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Hello Beautiful “Awesome” After Historic Win In Maryland Million Distaff

Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables, and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful was doing “awesome” on Sunday following her history-making victory in the $100,000 Maryland Million Distaff at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

The 4-year-old filly dispatched her six rivals by 3 ½ lengths to become just the seventh horse to win three Maryland Million races since its inception in 1986, joining Ben's Cat, Countus In, Docent, Eighttofasttocatch, Mz. Zill Bear, and Hall of Fame mare Safely Kept.

“She looks awesome this morning,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “[She's] pleased with herself.

“She's been good to us. She kind of has this cocky attitude about her,” she added. “When you walk into the barn, she doesn't greet you. You walk in that first stall, her bum's getting you at the door. She has an air about her. She's very straightforward to train, knock on wood.”

Hello Beautiful won the 2019 Lassie as a 2-year-old and 2020 Distaff among her eight career stakes wins. She didn't break sharply in Saturday's race but quickly inherited the lead and was left alone up front despite the presence of speedy eight-time stakes winner Street Lute, who figured to pose an early challenge.

“It sort of the same thing it always is. I feel like there's speed in the race and she's the fastest horse. If they want to go with her, go with her,” Russell said. “It's not like she jumped out of there and had the lead from the first jump. She ran a little faster probably that first part and they sat off of her.”

It was fellow stakes winner Malibu Beauty who stayed closest to Hello Beautiful, getting to within 1 ½ lengths after a half mile, before the 1-5 favorite steadily gained separation on the field and pulled away through the lane as Street Lute mounted her bid, only to get nosed at the wire for second by Malibu Beauty.

Street Lute's former Jerry Robb-trained stablemate, 11-time stakes winner Anna's Bandit who was retired in August, was honored between races prior to the Distaff, which she won in 2019, adding to the significance of Hello Beautiful's subsequent victory.

“This is special. There's been a lot of good fillies. You saw Anna's Bandit walk over here [yesterday]. Hello Beautiful, she's won three Maryland Millions, she's won open races. It's that graded race that's missing on her resume,” Russell said. “Unfortunately, she probably won't be able to get it because of the Lasix situation, but that's OK. She keeps doing her thing and we're having fun with her.”

All graded stakes in Maryland are contested without Lasix. Riding a three-race win streak, Hello Beautiful ran fifth in the Grade 3 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie Feb. 20 at Laurel in her most recent graded attempt.

“It's disappointing, I think, more because she's a filly that has the ability to do it. You see her numbers and you see how she runs,” Russell said. “Maybe her 3-year-old year wasn't the year to try it. She didn't have luck with shipping and all those things, but I think now, as a mature horse, you wish you had the chance.

“Maybe if she runs as a 5-year-old next year knowing that she'd be retired as a 6-year-old [we'd try again],” she added. “I'm not saying it's completely out of the question but at this stage to keep her where she is and keep her healthy and do the right thing by her, it sort of all makes sense.”

A decision has yet to be made whether Hello Beautiful returns to race in 2022. There are two upcoming spots for her in Maryland this year, the $75,000 Politely for Maryland-bred/sired horses Nov. 26 and $100,000 Willa On the Move Dec. 26, both for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting six furlongs.

“I don't know when we're going to come to that decision. We have time. There's still two potential spots this year,” Russell said. “It just depends on how things shake out. If she keeps winning, I think they'd probably rather keep her racing, but that's just me. You have a horse who's winning, and winning stakes, she can be a broodmare next year. If she stubs her toe by the end of the year, maybe we make a different decision but if she stays healthy …”

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Hello Beautiful Gets Her Third Maryland Million Win With Distaff Victory

It took just over 82 seconds for 4-year-old filly Hello Beautiful to race her way into Maryland Million history.

Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables, and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful rolled to her second consecutive front-running victory in the $100,000 Distaff Saturday at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md., becoming just the seventh horse in event history with three Maryland Million wins.

The seven-furlong Distaff for fillies and mares 3 and older was among eight stakes and four starter stakes on the 36th Jim McKay Maryland Million program, 'Maryland's Day at the Races' celebrating the progeny of stallions standing in the state.

Hello Beautiful ($2.40) also won the 2019 Lassie as a 2-year-old among her eight career stakes victories and joins Ben's Cat, Countus In, Docent, Eighttofasttocatch, Mz. Zill Bear, and Hall of Fame mare Safely Kept in the exclusive three-win club. She was greeted with a large round of applause from fans as she returned to the winner's circle.

“It's so special, especially with her. It's a tough game, and to have a filly like her she just kind of keeps you up there. She gives you confidence. She shows you that you can do it. She makes you want to wake up in the morning and do it all over again on the bad days,” winning trainer Brittany Russell said. “I have a barn full of horses because of her, and many clients because of her. She's been so good to us.”

Favored at 1-5 in a field of six that included eight-time stakes winner Street Lute, a 3-year-old facing older horses, and Aug. 21 Miss Disco winner Malibu Beauty, Hello Beautiful broke alertly and quickly inherited the lead, going the first quarter-mile in :22.59 with Malibu Beauty giving closest chase and Street Lute settled in third on the inside.

Jockey Jevian Toledo, subbing for the injured Sheldon Russell, Brittany Russell's husband, had yet to move as Hello Beautiful rolled through a half-mile in :45.65. They drifted out to the two-path once straightened for home when Toledo shook the reins and the daughter of Golden Lad steadily pulled clear of her rivals to win by 3 ½ lengths in 1:22.22.

Malibu Beauty nosed out Street Lute for second, followed by Coconut Cake, Whispering Pines, and Street Lute's stablemate Fille d'Esprit, a winner of three straight making her first start since Dec. 18.

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“She's a really nice horse. She's just a special filly. You can do anything you want with her,” Toledo said. “She's got the speed, so we used her speed to our advantage because the track is pretty fast today. When I asked her, she just took off in the stretch. She just put her head in front and she wouldn't let them go by.”

Sheldon Russell had surgery last week on his right foot, injured in a pre-race spill Sept. 9 at Laurel. He joined his wife, who is expecting the couple's second child, and members of the ownership group in the winner's circle.

“He's the one that made me all emotional. He was screaming like a crazy man in there,” Brittany Russell said. “I felt confident, and he kept going, 'Turn her loose! Turn her loose!' He and Toledo are tight, so Toledo picking up the mount is the next best thing.”

A $6,500 purchase in December 2018, Hello Beautiful earned her third straight win following the July 31 Alma North at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., and Sept. 18 Weather Vane at Laurel, and 10th from 18 career starts, pushing her career bankroll near the $600,000 mark. She is 9-for-11 lifetime over Laurel's main track.

“The way she bounced out of her last one, it didn't seem like a hard effort for her. She just responds,” Russell said. “When we walk her over, she's ready to go. She's been touting herself.”

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Hello Beautiful Chasing History In Maryland Million Distaff

Already a two-time winner in Maryland Million competition among her seven career stakes victories, 4-year-old filly Hello Beautiful can join some elite company with a third event triumph in Saturday's $100,000 Distaff at Laurel Park.

The seven-furlong Distaff for fillies and mares 3 and older is among eight stakes and four starter stakes on the 36th Jim McKay Maryland Million program, 'Maryland's Day at the Races' celebrating the progeny of stallions standing in the state.

Highlighted by the $150,000 Classic for 3-year-olds and up, first race post time is 11:30 a.m.

Since its inception in 1986, only six horses have won three Maryland Million races and not since Eighttofasttocatch captured his third Classic in four years in 2014. The others are Ben's Cat, Countus In, Docent, Mz. Zill Bear and Hall of Fame mare Safely Kept, who won the Distaff from 1989-91.

Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful won the Lassie as a 2-year-old in 2019 before her 11 ¼-length romp in last year's Distaff.

“She's had a good year, anyway. I like to be humble about things,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “Our filly's doing good and I hope she runs her race. Just stay humble and be happy that she's healthy.”

Hello Beautiful enters the Distaff off back-to-back front-running victories in the Alma North July 31 at historic Pimlico Race Course and Weather Vane Sept. 18 at Laurel, both going six furlongs. The Alma North was jockey Sheldon Russell's 1,500th career win and the Weather Vane came by 10 ¼ lengths under Jevian Toledo after Russell – the trainer's husband – injured his foot Sept. 9 and remains sidelined.

“Since she won last time she's been great, and I'm very pleased with her,” Brittany Russell said. “Nothing in the morning or watching her come out of that last run would indicate a regression. Of course, you don't know until you run but all signs are positive with her right now.”

Hello Beautiful has won nine of 17 career starts with $524,610 in purse earnings, is 8-for-12 lifetime at Laurel and owns three wins in four tries at the distance including the Distaff and Safely Kept to cap a 2020 season interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic that altered racing and included unsuccessful road trips to Ellis Park and Saratoga for stakes.

“We tried some things last year. It was a bit of a tough year and just to get her back on track on [Maryland Million] day was huge, and to get a second Maryland million win,” Russell said. “It's fun to have a filly like this for a day like this, [one] that you hope can keep kind of making us all proud.”

Toledo gets the return call from Post 1 aboard Hello Beautiful at topweight of 122 pounds, giving four to six pounds to her rivals. Russell said her stable star continues to thrive since her most recent victory.

“Her exercise rider jumped off of her [Tuesday] morning and he was all smiles. He was like, 'Wow.' If she was good on Sunday, she was even better today. That just makes you feel good,” she said. “Hopefully we'll be lucky enough to see her next year as a 5-year-old. I don't know quite yet what the plans are, but it's exciting.”

To achieve her milestone win, Hello Beautiful will face a stiff challenge from eight-time stakes winner Street Lute, a 3-year-old daughter of Street Magician owned by Lucky 7 Stables and trained by John 'Jerry' Robb in what is expected to be an intriguing matchup of speedy fillies.

“It's definitely going to be one of her tougher spots. She's got to run against older horses [and] Hello Beautiful is a very tough older horse,” Robb said. “There's one day when they ran the same day, back-to-back races. Street Lute's race went faster than hers did, but then like a week later they adjusted the time. But, we've known all along we were going to have to hook up sooner or later.”

Street Lute was favored to win last year's Lassie but was caught at the wire by Miss Nondescript and came up a neck short. She then proceeded to reel off five consecutive wins, all in Laurel stakes, improving her record to 5-for-7 over her home track, where she has yet to lose going seven furlongs in three tries.

Sixth by 2 ½ lengths in the M. Tyson Gilpin on the grass July 19 at Colonial Downs, Street Lute ran seventh in the Charles Town Oaks (G3) Aug. 27 but came back with a three-quarter-length triumph over her elders including fellow Distaff entrant Malibu Beauty in the six-furlong Tax Free Distaff Sept. 25 at Delaware Park.

“She's always been doing great. She didn't like the grass and she bled at Charles Town in the graded race,” Robb said. “She's good. Just draw a line through those two races and there are no bad ones.”

Street Lute, whose most recent victories have come from off the pace, doesn't figure to let Hello Beautiful out of sight under regular rider Xavier Perez from their rail post. She will carry 118 pounds.

“Hello Beautiful has been getting away with real easy leads and breathers, and I don't see that happening,” Robb said. “She's doing good.”

Robb also entered CJI Phoenix Group and No Guts No Glory Farm's Fille d'Esprit, whose name means 'spirit girl' in French. The 5-year-old Great Notion mare, claimed for $10,000 last August, won four straight races to end 2020 but has yet to race this year after overcoming an injury.

“She got hurt, and she's back and been working lights out. She worked three-quarters the other morning here in 11 flat,” Robb said. “She's just coming back really good, knock on wood. She had won four in a row and she beat some of the horses that are in the Maryland Million when she was winning those races, horses that went on to win stakes. She's a nice filly. I hate to run her seven-eighths first time back, hate to run her against Hello Beautiful first time back, but maybe she's the one that'll pick up the pieces from the speed duel.”

ZWP Stable, Inc. and Non Stop Stable's Malibu Beauty was a front-running winner of the six-furlong Miss Disco against fellow Maryland-bred/sired horses Aug. 21 at Pimlico prior to her loss in the Tax Free District. The 3-year-old Buffum filly has been first or second in seven consecutive starts, four of them wins.

NRS Stable, James Chambers and Avalon Farm's Coconut Cake was riding a three-race win streak heading into last year's Distaff, but was forced to scratch after developing a quarter crack days before the race. She has a win, two seconds and a third in six starts since coming back, most recently running second to Hello Beautiful in the Weather Vane.

Also entered are Maryland-breds Whispering Pines, third by a length in the seven-furlong Conniver March 13 at Laurel and fourth in the Shine Again Aug. 4 at Saratoga, and Factorintheheat.

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Hello Beautiful Dominates Rivals In Maryland Million Distaff

Hello Beautiful welcomed a return to action at Laurel Park Saturday, scoring a thoroughly dominating 11 1/4-length victory in the 100,000 Maryland Million Distaff.

The Distaff, a seven-furlong sprint for fillies and mares, was one of eight stakes and four starter stakes on the 35th Jim McKay Maryland Million program for offspring of stallions standing in Maryland.

Hello Beautiful, who is owned by Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables, went to post as the 1-2 favorite in a field of nine on the strength of her past domination of Maryland-bred competition, including a victory in the 2019 Maryland Million Lassie.

After venturing out of town for her last two starts, including a sixth-place finish in the Sept. 5 Prioress (G2) at Saratoga, Hello Beautiful re-established her dominance at Laurel while running seven furlongs in a dazzling 1:21.84.

The Brittany Russell-trained 3-year-old daughter of Golden Lad broke alertly to take an early lead on the backstretch, only to receive a strong inside challenge by Limited View, who took a narrow lead into the far turn. Sheldon Russell, the trainer's husband, was content to rate Hello Beautiful to the outside of the challenger before sending her to the lead on the turn into the homestretch.

Hello Beautiful powered away from her outmatched opponents without pressure to score by open lengths.

“It's been a tough year for us, for sure. We tried a few things and she had some bad luck. It's really satisfying to get her home today and have Sheldon back aboard. That helps a lot,” Brittany Russell said.

Hello Beautiful, who was named Maryland-bred champion juvenile filly last year after capturing the Maryland Million Lassie by 3 3/4 lengths and the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship by 11 3/4 lengths, had won only once in four prior starts this year. After coming off a seven-month layoff with an off-the-board finish in a turf sprint, Hello Beautiful regained her winning ways by 8 ¼ lengths in a Laurel allowance June 20. She was shipped out of town for her next two starts, finishing off-the-board in the Audubon Oaks at Ellis Park and the Prioress at Saratoga.

“Like Brittany says, she might be a horse for the course. She loves Laurel. She gives me some sort of feel here, and time-wise it's shockingly good how fast she can run and keep going,” Sheldon Russell said. “I wanted to put her to the test today because the waters get deeper and let's see what she really has. Ideally, I'll leave it up to them to see where she goes but she gave me a dynamite performance today. It was great job by Brittany and her team. It was against older horses, too, so I just wanted to see what she's got and she showed up today. Hopefully we can keep it going and win a big one with her somewhere down the line.”

Quiet Imagination closed to finish a never-threatening second, a length ahead of Le Weekend.

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