark there,” Carvajal said. “But, he did great and I was really happy with the way he ran. I'm hoping that he can perform the same way. He's doing great. He's working good for this race, so I'm very anxious to see him run again at Laurel.”

Prendimi has been third or better in 16 of 23 lifetime starts with five wins, including a trio of stakes wins at Carvajal's spring/summer base of Monmouth Park. Most recently, he was seventh in the one-mile Salvator Mile (G3) Sept. 20 after winning the Charles Hesse III Handicap Aug. 30 at the New Jersey track.

“My client, the first thing he told me when we came to Monmouth Park this spring he said, 'We have to look forward to the Maryland Million Classic.' It was the first thing he had in mind,” Carvajal said. “The horse did very well in the summer. We hope it's a beautiful day and he runs as good as he did last year.”

Maryland's overall leading trainer the past three years, Claudio Gonzalez entered stablemates Harpers First Ride and Tap the Mark. MCA Racing Stable's Harpers First Ride enters the Classic off back-to-back stakes triumphs in the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course and the 1 1/16-mile Deputed Testamony Sept. 7 at Laurel, where he owns six wins from seven career starts.

“Before the last race I expect him to run really good because he was showing me in the mornings that he was doing better than ever,” Gonzalez said. “Every race he gets better and better. I didn't know if he could [win], but I knew he was going to be there and he ran so good. He came out of the race good, he breezed good the other day and came out of it good, so everything's good.”

Among the horses Harpers First Ride defeated in the Pimlico Special were defending champion Tenfold, another Triple Crown race veteran in runner-up Owendale, and Cordmaker, third by two necks in the 2018 Special. Angel Cruz gets the return call from Post 5.

“The Pimlico Special is a very big race,” Gonzalez said. “It was very special because it's here in Maryland. This is where I have my license and make my home. It was special for everybody. The whole team was happy that day.”

BB Horses' Tap the Mark registered a win on the Special's undercard, a half-length optional claiming allowance triumph going 1 1/16 miles over Toughest 'Ombre and Tattooed. Weston Hamilton has the assignment from Post 6.

“He's a horse that tries all the time and is always right there. He's made almost $200,000 already and he's more mature. He's a big horse and I think he can run the long distance. He's the kind of horse that can run right there with the speed and he's an easy horse to ride,” Gonzalez said. “This is a big day for everybody. It [would be] very special for us to win one race, especially the Classic. We are going to give it a try.”

Cash is King and LC Racing's Monday Morning Qb, based at Parx with trainer Robert E. 'Butch' Reid Jr., has raced twice previously at Laurel, winning the Heft Stakes as a 2-year-old last December and running second in the Federico Tesio Sept. 7. The Tesio was the Imagining colt's first race in seven months and came at the Classic's distance.

Monday Morning Qb will try to join exclusive company Saturday. Bonus Points in 2017 is the only other 3-year-old to win the Classic.

“He obviously handles the dirt very well, and a firm dirt is what I'm looking for. He likes that track down at Laurel so we'll give it a shot,” Reid said. “We feel like he's sitting on a good race. He breezed beautiful the other day. We just let him kind of stretch his legs and blow off a little steam, and it should set him up perfect for this spot.”

Monday Morning Qb made his turf debut following the Tesio, racing in contention for a half-mile before fading in the one-mile James W. Murphy Oct. 3 on the Preakness (G1) undercard at Pimlico.

“He caught a real soft turf course that day and he's a big, heavy horse. I think it really compromised his chances in there,” Reid said. “He came out of it like he didn't even run, and he really didn't, so that's the reason why we don't mind running him back a little quicker for this spot.”

Sheldon Russell rides Monday Morning Qb from Post 3.

Hillwood Stable's Cordmaker has gone winless in five 2020 starts but has shown steady improvement since his belated season opener July 3. The gelded 5-year-old son of Hall of Famer Curlin was second in the Deputed Testamony and third for the second straight year in the Pimlico Special, beaten less than six lengths combined. Regular rider Victor Carrasco has the mount from Post 4.

The Elkstone Group's homebred Top Line Growth takes a perfect 4-0 record at Laurel into the Million. A 4-year-old Tapizar gelding, he finished a rallying second in the Salvator Mile last out snapping a two-race win streak. Promoted winner of the Iowa Derby last July, he capped his sophomore season with a second-level optional claiming allowance win at Laurel, then made a successful return off an 11-month layoff in a third-level spot Aug. 14. Julian Pimentel rides from Post 7.

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Gonzalez Holds Strong Hand In Advance Of Oct. 24 Jim McKay Maryland Million

Claudio Gonzalez-trained stablemates Harpers First Ride, Galerio and Tap the Mark, each pre-entered for the $150,000 Maryland Million Classic Oct. 24 at Laurel Park, breezed a half-mile over its main track on a busy Saturday morning at the Laurel, Md., track.

The 1 1/8-mile Classic for 3-year-olds and up is the richest of eight stakes and four starter stakes on the 35th Jim McKay Maryland Million program. Created in 1986, “Maryland's Day at the Races” celebrates progeny of stallions standing in the state and the groundbreaking concept has spawned copycat events across North America.

Winner of back-to-back stakes including the historic Pimlico Special (G3) last out Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course, MCA Racing Stable's Harpers First Ride was clocked in 47.80 seconds. It was the fastest move of the Classic trio and ranked seventh among 58 horses at the distance.

Harpers First Ride has won four of his last six starts for Gonzalez, Maryland's leading trainer three years running. Prior to the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special, the 4-year-old gelding captured the 1 1/16-mile Deputed Testamony at Laurel, where he has six wins from seven career tries.

Among other Maryland-breds to win the Pimlico Special are Hall of Famers Cigar (1995) and Challedon (1939-40) as well as Include (2001) and Vertex (1958).

Robert D. Bone's Galerio breezed four furlongs in 48 seconds, eighth-fastest of 58 horses, while BB Horses' Tap the Mark went the distance in 48.40, ranking 11th. Entered in a one-mile optional claiming allowance Oct. 22, Galerio also has a stellar record over Laurel's main track with five wins and five seconds from 13 starts. After going winless in eight starts with five seconds in 2019, the 4-year-old gelding has won six of 10 races this year including his most recent, a 1 1/16-mile allowance Sept. 17.

Tap the Mark, a 4-year-old son of late Maryland sire Tritap, exits an optional claiming allowance victory going 1 1/16 miles Oct. 2 at Pimlico over fellow Classic pre-entrants Toughest 'Ombre and Tattooed. He has an overall record of 7-4-3 from 21 starts with nearly $200,000 in purse earnings.

“He is pointing for the Classic,” Gonzalez said. “He breezed really good today. It all depends, if he continues like this we're going to run in the Classic.”

Gonzalez also sent out Bone's Eastern Bay for a half-mile move in 47.70 seconds, second-fastest on the morning. The 6-year-old gelding, winner of the Polynesian Stakes Sept. 5 at Laurel and second by a nose in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) Oct. 3 at Pimlico, is pre-entered in the $100,000 Maryland Million Sprint for 3-year-olds and up. All three races are at six furlongs.

“All the horses that ran on the big weekend, Preakness weekend, they came back good, especially [Eastern Bay],” Gonzalez said. “We have to wait and see if we get in, but we wanted to be ready.”

Fellow Sprint pre-entrant Onmoregreattime was also on Saturday's work tab, going four furlongs in 49 seconds. Clover Hill Farm Inc. and Clover Hill Racing's 5-year-old gelding, trained by Jerry O'Dwyer, fifth in the Polynesian last out, will be making his fourth straight Million appearance. He finished third in the 2017 Nursery and respectively fourth and sixth in the 2018 and 2019 Sprint for previous trainer John Robb.

Robb has a pair of promising juveniles in Lucky 7 Stables' undefeated Street Lute and No Guts No Glory Farm's Moochie, each pre-entered in both the $100,000 Nursery for 2-year-olds and $100,000 Lassie for 2-year-old fillies. Both worked five furlongs Saturday at Laurel, with Moochie going in 1:02 (fifth-fastest of 16 horses) and Street Lute in 1:02.20 (ranking eighth).

Street Lute, by Street Magician, has made both her starts this year at Delaware Park, winning a five-furlong maiden special weight Sept. 7 and the 5 1/2-furlong Small Wonder Stakes Sept. 26, the latter by five lengths. Moochie was a debut winner June 29 at Delaware, then got loose and was fractious at the gate before running seventh in the Colleen, a turf sprint stakes Aug. 2 at Monmouth Park.

Another notable worker Saturday was 3-year-old filly Coconut Cake, going a half-mile in 49.20 seconds. Owned by NRS Stable, James Chambers and trainer Tim Keefe's Avalon Farm, the daughter of 2014 General George (G3) winner Bandbox has won her last three starts and was beaten a half-length when third on debut May 31, her only loss.

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