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Special Reserve Gives Red-Hot Maker Another Graded Stakes Win In Maryland Sprintspecial

Trainer Michael Maker has a knack for turning claiming horses into graded stakes winners. He did it on Friday when Last Judgment, a $62,500 claim, won the Grade 3 Pimlico Special on the opening day of Preakness weekend at Old Hilltop in Baltimore, Md. He accomplished the feat again on Preakness day Saturday when Special Reserve captured the Grade 3, $150,000 Maryland Sprint Stakes, three races after Maker claimed the 5-year-old Midshipman gelding for $40,000 at Oaklawn Park.

Under Irad Ortiz Jr., Special Reserve dueled with 5-2 favorite Strike Power, put that one away at the top of the stretch, then drew out for his first stakes triumph, winning by 1 3/4 lengths. Special Reserve covered six furlongs in a quick 1:08.91 after fractions of :22.94, :45.38 and :56.77. Special Reserve paid $9.80.

Owned by Paradise Farms Corp. and David Standacher, Special Reserve gave Maker his third graded stakes of the Preakness weekend, following Friday's stakes double with Last Judgment and Army Wife in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.

Strike Power – who was trying to give trainer Steve Asmussen his third consecutive victory in the Maryland Sprint and jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. his fourth straight – held second by 1 1/4 lengths, with Frosted Grace third, Mucho fourth and Laki fifth in the field of 11 older runners. They were followed by War Tocsin, Threes Over Deuces, Lebda, Seven Nation Army and Yodel E.A. Who.

Breezy Gust was pulled up n by jockey Joel Rosario approaching the half-mile pole, but the gelding walked back to the stable area.

Starting from the No. 8 post position, Special Reserve broke on top, but Ortiz allowed Strike Power and Santana to move through on the inside to take the lead. Special Reserve was on Strike Power's right flank throughout and moved to the lead at the top of the stretch.

The Maryland Sprint was the second win from three starts since Maker claimed Special Reserve. He was coming off a good second to the tough sprinter Flagstaff in the Grade 3 Commonwealth Stakes at Keeneland on April 3. This was Special Reserve's sixth career win from 19 starts.

The Maryland Sprint is part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) series, which ran from 1997-01, then was revived in 2018. It is a regional racing series for multiple divisions of horses that offers bonuses to owners and trainers compiling the most points. The 2020 series was not held because of COVID-19 and this year's series is abbreviated to include races from Maryland and Virginia. Series organizers anticipate returning to a more robust schedule involving additional racetracks and horsemen's organizations in 2022.

Post-race quotes:

Winning Trainer Mike Maker (Special Reserve): “I might get some stalls (in Maryland).”

“He was in at Oaklawn (for a $40,000 claiming tag on Feb. 6). We've got to have this horse, and we claimed him. He had a bit of a bleeding issue that we addressed and got taken care of, and the rest is history. We originally liked him because he was still eligible for two-other-than [allowances]. You never know in this game.”

“I just gave a leg up to Irad [Ortiz Jr.] and said 'Good luck.' That was about it. He was going to be forwardly placed.”

Winning Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. (Special Reserve): “The horse broke great and put me in the race very quick out of there, I had a horse inside with speed. I just relaxed and tried not to fight with him too much. He came back to me, so I left him there and when I asked him, he took straight off for me to win.”

Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. (Strike Power; 2^nd): “He ran hard and gave me everything he had. We had a good trip – just second best today.”

Trainer Kathy Ritvo (Frosted Grace; 3^rd): “He ran a good race. We're happy with him.”

Jockey Javier Castellano (Frosted Grace; 3^rd): “He went really well. I expected to be a little closer to the pace, but the horse missed the break. There was nothing I could do. I liked the way he did it: come from behind, saved all the ground, cut the corner. He did really well today.”

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Entries Strong For MATCH Series Kickoff At Pimlico

The eighth edition of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships Series (MATCH) begins May 14-15 at Pimlico Race Course with large, competitive fields that include more than a few local horses that figure to play a role in the outcome of the four divisions in the 2021 series.

Purses for the four MATCH stakes that are part of Preakness weekend total $650,000. They are the $250,000 Grade 3 Pimlico Special (3-Year-Olds and Up Long—Dirt division) and $150,000 Grade 3 Allaire DuPont (Filly and Mare Long—Dirt division) Friday, May 14, and the $150,000 Maryland Sprint Handicap (3-Year-Olds and Up Sprint—Dirt division) and $100,000 Runhappy Skipat (Filly and Mare Sprint—Dirt division) Saturday, May 15.

MATCH returns to the calendar this year after a one-year cancellation because of COVID-19 restrictions. Though there will be six stakes in each of four divisions this year, 20 of the 24 stakes will be run in Maryland and the other four at Colonial Downs in Virginia.

The Maryland Sprint Handicap at six furlongs has drawn Hillside Equestrian Meadows' Laki, a local favorite and two-time MATCH divisional champion in the 3-Year-Olds and Up Sprint—Dirt division in 2018 and 2019. He has won 11 races—seven of them stakes including the Grade 3 Frank J. DeFrancis Memorial Dash—and in his last start, which produced a win in the Frank Whiteley Stakes at Pimlico, the 8-year-old Maryland-bred gelding by Cuba topped the $800,000 mark in earnings. Twenty-seven of Laki's 33 starts have come in Maryland.

“He came out of his last race really well,” trainer Damon Dilodovico said. “I don't like running him back so quickly—the Whiteley was moved back a week—but everybody is navigating these things. We'll be able to ship up to Pimlico (from Laurel) early and train him there.

“If we could add another graded stakes to his resume that would be awesome. The horse doesn't owe us a thing. We are fans of the MATCH Series and we hoped to have other horses for it this year but things didn't work out.”

Horacio Karamanos, who has ridden Laki in many of his races, will have the mount.

Euro Stable's Lebda, trained by Claudio Gonzalez, finished a half-length behind Laki in the Frank Whiteley and has settled in as a sprinter after having run long as a 3-year-old. Gonzalez, who won a MATCH Series division with the turf sprinter Completed Pass, indicated Lebda may target the local sprint stakes this year.

Entered in the Skipat, also at six furlongs, is Five Hellions Farm's Dontletsweetfoolya, who rattled off five consecutive victories—two in stakes—at Laurel Park before a seventh-place finish in the Grade III Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel in her most recent start in February. Trained by Lacey Gaudet, the 4-year-old Stay Thirsty filly who likes to run on the lead has won five of nine starts and more than $200,000.

Pennsylvania-bred Chub Wagon, owned by Danny Lopez and George Chestnut, enters the Skipat a perfect five-for-five with a total win margin of more than 31 lengths. In her last start April 27 at Parx Racing, where she is based with trainer Guadalupe Preciado, Chub Wagon won the state-restricted Unique Bella Stakes at seven furlongs by 7 1/2 lengths in her first start in stakes company. She has had the lead at every call in all five of her races.

The Allaire DuPont at 1 1/8 miles has attracted Horologist, the New Jersey-bred Horse of the Year for 2020. The multiple graded-stakes winner owned by There's A Chance Stable, Medallion Racing, Abbondanza Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Paradise Farm Corp. and David Staudacher won the Top Flight Invitational at Aqueduct Racetrack in her last start.

Allen Stable's Mrs. Danvers and Sonata Stable's Lucky Stride, second and third, respectively, behind Horologist in New York, will also compete in the Allaire DuPont. Lucky Stride, trained by Mike Trombetta at the Fair Hill Training Center, has done well in Maryland with a second in the Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes last November and a victory in the Nellie Morse Stakes in late February.

“Our intent is to race in the Allaire DuPont and take it from there,” Trombetta said of potential starts in future MATCH Series races. “I think she is the kind of horse that can run in more of these races, so we'll see what happens.”

BB Horses' Landing Zone, second to Lucky Stride in the Nellie Morse and entered in the Allaire DuPont, is one of several horses trainer Gonzalez has entered Preakness weekend that could very well could target MATCH Series events through the course of the year.

In 2020, the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special was run in October, and Hillwood Stables' Maryland-bred gelding Cordmaker finished third. In the 2019 Pimlico Special, he rallied from 10th on the final turn and was a fast-closing third. Trainer Rodney Jenkins has again entered the nine-time winner of almost $600,000 in the Special.

Cordmaker in his last start went gate-to-wire in the 1 1/8-mile Harrison Johnson Memorial Stakes at Laurel in mid-March. His last two works at Pimlico at five furlongs have been the fastest of the day. All but three of his 28 starts have come in Maryland.

“His last two works were very good, he looks very good, and he feels very good,” said jockey Victor Carrasco, who was aboard for the Pimlico works and has regularly ridden Cordmaker in his races. “The Pimlico Special is not an easy race, but he's in good form. We're all hoping for the best. I'd like to thank Mr. Jenkins, because this horse is very special to me.”

Owners and trainers will compete for $63,000 in divisional bonuses and the overall MATCH Series champion will net $30,000 in bonuses for its owner and trainer. In addition, the Maryland Horse Breeders Association will pay a $3,000 bonus to the breeder of the top points-earning Maryland-bred and $3,000 for the top points-earning Maryland-sired horse. If the top points-earner is both Maryland-bred and -sired, the breeder would get $6,000.

After Preakness weekend, the next MATCH Series stakes will be held June 13 at Pimlico.

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Four MATCH Series Races At Pimlico Draw 130 Nominations

The four stakes at Pimlico Race Course that kick off the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Championships Series (MATCH) attracted 130 nominations, among them many local runners that regularly compete in Maryland and other tracks in the region throughout the year.

This year's series begins May 15-16, and each of the six divisional legs—there are four divisions, all on dirt this year—will be held in Maryland with the exception of one stop at Colonial Downs in Virginia in late August. The MATCH Series concludes Dec. 26 at Laurel Park.

Note that entries for the Friday, May 15 card will be taken Sunday, May 9. Entries for May 16 will be taken Monday, May 10.

The May 15 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes program will include two MATCH events: the $250,000, Grade 3 Pimlico Special (3-Year-Olds and Up—Long Dirt division) and the $150,000, Grade 3 Allaire DuPont Stakes (Filly and Mare Long—Dirt division). On May 15, Preakness Stakes day, the $100,000 Runhappy Skipat Stakes (Filly and Mare Sprint—Dirt division) and $150,000, Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Stakes (3-Year-Olds and Up Sprint—Dirt division) are scheduled.

The Pimlico Special, at 1 3/16 miles, attracted 39 nominees including last year's winner, Harper's First Ride, who at the time was trained by Maryland-based Claudio Gonzalez but was sold before his start in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January of this year. Cordmaker, who is based at Laurel with trainer Rodney Jenkins, was third in the 2020 Pimlico Special and is coming off a victory in the Harrison Johnson Memorial Stakes in March at Laurel. Runnymoore Racing's Alwaysmining, a multiple stakes winner in Maryland based at Fair Hill Training Center, finished second in an open allowance race at Parx Racing for trainer A. Lands Trites in late March.

Among the locals nominated to the Allaire DuPont at 1 1/8 miles is BB Horses' Landing Zone, who is trained by Gonzalez. The 4-year-old Morning Line mare won four in a row last summer and fall, progressed to the stakes level and came away with a second and third at Laurel. Sonata Stable's Lucky Stride, trained by Maryland-based Mike Trombetta, won the Nellie Morse Stakes at Laurel in February and last November finished second in the Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes at Laurel.

Multiple stakes winner Anna's Bandit, who has been away since July 2020, is nominated to the six-furlong Runhappy Skipat. Owned by No Guts No Glory Farm and trained by John Robb, the 7-year-old Great Notion mare has won 17 of 36 starts and was third in the Grade III Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel in the winter of 2020. Five Hellions Farm's Dontletsweetfoolya, who won her last five races, two of them stakes at Laurel, in 2020 for trainer Lacey Gaudet, has been away since her seventh-place finish in the Barbara Fritchie earlier this year. Parx-based Chub Wagon, owned by Daniel Lopez and George Chestnut and trained by Guadalupe Preciado, is five-for-five in her career and last out at Parx won the Unique Bella Stakes for Pennsylvania-breds by 7 1/2 lengths; her winning margins total more than 31 lengths.

The Filly and Mare Sprint—Dirt division has produced the overall MATCH Series champion since the series returned after 16 years on the shelf: Jessica Krupnick in 2018 and Bronx Beauty in 2019. MATCH wasn't held last year because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Hillside Equestrian Meadows' Laki, trained by Damon Dilodovico, was the MATCH Series champion in the 3-Year-Olds and Up Sprint—Dirt division in 2018 and 2019 and is among those nominated to the six-furlong Maryland Sprint. The 8-year-old Cuba gelding won the Grade III Frank J. De Francis Memorial Stakes at Pimlico in October 2020 and in April captured the Frank Whiteley Stakes at Laurel. Maryland-based Whereshetoldmetogo, trained by Brittany Russell for Madaket Stables, Ten Strike Racing, Michael Kisber and Black Cloud Racing, won three consecutive stakes at Laurel from November 2020 through March 13 of this year. The 6-year-old El Padrino gelding encountered trouble and was eased in the Frank Whiteley but had previously defeated Laki at Laurel.

The MATCH Series, the only one of its kind in racing, will feature 24 stakes—20 of them in Maryland and four at Colonial Downs—valued at $2.75 million. Bonus money will be $282,000 for 2021. Owners and trainers will compete for $63,000 in divisional bonuses and the overall MATCH Series champion will net $30,000 in bonuses for its owner and trainer.

In addition, the Maryland Horse Breeders Association will pay a $3,000 bonus to the breeder of the top points-earning Maryland-bred and $3,000 for the top points-earning Maryland-sired horse. If the top points-earner is both Maryland-bred and -sired, the breeder would get $6,000.

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Preakness Weekend Stakes Nominations At Pimlico Close Tuesday

Stakes nominations are due Tuesday, May 4, for Preakness weekend at Pimlico Race Course, featuring 16 stakes, 10 graded, worth $3.25 million in purses May 14-15 led by the 146^th running of the Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

Other graded events on Preakness Day, May 15, are the $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) and $150,000 Gallorette (G3) on turf and the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3), $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3) and $100,000 UAE President Cup (G1) for Arabian horses on the main track.

Preakness eve, May 14, will be highlighted by the 97th running of the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3-year-old fillies. Among the supporting graded stakes are the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) and $150,000 Miss Preakness on dirt and $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3) on turf.

The Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series returns following a one-year hiatus amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 with four races Preakness weekend – the Pimlico Special and Allaire du Pont May 14 and the Maryland Sprint and $100,000 Runhappy Skipat May 15.

Entries will be taken and post positions drawn Sunday, May 9 for the Black-Eyed Susan Day program and Monday, May 10 for Preakness Day.

For the fifth straight year, the Maryland Jockey Club is offering bonus money totaling $100,000 to trainers who run a minimum of five horses in the 15 Thoroughbred stakes races during Preakness weekend. The trainer with the most points will receive $50,000, second $25,000, third $12,000, fourth $7,000, fifth $4,000 and sixth $2,000.

Points are accumulated for finishing first (10 points), second (seven), third (five), fourth (three) and having a starter (one) in the Skipat, Miss Preakness, Allaire du Pont, Black-Eyed Susan, Pimlico Special, Hilltop, Jim McKay Turf Sprint, Maryland Sprint, Chick Lang, Preakness, Gallorette, James W. Murphy, Dinner Party, The Very One and Sir Barton.

There will also be bonus money totaling $50,000 for trainers with the most points in non-stakes races during Preakness weekend. The points are accumulated in similar fashion with $25,000 going to the leader, $10,000 to second, $7,000 to third, $4,000 to fourth, $2,500 to fifth and $1,000 to sixth.

Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen was the leading Preakness weekend stakes trainer in 2018 and 2019, followed by Brad Cox in 2019 and Mike Maker in 2020.

Races & Post Times for Black-Eyed Susan, Preakness
The Maryland Jockey Club will feature 14-race programs on Black-Eyed Susan Day and Preakness Day.

On Friday, May 15, first race post will be 11:30 a.m. ET with the Black-Eyed Susan scheduled to go off at approximately 5:44 p.m. On Saturday, May 16, the live program begins at 10:30 a.m. with the Preakness scheduled to go off at approximately 6:47 p.m.

There will be a Black-Eyed Susan-Preakness daily double offered Friday. The Preakness will be the 13^th race Saturday, followed by the UAE President Cup (G1) for Arabians at 7:33 p.m.

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