‘She’s Touting Herself Again’: Hello Beautiful Chasing Fourth Straight Victory In Friday’s Politely Stakes

Whenever trainer Brittany Russell has designs on giving stable star Hello Beautiful some time off, the 4-year-old filly has other ideas.

Fresh off a record-tying performance in last month's Maryland Million Distaff, Hello Beautiful will go after her ninth career stakes victory in Friday's $75,000 Politely at Laurel Park.

The 39th running of the six-furlong Politely for fillies and mares 3 and up and fifth renewal of the $75,000 Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial for 3-year-olds and up sprinting seven furlongs highlight a nine-race, post-Thanksgiving Day program.

Both races, restricted to Maryland-bred/sired horses, return after a one-year absence due to the coronavirus pandemic. First race post time is 12:25 p.m.

On Oct. 23 Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful became only the seventh horse since the event's inception in 1986 to win a third Maryland Million race, adding to her victories in the 2020 Distaff and 2019 Lassie.

It was the third consecutive win for the Golden Lad filly and 10th in 18 career starts including a 9-for-13 record at Laurel, her home track. In the time since her most recent win, Hello Beautiful showed Russell she's raring to go.

“She's great. She's awesome. She's touting herself again. If there was any indication otherwise we would skip it, but it seems like a good spot,” Russell said. “It would probably be this spot and potentially the MATCH Series race in December if all goes well. Then she'll probably get some sort of a break.”

The $100,000 Willa On the Move for fillies and mares sprinting six furlongs is Dec. 26 at Laurel and the finale of the filly and mare dirt sprint division in the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series. Hello Beautiful leads the division with 27 points, also good for the overall series lead.

“It's one of those things. Why not?” Russell said. “She's ready to go. It's a good spot, [so] let's run.”

Russell purchased Hello Beautiful for just $6,500 from Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic December 2018 mixed sale at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. She has gone on to earn $582,570 in purses with $265,460 coming in six 2021 starts. Her four wins have come in the What a Summer, Alma North, Weather Vane and Distaff.

“We're kind of blessed with a good thing here. She spoils you because you walk into the barn and – I'm touching wood as we talk – it's one of those things. She just goes about her business every day,” Russell said. “She trains and she's straightforward. There's never anything to get too excited about. I'm walking in the barn and dealing with the 30-plus others that all have issues, and she spoils you. You walk her over there, she runs in good races, and she wins. She's just a pleasure to train.”

Hello Beautiful has finished worse than third just four times in her career, the most recent coming when fifth in the Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) Feb. 20 at Laurel. She was second in her return, the June 13 Shine Again at Laurel, prior to her current win streak.

“She's easy-going and she's nice to be around. She's a very good girl,” Russell said. “You walk in the barn and she always has her butt to the stall door. That's her. She does her thing every day and she doesn't really like her schedule to be changed, but she's a cool filly. Everybody that's around her loves her. Her rider loves her. Her groom loves her. She's nice to have around.”

Her Distaff win was not only the first stakes win for Hello Beautiful, but also the first for Russell in her first full season as a trainer. Hello Beautiful cruised by 3 ½ lengths over Malibu Beauty with Street Lute third, both of which return in the Politely.

“That was awesome, just to see that she was able to do it three years in a row,” Russell said. “To just kind of be able to maintain that form and stay on her game for so long, we're lucky. Hopefully she has another good year because it looks like we'll probably get to race her next year.”

Jevian Toledo will ride Hello Beautiful from the rail at topweight of 124 pounds.

Russell also entered MOW Racing's Miss Chesapeake, a 3-year-old daughter of Uncle Lino that won her only prior start, a 2 ¾-length triumph as the favorite in a six-furlong waiver maiden claimer Oct. 22 at Laurel.

R. Larry Johnson's 5-year-old homebred mare Never Enough Time is second to Hello Beautiful in the MATCH division standings and third overall. Winner of the 2020 Alma North and Skipat in successive starts last fall, the Mike Trombetta trainee was third in the Weather Vane and second in the Oct. 31 Pumpkin Pie at Belmont Park in her two most recent starts.

Street Lute is an eight-time stakes winner for Lucky 7 Stables and trainer Jerry Robb, the most recent coming in the Sept. 25 Tax Free District at Delaware Park prior to the Maryland Million, where she was beaten a nose for second. She is 9-for-15 lifetime and five-for-eight at Laurel, never having finished worse than third.

Robb won the Politely the last time it was run with Anna's Bandit in 2019. He also entered Eric Rizer's 3-year-old filly Princess Kokachin, a winner of four consecutive races since Sept. 18 and six of 10 starts on the year, the last coming by 5 ¼ lengths in a Nov. 13 optional claiming allowance at Laurel.

Malibu Beauty, winner of the Aug. 21 Miss Disco at historic Pimlico Race Course and second in the Tax Free District and Maryland Million Distaff; stakes-placed Paisley Singing; and Proper Attire are also entered.

The Politely honors Maryland's Horse of the Year in 1967 and 1968, bred and raced by Mrs. Richard du Pont. Politely won 13 stakes and placed in eight others from age 2 to 5, setting an Atlantic City track record in the 1967 Matchmaker and matching it the following year. Retired following the 1968 season, she won 21 of 49 career starts and was a member of the inaugural Maryland-bred Thoroughbred Hall of Fame Class of 2013.

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Thanksgiving Weekend Card At Laurel Attract Long List Of Stakes Winners

Graded-stakes winners Laki, Pickin' Time, Informative, and Magic Michael; fellow multiple stakes winners Cordmaker, Hello Beautiful, Kenny Had a Notion, Street Lute, and Whereshetoldmetogo; and undefeated 3-year-old filly Moquist are among 114 horses nominated to five stakes worth $450,000 in purses over Thanksgiving weekend at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

Stakes action begins Friday, Nov. 26 with a pair of $75,000 events for Maryland-bred/sired horses, the seven-furlong Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial for 3-year-olds and six-furlong Politely for fillies and mares 3 and up.

Hillside Equestrian Meadows' 8-year-old Laki, unraced since finishing sixth Sept. 18 in defense of his 2020 Grade 3 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash victory at Laurel but a winner of at least one stakes race five straight years, is one of 25 nominees to the Bender. Madaket Stables, Ten Strike Racing, Michael Kisber, and BTR Racing's Whereshetoldmetogo owns 12 career wins, nine in stakes, is Grade 2 placed and five-for-seven lifetime at Laurel.

Other prominent Bender nominees are Oct. 23 Maryland Million Sprint winner Air Token and multiple stakes winners Double Crown, twice graded-stakes placed Alwaysmining, Galerio, 14-time career winner Penguin Power, and 3-year-old filly Street Lute.

Lucky 7 Stables' Street Lute is among 19 nominees to the Politely. The daughter of Street Magician has won nine of 15 lifetime starts with eight of those victories in stakes. Most recently, she ran third in the Oct. 23 Maryland Million Distaff behind Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables, and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful, also nominated.

Purchased by trainer Brittany Russell for just $6,500 in December 2018, 4-year-old Hello Beautiful is 10-for-18 in her career and nine-for-13 at Laurel with $582,570 in purse earnings and eight stakes wins, including three in a row. She made history in the Distaff as one of just eight horses with three career Maryland Million victories.

Saturday, Nov. 27 will feature three $100,000 stakes – the City of Laurel for 3-year-olds and Safely Kept for 3-year-old fillies, both sprinting seven furlongs, and the 1 1/8-mile Richard W. Small for 3-year-olds and up.

Roseland Farm Stable's 2020 G3 Nashua winner Pickin' Time is among 25 nominees to the City of Laurel. The Stay Thirsty colt was second behind Jackie's Warrior in the G2 Gallant Bob Sept. 25 and most recently fifth to fellow City of Laurel nominee He'smyhoneybadger in the Oct. 23 Perryville at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser's Kenny Had a Notion, a stakes winner on turf and dirt that snapped a seven-race losing streak Nov. 11 at Laurel, is nominated to both the City of Laurel and Bender. Other City of Laurel nominees include stakes winners Beren, Everett's Song, Maythehorsebwithu, Mohs, Officiating, The King Cheek, and Waist Deep, and graded-stakes placed Momos and Riden With Biden.

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Mopo Racing's Moquist tops 22 horses nominated to the Safely Kept. The daughter of G1 Florida Derby and G1 Kentucky Derby winner and 2-year-old male champion Nyquist is 4-0 lifetime, all this year, with the last three of her wins coming at Laurel. A winner by 13 ¼ combined lengths, Moquist will be facing her own age group for the first time in the Safely Kept.

Also nominated are Li'l Tootsie, third last out in the G2 Prioress Sept. 4 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; stakes winners Lovely Ride, Malibu Beauty, Prodigy Doll, and Street Lute; Fraudulent Charge, who has four seconds, three in stakes, from six starts; and Oct. 23 Maryland Million Ladies runner-up Maldives Model.

The Small attracted 23 nominations including Trin-Brook Stables, Inc.'s Informative, winner of the June 12 G3 Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.; Sept. 25 G3 Greenwood Cup winner Magic Michael; multiple stakes winner Cordmaker, third in the 2019 and 2020 G3 Pimlico Special; 2019 G1 Woodward runner-up Bal Harbour; and 7-year-old gelding Bobby G, who has earned 13 of his 15 career wins at Laurel.

Laurel will host its traditional Thanksgiving Day program Thursday, Nov. 25, featuring the return of the popular family-sized pie giveaway with the purchase of a racing program, while supplies last.

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New Barn No Problem For Miss Auramet In Monmouth Park’s Politely Stakes

When trainer Eddie Plesa sent Miss Auramet to Kathleen O'Connell's barn with an eye toward Monmouth Park's stakes schedule he did so with simple instructions.

“Don't mess it up,” said O'Connell, laughing as she recalled the conversation with her good friend.

Plesa, based at Gulfstream Park, needn't have been concerned.

Miss Auramet, handled perfectly by jockey Dylan Davis, found a seam along the rail coming out of the final turn after a stalking early trip and cruised to a two-length victory in the $75,000 Politely Stakes that served as the feature on Monmouth Park's Sunday card in Oceanport, N.J.

“This was her first start for me,” said O'Connell. “(Plesa) saw an opportunity for her at Monmouth and wanted her here. She has trained really good. I'm not surprised she ran this well.

“The wonderful thing about her is she's an all-terrain model. She just oozes with class. Just an ultra-consistent mare.”

In posting her ninth victory in 22 career starts (with six seconds and three thirds), Miss Auramet easily handled a solid field of fillies and mares 3 and up, covering the five furlongs over a sloppy track in :57.60.

Bronx Beauty rallied for second, six lengths ahead of longshot No Mercy Percy.

The Politely, contested for the 27th time, was originally scheduled for the turf.

“She can handle any surface,” O'Connell said.

Davis, sitting behind early speedsters Tracy Ann's Legacy, Beaux Arts and Honey I'm Good, kept Miss Auramet close behind that trio through an opening quarter of :22.01. Davis began nudging the 5-year-old daughter of Uncaptured-Hello Rosie by Yes It's True midway through the turn before finding a hole along the rail – beating Bronx Beauty and Isaac Castillo to the spot.

“Our plans coming out of there were to break sharp, not necessarily on the lead but breaking well within the pack,” said Davis, who recorded his first winner since being sidelined with a broken clavicle on March 20 on Monmouth Park's Saturday card. “I was very happy where I was at in a nice stalking position in the first flight. I saw an opportunity up the rail and she was doing great. She was on the bridle. I just took the opening and she pushed through there. It was exciting.

“Once she pushed through she opened up another stride. This was my first time on her. I love the way she ran. She listened to me the whole time. She came to run today.”

Sent off at 7-2 in the field of seven that was reduced by one when My Lovely Girl was a gate scratch, Miss Auramet returned $9.40 to win. The Florida-bred mare is coming off a 2020 campaign that saw her win six of nine starts with a second and a third. She sports a 2-2-1 line from six starts this year.

Racing resumes at Monmouth Park on Monday with a nine-race Memorial Day card headlined by the $75,000 Spruce Fir Stakes. First race post time is 12:15 p.m.

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