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MATCH Series Returns to Colonial

The Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships Series (MATCH) will return to Virginia's Colonial Downs Monday, Aug. 23. It will be the first time in 20 years Colonial will have been an part of MATCH. Colonial was an original MATCH partner when the series began in 1997 and opted to rejoin the series in 2020 before it was cancelled due to COVID-19. For more details on the series, click here.

A total of 139 horses, pending late mail, have been nominated to the four $100,000 stakes at Colonial. Horses in the MATCH series qualify for a share of more than $280,000 in bonus money for owners and trainers if they start at least three times. Click to see the complete schedule.

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Mucho Much The Best In Challedon At Pimlico

A nose kept from him becoming a first-time stakes winner in his previous start, but there would be no denying WSS Racing and 4G Racing's Mucho the honor against a salty field in Saturday's $100,000 Challedon at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

The 35th running of the six-furlong Challedon for 3-year-olds and up was the last of three $100,000 stakes on the final program of July, preceded by Hello Beautiful's victory in the Alma North and Harpers First Ride's triumph in the Deputed Testamony. All three races are part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series.

Mucho ($7.20) took the lead at the top of the stretch and turned back late challenges from multiple stakes winners Laki, Lebda, and Whereshetoldmetogo for a one-length victory in 1:10.09 over a fast main track under jockey Reylu Gutierrez.

“I told Rey, this horse is only getting sharper. Don't take anything away from the break,” Midwest-based winning trainer John Ortiz said. “Honestly, this is Rey's victory. He did everything right on the horse. He made all the right strategical moves. When he broke sharp, he kind of asked a little bit and made the horse on the inside chase and push and go through, and all we needed was a target. We needed a little speed, and he got it.”

Jockey J.D. Acosta was forced to hustle Lebda from his rail post to get by the alert-breaking Mucho, and was in front after a quarter-mile in :22.96. Grade 3 winner Laki and 3-2 favorite Whereshetoldmetogo, who have combined to win 13 stakes, raced side-by-side in behind with 37-1 long shot Whiskey and You trailing the field.

Laki maintained the lead following a half in :45.83 with Mucho turning up the pressure and Laki and Whereshetoldmetogo poised to strike while in the clear on the outside. Mucho forged a short lead once straightened for home, dug in past the eighth pole, and had plenty left to keep his challengers at bay.

Lebda held second by a neck over Whereshetoldmetogo, with Laki another half-length back in fourth.

Second as a 2-year-old in the 2018 Grade 1 Hopeful for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Mucho came up just short of multiple stakes winner Bango in the seven-furlong Kelly's Landing June 25 at Churchill Downs. In his prior start, he finished ahead of both Laki and Lebda when fourth in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint May 15 at Pimlico on the undercard of the 146th Grade 1 Preakness Stakes.

“The horse broke delightful today. Johnny's so good at getting horses out of the gate, with his morning training and routine,” Gutierrez said. “Watching his last going seven-eighths, I said, 'If he breaks sharp like that again today cutting back to three-quarters, I'm going to keep him there and keep him engaged.' I was able to make Lebda use a lot of horse to get the lead and I just had the trip. From the half to the three-eighths [pole], I got a really great breather to finish.

“This group of horses will probably be facing each other multiple times this year. Every trainer in this field, they do an amazing job with their stables and they're highly competitive so I'm very proud of our horse,” he added. “He beat them in the Maryland Sprint a couple starts ago so I really was expecting the same type of performance with him putting himself forwardly placed. I loved every second of it.”

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Mucho is a 5-year-old son of Blame, the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic winner and champion older horse of 2010. Ortiz hinted Mucho could find himself at the year-end championships should his star continue to rise.

“This horse has only been improving. He's gained more weight and is getting sharper and stronger. That's all we needed,” he said. “There might be a couple more starts before we end up in Del Mar, you never know. You gotta dream big, right?”

Not run during Maryland's pandemic-shortened 2020 stakes season, the Challedon honors the Maryland-bred son of Challenger II that won 20 of 44 starts and $334,660 in purses from 1938 to 1942, was recognized as Horse of the Year in 1939 and 1940, and inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame in 1977. Winner of the 1939 Preakness and 1939 and 1940 Pimlico Special, Challedon also sired 13 stakes winners before his death in 1958.

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Harpers First Ride Repeats In Deputed Testamony At Pimlico

GMP Stables, Arnold Bennewith, and Cypress Creek Equine's Grade 3 winner Harpers First Ride coasted to an easy lead early and then dug in under a late challenge from favored Magic Michael to defend his title by 1 ½ lengths in Saturday's $100,000 Deputed Testamony at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

The 25th edition of the 1 1/8-mile Deputed Testamony for 3-year-olds and up was the second of three $100,000 stakes on the final program of July, preceded by the Alma North for fillies and mares 3 years old and up and followed by the Challedon for 3-year-olds and up, both sprinting six furlongs. All three races are part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series.

Ridden by Angel Cruz for Maryland's leading trainer, Claudio Gonzalez, Harpers First Ride ($7.20) completed the distance in 1:49.52 over a fast main track. Having also been contested at one and 1 1/16 miles, it was the third-fastest time in 15 runnings of the Deputed Testamony at nine furlongs.

Harpers First Ride now has won two straight since rejoining Gonzalez's barn in mid-May after being sold over the winter, and 11 together for horse and trainer. Cruz has been up for seven of those wins, including all five of the 5-year-old gelding's stakes victories.

“I'm happy the owners thought of me. They said, 'Do you want to ride him back' and I said, 'Yeah, that's my big horse.' I love that horse,” Cruz said. “He's a special horse. This horse always tries. Claudio Does a great job with him.”

Breaking from the far outside following the scratch of Bourbon Calling, Cruz and Harpers First Ride strolled to the front and led the way around the first turn and into the backstretch through a quarter-mile in :25.38 flanked by Cordmaker. Harpers First Ride conceded the lead to his fellow multiple stakes winner after a half in :49.34, but quickly erased the half-length deficit while on the rail and went six furlongs in 1:12.73 to put a head in front.

“We talked about that before the race. There was no speed in the race, so it was his call,” Gonzalez said. “If somebody inside goes, he can sit second or third. But he broke too good and he made the decision to go. Nobody wanted to go, and he did a good job because they went in :25 and :49, really slow for these horses.”

Harpers First Ride put away Cordmaker and began to draw away but Magic Michael, who had a three-race win streak snapped in the July 10 Battery Park at Delaware in his stakes debut, came with a run on the outside to make a late bid but was unable to close the gap.

“When we broke, nobody wanted to take the lead so I took advantage of that. Then they pressured me because we were going so slow, and I didn't mind that because we were going an easy pace,” Cruz said. “When I asked him, he kicked for me.”

Cordmaker finished third, 2 ¼ lengths behind Magic Michael. It was another three-quarters of a length back to Mischief Afoot in fourth, followed by Forewarned and Two Thirty Five.

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Harpers First Ride won seven of 11 starts and nearly $500,000 in purse earnings in 2020, including stakes wins in the historic Grade 3 Pimlico Special, Native Dancer, Richard W. Small, and Deputed Testamony. He was sold privately prior to an off-the-board finish in the $3 million Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park and went winless in three races this year with trainer Robertino Diodoro, running 10th in defense of his Pimlico Special title May 14.

“This horse, you have to ride him for him to give you everything,” Gonzalez said. “It's a good feeling. I believe he is going the right way.”

Gonzalez said he would consider the next MATCH Series race in the 3-year-old up, long dirt division – the $100,000 Victory Gallop going 1 3/16 miles Aug. 23 at Colonial Downs – for Harpers First Ride.

“Maybe we'll point for the next race,” he said. “It all depends on how he's doing.”

The Deputed Testamony returned to the Maryland stakes calendar last year after not having been run since 2008. It pays homage to the last Maryland-bred winner of the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes, who upset Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Sunny's Halo in 1983. Bred and raced by Bonita Farm and Francis P. Sears and trained by Bill Boniface, Deputed Testamony also won the 1983 Grade 1 Haskell and Federico Tesio.

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Russell Rides Hello Beautiful To Alma North Victory, Gets 1,500th Winner

Jockey Sheldon Russell celebrated his 1,500th career victory in style Saturday, guiding Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables, and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful to a popular 3 ¾-length score in the $100,000 Alma North at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

The fifth running of the Alma North for fillies and mares 3 and older was the first of three $100,000 stakes on the final program of July, followed by the Challedon, also sprinting six furlongs, and 1 1/8-mile Deputed Testamony, both for 3-year-olds and up.

All three races are part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series.

It was the eighth career win and sixth in a stakes for Hello Beautiful ($2.20), who is trained by Russell's wife, Brittany. The final time of 1:09.63 was the fastest of two runnings at the current distance.

“It's always anxious because she means so much to us and she's been so good,” Sheldon Russell said. “As soon as she got the first quarter, I knew that she was in her happy place and it was cruise control from there. The final time was extremely impressive. She's a good filly.

“I'm just very happy that we got it out of the way, and for it to happen on Hello Beautiful. She's been a great filly throughout my career, she's given me some great wins,” he added. “She was mine and Brittany's first stakes winner together, so for me to reach a milestone on one of our favorite fillies, it's something I'll never forget.”

To commemorate the milestone, Russell teamed with agent Marty Leonard to gift Hello Beautiful's groom, Luis Barajas, with $1,500. It was a gesture Russell began with $1,000 for his 1,000th winner on March 7, 2015, with Shayjolie in the Cat Cay at Aqueduct.

“Luis has been with us for about a year now. He's a key role behind the scenes at the barn and he takes care of some really, really nice fillies,” Russell said. “He's got years of experience, so when they come with that kind of background, straight away when he came into Brittany's barn she gave him the best five horses pretty much that she has.

“It's good that the money's coming home. I see these guys on a daily basis and for them to make the extra money is always great,” he added. “Just finally to have gotten the 1,500, we can start moving forward now. I was starting to feel the pressure there. I had a couple of close finishes [Friday] and then today. It takes the pressure off.”

Beaten at the wire in his first mount of the day, 3-5 favorite Make It a Double in Race 2 for trainer Anthony Farrior, Russell and Hello Beautiful quickly established command as the 1-9 choice in a field of five. They rolled through a quarter-mile in :23.41 and a half in :45.84 with mild pressure from Call On Mischief.

Hello Beautiful straightened for home in front and shook loose through the stretch from Call On Mischief, who stayed up for second by a neck over Precious, followed by Bluefield and Paisley Singing. Club Car was scratched.

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It was the first win in three tries at Pimlico for Hello Beautiful, having run third in her May 10, 2019 unveiling and second by a neck to undefeated Chub Wagon in the June 13 Shine Again. Bred in Maryland by Ellen Charles' Hillwood Stable, Hello Beautiful was picked out and purchased by Brittany Russell for $6,500 at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic December 2018 mixed sale.

“The question was always is she a horse for the course at Laurel and she's run two big races at Pimlico now so it's good that she can run on a different surface, as well. It feels great,” Brittany Russell said.

Hello Beautiful won the Jan. 16 What A Summer, 2020 Safely Kept and Maryland Million Distaff, and 2019 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship and Maryland Million Lassie, all with Sheldon Russell aboard at Laurel Park. She now has earnings of $464,610 from 16 lifetime starts and a milestone win for husband and wife, who are parents to daughter, Edy, who turns 2 next month, and are expecting a second child in November.

“It's really incredible it worked out that way, especially because [Sheldon] was on a very live horse of Farrior's in the second race and they're very good friends of ours,” she added. “I would have been just as happy to see him do it on his horse, but then when the horse got nailed on the line, selfishly I thought, 'Ok. It's going to be the big filly.' She means so much to us. It's very special.”

Russell was Maryland's overall leading rider in 2011 and has won eight career meet titles, the most recent coming at Laurel Park's calendar year-ending 2020 fall stand. He has battled various injuries over the course of his career and currently ranks second to Charlie Marquez for the state's most wins in 2021.

“In this game, you've got to stay healthy. The wins will always come. Knock on wood, we've been on a bit of a roll here and not been injured for a while,” Sheldon Russell said. “Just very fortunate. I'm happy to get to this milestone; hopefully, we can get to 2,000.”

The Alma North is named for the Maryland-bred champion 3-year-old filly and Horse of the Year in 1971 and Maryland-bred champion older filly of 1972. Owned by the late Eugene Mori's East Acres Stable, Alma North won 23 of 78 career starts with $513,597 in purse earnings from 1970-74. Her victories included graded-stakes scores in the Grade 1 Matchmaker and Grade 2 Vineland, Grade 3 Margate, and Grade 3 Betsy Ross handicaps in 1973.

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