Capuano Considering Next Start For Alwaysinahurry

Mopo Racing's Alwaysinahurry is set to return to action later this month for the first time since his impressive upset victory over Grade 3-winning favorite Mighty Mischief in the July 4 Concern Stakes at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

Trainer Dale Capuano said the Great Notion gelding is being considered for both the $75,000 Star de Naskra Aug. 21 at Pimlico as well as the $150,000 Robert Hilton Memorial Aug. 27 at Charles Town in Charles Town, W. Va., contested at six and seven furlongs, respectively. Both races are restricted to 3-year-olds.

The Star de Naskra is among four $75,000 stakes for Maryland-bred/sired horses on Pimlico's Maryland Pride Day program, along with the Miss Disco for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs on the main track, 1 1/16-mile Find for 3-year-olds and up, and 1 1/16-mile All Brandy for fillies and mares 3 years old and older, each on the turf.

“He's doing well. We're looking at the race at Charles Town, possibly the Star de Naskra. We're just going to play it by ear,” Capuano said. “We'll take a look at things and see how it shakes out.”

Bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman, Quin Bowman, and Rebecca Davis, Alwaysinahurry burst from beneath the shadow of his multiple stakes-winning stablemate Kenny Had a Notion with a 4 ½-length triumph in the Concern at odds of 9-1. Mighty Mischief, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, had won three straight races including the May 15 Grade 3 Chick Lang at Pimlico.

The six-furlong Concern was only the second race this year for Alwaysinahurry, who needed five tries to break his maiden and raced eight times at 2 with two wins and a second to Kenny Had a Notion in the Maryland Million Nursery, one of his three runner-up finishes. Alwaysinahurry came back six months later to run fourth in a Delaware Park starter allowance as a tune-up for the Concern.

“It was impressive, wasn't it? He did it the right way,” Capuano said. “I always felt this horse could run. It took a little while for him to come around, so, hopefully, he's gotten it together now. We'll see what happens.”

Alwaysinahurry has worked three times at Pimlico since the Concern, with bullets going four and five-eighths and, most recently, an easy five-furlong move in 1:02.80 Aug. 6.

“Hopefully, he'll just improve a little bit more and get a little bit better as we go on,” Capuano said. “Time will tell.”

Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser's Kenny Had a Notion won stakes on turf and dirt as a 2-year-old and opened his 3-year-old season with a neck triumph over favored Maythehorsebwithu in the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid Jan. 16 at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md. He got a break after running third in the one-mile Miracle Wood Feb. 20 and was sixth to Wondrwherecraigis in his July 18 return at Pimlico.

Capuano put Kenny Had a Notion back on the grass for his most recent start, a five-furlong dash July 30 at Pimlico, where he raced between horses early before tiring to be seventh behind Mamba On Three.

“He ran OK the other day on the turf,” Capuano said. “He just hasn't come back to himself. It's a bit disappointing.”

Capuano said he plans to run Taking Risks Stable's Cannon's Roar in the Find. The 7-year-old gelding, second in the 2020 Maryland Million Turf and third in the July 8 Sussex at Delaware Park, was third to Logical Myth and Monarchs Glen in the West Virginia House of Delegates Speaker's Cup Aug. 7 at Mountaineer Park in New Cumberland, W.Va.

“He ran a big race, so my plan is to back in the Find,” Capuano said. “He ran his race and ran terrific. The two favorites beat him. He got beat a length and a half. They just outran him. He did everything right, he just wasn't quite good enough. The Maryland-bred race hopefully will be a little bit easier, and we won't have to ship six hours to get there.”

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Owners Of Virginia-Bred Or -Sired Horses Earn Nearly $300,000 In 2020 Bonuses

Nearly $300,000 in bonus monies was awarded to owners of Virginia-bred and -sired horses in 2020 courtesy of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association's (VTA) Mid-Atlantic Incentive program. A total of 57 owners, whose horses won at tracks in the Mid-Atlantic region, shared $299,574.75.

The initiative is just one of three offered annually by the VTA. Almost $​​​1.8 million was awarded in the popular Certified Residency program while another $1 million was doled out to breeders in the Commonwealth via the Virginia Breeders Fund program.

“These are exciting times to do business in Virginia,” said VTA executive director Debbie Easter. “Even though Colonial Downs will offer seven weeks of racing this summer, these three incentive programs offer year-round bonus opportunities for breeders and owners. The 2020 monies awarded are all very positive developments. Historical horse racing revenues have just started kicking in so there is lots of growth still to come. We anticipate awarding $3.1 million this year in the Certified program alone. Doing business in Virginia really pays right now.”

The top award of $30,000 went to Chester and Mary Broman, whose Virginia-sired homebred Mr. Buff — with career earnings of $1,295,786 — had a trio of stakes victories in 2020. The 7-year-old New York-bred prevailed in the Empire Classic Handicap, Haynesfield and Jazil Stakes, all at Aqueduct or Belmont. The gelding is by Friend of Foe, who stands at Robin Mellen's Smallwood Farm in Crozet. Mr. Buff kept right on winning as 2021 kicked off with a dominant seven-length triumph in the Jazil again, on Jan. 23.

Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser's Kenny Had a Notion's three wins translated into a $16,000 reward, second among the 57 recipient owners. The 3-year-old Great Notion gelding had victories in a maiden special weight at Delaware and in the Maryland Million Nursery and Jamestown Stakes at Laurel. Bred by Althea Richards, Kenny Had a Notion started out the new year — just like Mr. Buff — with a stakes win in the Spectacular Bid Stakes.

Sir Rockport's six wins, as an 8-year-old, provided the Sola Dei Gloria Stable with $14,100 in reward monies. The ageless Rockport Harbor gelding won four at Penn National and one each at Monmouth and Laurel. Bred by Legacy Farm and Larry Johnson, Sir Rockport also kicked off 2021 with a victory — an impressive four length, gate-to-wire effort at Penn National. That was his 12th win in just over 24 months.

New Farm in Marlton, N.J., had two nice wins with their 4-year-old Summer Front gelding, Reconvene, which triggered a $13,762 bonus. Both victories came at Monmouth and were maiden special weight and allowance scores. Reconvene was bred by Lazy Lane Farms.

Rounding out the top five was Gillian Gordon-Moore and a trio of co-owners who earned $11,835 in awards courtesy of Great Camanoe's two wins last year. The 4-year-old Tonalist gelding, bred by Corner Farm and Patrick Lawley Wakelin, won a maiden special weight at Delaware and an allowance at Laurel.

Paul Hirsimaki's 8-year-old gelding, Divine Interventio, earned over $62,000 in purse monies and a $9,832 incentive bonus last year from three claiming wins at Laurel. The son of Malibu Moon was bred by the William Backer Revocable Estate. His career bankroll of $376,000 has come from 30 “top three” finishes.

Michael Overfelt's Goodluckchuck had a pair of claiming wins at Laurel which spearheaded $9,712 in bonus earnings. The 5-year-old Big Picture gelding was bred by Heidi Overfelt and ushered in the new year with a wire-to-wire allowance victory at Charles Town at 16-1 odds.

My Meadowview Farms was eighth in bonus monies with $9,625 courtesy of Lenstar's win in a $70,000 allowance optional claimer at Belmont. The 7-year-old Shackleford gelding is trained by Nick Zito and was bred by Lazy Lane Farms.

Reiley McDonald's Passion Play was best in a $66,178 allowance at Delaware Park, which led to a $9,450 reward. The 5-year-old Hold Me Back gelding was bred by Mr. and Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin III.

Finishing out the top ten in bonus awards is eFive Racing Thoroughbreds, whose Tan and Tight prevailed in a maiden special weight at Aqueduct last January. The 5-year-old Uncle Mo mare was bred by Jim and Katie FitzGerald. She followed up that success with runner-ups in a Monmouth allowance and the Camptown Stakes at Colonial Downs.

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