maryland million turf | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Magician’ Can Cast Winning Spell In Maryland Million Turf

Bell Gable Stable's Somekindofmagician, two months after becoming a stakes winner in his previous trip to Maryland, returns looking to conjure up a similar result in Saturday's $100,000 Maryland Million Turf at Laurel Park.

The Turf for 3-year-olds and up and Ladies for fillies and mares 3 and older, both contested at 1 1/8 miles on the grass, are 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.

Trained by Gary Contessa for owners Nick and Delora Beaver, Somekindofmagician capped a three-race win streak with his 1 ¾-length upset of the 1 1/16-mile Find at odds of 9-1 over a yielding turf course Aug. 21 at historic Pimlico Race Course.

It was the sixth career win for the 7-year-old Street Magician gelding, half of those coming in six starts this year since Contessa came out of retirement to take over as private trainer for Delaware Park-based Bell Gable.

“I think, honestly, that he's responding to Gary's regimen. Not all horses do. We have horses that have not quite responded and maybe regressed a little bit, but he's been the one horse that when you walk down the shedrow and Delora will have carrots in her hand, he'll almost run through the webbing,” Nick Beaver said. “He just feels so good. We've had him for about four years now and I've never seen him look so good.”

The Find victory came during a career-best stretch for Somekindofmagician, who will be making his fifth straight appearance in the Turf having run second in 2017 and 2019 for previous trainers Jamie Ness and Mike Trombetta and sixth last year, again with Ness. His win streak ended when he ran third, beaten three lengths, in a 7 ½-furlong optional claiming turf sprint Sept. 30 at Delaware.

“That last race, he had nowhere to go. At Delaware, the stretch is a little bit shorter and he was stuck behind a whole wall of horses. He was flying at the end. If that race would have been a mile he would have won that race. He's ready. We have no excuses. If he doesn't win, he just gets beat by a better horse that day. He's probably the best he's ever been in his life right now,” Beaver said. “He is on top of his game right now. We're excited. We're just waiting for Saturday.”

Somekindofmagician, rated at 9-2 on the morning line, will have Angel Cruz back for the third straight race, breaking from Post 5 in a field of 13 including three also-eligibles.

The 2-1 program favorite is last year's Turf runner-up, Taking Risks Stable's Cannon's Roar, beaten a length last year by 15-1 long shot Pretty Good Year, who returns to defend his title. Cannon's Roar ran fifth in the Find and came back to be third, a half-length behind winner Xy Speed, in the 5 ½-furlong Laurel Dash Oct. 2 as his Million tune-up.

“It's just been hard to get races to fill for him. I was training him to go long and I just couldn't get anything to go, so the sprint came up and we tried to sharpen him up a little bit,” trainer Dale Capuano said. “He ran well, so now I can go from short back to long, which I like to do. Hopefully, he'll run well. He had a terrific work the other day, and he should be ready to go.”

Capuano owns the most wins of any trainer in Maryland Million history with 14, including three last year and the 1999 Turf with Private Slip. Still seeking his first career stakes win, Cannon's Roar will have Charlie Marquez aboard from Post 1.

“He hasn't won one yet. He's been unlucky in a couple of them, but nothing yet. The weather's supposed to be good so the turf should be good and hopefully we get a good trip and we'll see if we can finally get one,” Capuano said. “He has enough speed to get himself in a good position. Hopefully it'll all go well. He should be all right.”

In all, four horses return from last year's Turf including Nick Papagiorgio, who ran third. Also entered are Raven's Delight, Benny Havens, Johng, Trifor Gold, Street Copper and Up Against It with Beltway Bob, Robert's Luxury and Who's Counting on the also-eligible list.

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Pint-Sized Pretty Good Year Surprises In Maryland Million Turf

Lead Off Stable's diminutive gelding Pretty Good Year, standing just 13 hands tall, came with a steady run down the center of the track to catch leaders Cannon's Roar and favored Nick Papagiorgio and spring a 15-1 upset of Saturday's $100,000 Maryland Million Turf at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

Extended another furlong to 1 1/8 miles from 2019, the Turf for 3-year-olds and up was among eight stakes and four starter stakes on the 35th 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.

Pretty Good Year ($32) gave jockey Sheldon Russell his third win of the day, following Hello Beautiful in the $100,000 Distaff and Jumpstartmyheart in the opener. It was also the third win for sire Great Notion, extending his streak to 11 straight years with a Maryland Million winner and moving him into sole possession of third on the all-time list with 16.

Based at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., Pretty Good Year's owner is Bobby Goodyear, racing manager for the 4-year-old gelding's breeder, Stuart Grant's The Elkstone Group. Elkstone also bred and owns Classic contender Top Line Growth.

“It's pretty amazing. I am so proud of this horse, you have no idea,” trainer Kelly Rubley said. “[Goodyear] just loved this horse from the day he was born and look at how it's paid off for him. It's just remarkable. What a neat little horse for this man to have picked out of the field and said, 'He's the one.' He's just 13 hands. He's very small.”

Rising Perry and Seville Barber were in front through a quarter-mile in 24.17 seconds and a half in 48.46, with Nick Papagiorgio biding his time in the clear in third and Cannon's Roar chasing in between horses. Nick Papagiorgio forged a short lead off the turn at the top of the stretch until being passed with a rail move from Cannon's Roar, while Pretty Good Year fanned wide to reel in the front-runners.

“Distance has always been his thing,” 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.'”

Cannon's Roar was second, snapping a three-race win streak, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Nick Papagiorgio, the 8-5 top choice that had had won five of his last six starts, the only loss coming by a nose. It was 5 1/4 lengths back to defending Turf champion Mr. d'Angelo in fourth.

Pretty Good Year closed from far back to be third in last year's Turf, also with Russell aboard, but had never won on the grass.

“Last year he ran a really good third in the race and I probably had him a little too far back,” Russell said, “but, he had put in some pretty decent races on the dirt and it just happened to work out today. I felt like we had an honest pace, he's a deep-end closer and loves to be on the outside. I just stayed out of his way. At the three-eighths pole I was fully loaded and I knew that as soon as I got to the outside he was going to stretch his legs.”

Pretty Good Year was pre-entered in the Classic but Rubley opted to keep him on turf when the Classic drew only four Maryland-sired horses, allowing Maryland-breds like program favorite and Pimlico Special (G3) Harpers First Ride to run.

“What an experience,” Rubley said. “We were actually hoping the Classic wouldn't open this year because it's a mile and an eighth on dirt, and he runs on both. It would have been very exciting, but we'll certainly take this.”

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Distance, Ground Should Benefit Mr. D’Angelo In Repeat Bid For Maryland Million Turf Victory

More than 12 months after springing a 17-1 upset in the only other stakes attempt on his resume, Kevin P. Morgan's homebred Mr. d'Angelo is one of the main contenders as he returns to defend his title in Saturday's $100,000 Maryland Million Turf at Laurel Park.

Extended another furlong to 1 1/8 miles from 2019, the Turf for 3-year-olds and up is among eight stakes and four starter stakes on the 35th Jim McKay Maryland Million program, 'Maryland's Day at the Races' celebrating the progeny of stallions standing in the state.

A total of five races are scheduled for Laurel's world-class turf course, set to be contested over the Bowl Game and Exceller layouts. First race post time is 11:25 a.m.

Like many horses this year, Mr. d'Angelo got a belated start to his 2020 campaign in part due to the coronavirus pandemic. He has gone winless in just three starts, but has shown a steady improvement in each one at distances from 1 1/8 to 1 1/16 to one mile.

“We've been kind of pointing this way pretty much all year. He appears to be doing very well at the moment,” trainer Tim Woolley said. “He was a little bit unlucky in his last race. He probably should have won his last race but he's back together and the added distance of a mile an eighth this year is going to help, as well. We're kind of excited and he seems to be coming into the race in really good shape.”

A gelded 4-year-old son of late stallion and Australian Group 1 winner Seville, Mr. d'Angelo exits an open one-mile allowance at Laurel Sept. 17 where he found himself in his customary trailing position for a half-mile before launching a determined bid that saw him fall a neck shy of King's Honor.

“He's just one of those horses that when you have to come from way off the pace, which seems like his style, there's always going to be complications in running. That's just the way his style is. He just likes to come from way out of it and we don't try to change things up, we just hope that everything falls into place,” Woolley said. “That last race he probably should have won, he was just a little bit unlucky again. The horse that beat him kind of drifted out into his path a little bit and we kind of just lost that edge. Also, the last race was only a mile and I think he'll really like the mile and an eighth distance this time around.”

Mr. d'Angelo employed a similar strategy to win last year's Turf by 1 ¾ lengths, then went unraced until returning in a 1 1/8-mile optional claiming allowance July 18 at Laurel, running third by 2 ¼ lengths. Next out he was fourth, beaten less than a length, in an open 1 1/16-mile allowance, his first of two straight races over a turf course rated good.

Also returning for this year's Turf are Somekindofmagician and Pretty Good Year, respectively second and third at 32-1 and 21-1 in 2019; Cannon's Roar, Taxable Goods and No Bull Addiction.

“There's a few of the horses that he raced against last year in the race again, and they are probably a bit more accomplished in some of the regular races but he's certainly going to be one of the main challengers again this year,” Woolley said. “I think the mile and an eighth suits him and the turf having a little bit of softness in it is going to take the starch out of some of these horses where I think he really just likes that. He'll like the distance and he'll handle any turf course we give him.”

Jevian Toledo, up for the last four starts including last year's Turf, rides back from Post 4 in a field of 12 plus also-eligibles Dundalk and Maryland-bred Hanalei's Houdini.

Bell Gable Stable's Somekindofmagician has yet to win a race in 2020, but has three seconds and two thirds from seven starts for trainer Jamie Ness. A six-length winner running for a $25,000 claiming tag Aug. 19 at Parx, the 6-year-old Street Magician gelding has run third in a pair of optional claiming allowances since, one rained off the turf.

Lead Off Stable's Pretty Good Year has had a similar hard-luck season in seven starts with one win, one second and two thirds. He was beaten a half-length when runner-up to Confessor Sept. 7 then ran third behind Super John Sept. 26, both optional claiming allowance events at Delaware Park.

Taking Risks Stable's Cannon's Roar comes into the Turf in top form with three consecutive wins including a dead-heat triumph with Nick Papagiorgio last out, a second-level optional claiming allowance going 1 1/8 miles over the Pimlico Race Course turf Sept. 25. Prior to that, he won back-to-back allowance at Laurel going one and 1 1/16 miles.

Cannon's Roar, a gelded 6-year-old son of Orientate, got his usual winter break before coming back but was unable to get started until June 6 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Jorge Ruiz has the return call from outside Post 12.

“He's come back and had a good year so far. We always turn him out during the winter because he's much better on the grass. He's just come back and done well,” trainer Dale Capuano said. Capuano is the leading trainer in Maryland Million history with 11 wins among his 3,504 career victories.

“He's been pretty versatile. He can go to the front or lay off the pace, it doesn't really matter. It depends on the pace of the race, obviously, but he's pretty versatile that way,” Capuano said. “He's just been doing well so hopefully he has good luck in the race. Last year he clipped heels and almost went down, so hopefully we get good racing luck this year. He didn't get beat by much last year despite that so, hopefully, with some luck he should be OK.”

Rounding out the field are Benny Havens, Nick Papgiorgio, Rising Perry, Seville Barber, Seville Row and Tommy Shelby.

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