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Share The Ride Takes Inside Route To Victory In General George

Silvino Ramirez's Share the Ride soared through an opening along the rail entering the stretch and pulled away to earn his second career graded-stakes victory and give journeyman rider Victor Carrasco his first in Saturday's $250,000 General George (G3) at Laurel Park.

The 45th running of the General George for 4-year-olds and up and the 69th edition of the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) for fillies and mares 4 and older, both sprinting seven furlongs, co-headlined a Winter Sprintfest program of six stakes worth $900,000 in purses.

Originally scheduled for Feb. 13, Winter Sprintfest was pushed back a week after winter storms passed through the Mid-Atlantic region. Parx-based Share the Ride ($10.80) hit the wire in 1:22.85 over a fast main track.

Winner of the 2013 Eclipse Award as North America's champion apprentice, the 28-year-old Carrasco has battled through assorted injuries over his career, picking up his 1,000^th lifetime winner last January at Laurel.

“First of all I want to say thanks to the trainer and the owner. I can't even explain,” Carrasco said. “I've been through so much in my career [that] when I passed the wire, I could not believe it. But thank God we're here and thanks to Share the Ride, we got it done.”

Share the Ride, a gelded son of Candy Ride, won the six-furlong Fall Highweight (G3) Nov. 29 at Aqueduct to cap his 2020 campaign. He made his 6-year-old debut Jan. 16 at Laurel, leading into deep stretch before being caught at the wire and finishing second by a neck behind Wendell Fong.

Last time out, Share the Ride chased the pace on the outside and settled four third, beaten 3 ¼ lengths as the favorite, in the seven-furlong Toboggan (G3) Jan. 30 at Aqueduct.

“Everything came out like the plan we made. We're really happy,” Ramirez said. “He's a fast horse. He likes to run in front. He was a little behind last time. He didn't like it so much, so this time we were in front. That's the way he likes it.”

Arthur's Hope and jockey Alcibiades Cortez were eager for the lead and held it through a brisk pace of 23.20 seconds for a quarter-mile and 46.13 for the half, with Share the Ride in close pursuit. Arthur's Hope drifted out as the field approached the stretch and Share the Ride had plenty of room to roll once straightened for home.

Tattooed, upset winner of the one-mile Jennings Jan. 16 at Laurel in his previous start, split horses in mid-stretch to get up for second, two lengths ahead of 2020 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) winner Laki. It was another half-length back to multiple stakes winner Lebda in fourth.

Arthur's Hope, Informative, Chilly in Charge, Grade 3 winner Majestic Dunhill and 2-1 favorite Funny Guy completed the order of finish. Fortunate Friends was scratched.

“The instructions were to not go to the lead, to make sure that I sit second or third, and I tried my best to do that. When I saw Cortez on my outside, I just sat patient and waited and when we got near to the quarter pole and said, 'Go,' he responded well and we got the 'W,'” Carrasco said.

“To be honest I felt like he was never slowing down,” he added. “I was a little concerned by the sixteenth pole because I've been in that position before where you feel like to you them and then you get nailed at the wire. But I felt like I had enough from the sixteenth pole to the wire.”

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General George Favorite Funny Guy One Serious Racehorse

His name evokes a smile, and though he has yet to register a win against open competition, make no mistake – Funny Guy is one serious racehorse.

Gatsas Stables, R. A. Hill Stable and Swick Stable's Funny Guy is a five-time stakes winner against fellow New York-breds that owns six wins, six seconds and $638,645 in purse earnings from 17 lifetime starts.

The 5-year-old son of 2008 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1) winner Big Brown has fared well in the occasional foray into open company, including a runner-up finish behind Grade 1 winner Firenze Fire in the Vosburgh (G2) last fall at his home base of Belmont Park.

Funny Guy is entered to make his graded-stakes return in Saturday's $250,000 General George (G3) at Laurel Park, where he is the 9-5 program favorite against a field boasting seven other stakes winners including Grade 3 winners Laki, Majestic Dunhill and Share the Ride.

The 45th running of the General George for 4-year-olds and up and $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) for females 4 and older, both sprinting seven furlongs, serve as the co-headliners on a nine-race Winter Sprintfest program featuring six stakes worth $900,000 in purses rescheduled from Feb. 13 due to weather.

Funny Guy has been at Laurel since last week under the supervision of Tonja Terranova, wife and assistant to trainer John Terranova. Though training has been intermittently interrupted by weather, John Terranova said Funny Got got in a “strong gallop” Wednesday morning.

“It's all good. We'll just do what we've got to do during the week,” he said. “I guess everyone else is in the same boat with the postponement. We'll just ride the wave.”

The General George will be only the second time Funny Guy has raced outside of New York. The first came in the 2019 Oklahoma Derby (G3), when he ran sixth behind Owendale, third in that year's Preakness, and runner-up Sleepy Eyes Todd, most recently fourth in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park and running in Saturday's $20 million Saudi Cup.

“He's been great. He's honest, he does everything right. He's been a fun horse to be around,” John Terranova said. “He's versatile and just keeps coming back for more each time. He's had a couple little circumstances where maybe the track got to him a little bit or it just didn't set up quite right, but he's always given us a big effort.”

One start prior to last year's Vosburgh, Funny Guy wound up fourth by 2 ½ lengths in the Forego (G1) at Saratoga to Win Win Win, another veteran of the 2019 Triple Crown trail, and Grade 1 winner Complexity, the runner-up. The seven-furlong Forego was contested during a thunderstorm that rolled through at post time. In a sign of respect, Funny Guy was sent off as the favorite in the Forego and Vosburgh.

“The Forego was one of those circumstances with that horrific rainstorm we were in the middle of when they snapped the gate on us. Everybody rushed out to the track and it was an absolute deluge,” Terranova said. “You couldn't even see them. It was like running through a river. He was down inside, just buried in there. The track took away from a lot of performances on that afternoon.”

Funny Guy's stakes wins have come at distances from 6 ½ furlongs to the 1 1/8 miles of the Albany, which he captured by a neck in 2019 at Saratoga, earning him a shot in the Oklahoma Derby. Given some time off after that effort, he returned with back-to-back stakes wins in the one-mile Commentator and seven-furlong John Morrissey last summer.

In his 2021 debut, Funny Guy ran second as the favorite in the seven-furlong Say Florida Sandy Jan. 9 at Aqueduct, his first start since a neck triumph in the New York Stallion Series Thunder Rumble Nov. 22, also going seven-eighths at the Big A.

“The track was a little loose on him. He's a big, heavy horse and winter tracks, they get cold, they get cuppy, they get loose and dry,” Terranova said. “He doesn't really get his feet that far up off the ground so I think he struggled with it, having that quickness to him. It took it a little bit away from him the last start. Our jock said the same thing after getting off him.”

Funny Guy owns two wins and two seconds in five career tries at the General George distance, and is two-for-three on an off track. A second winter storm is scheduled to pass through the Laurel area Thursday into Friday morning.

“He's certainly doing well coming into this. We're just kind of like in this holding pattern, not much to do this week,” Terranova said. “He's doing great. We've been looking forward to this race. Wet or dry, he's been great. Everything's good.”

Terranova has shipped in to Maryland and left with graded-stakes before, taking the 2019 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) with Killybegs Captain. It was the trainer's most recent of more than a dozen graded triumphs.

“We've been lucky down there and very fortunate that we've had some good success with our horses,” he said. “Hopefully it continues with Funny Guy.”

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Share The Ride Wins Fall Highweight Handicap After Quick Turnaround

A quick turnaround was no issue for Share the Ride, who outdueled Tribecca down the lane before kicking clear to a three-quarter length win in Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Fall Highweight Handicap going six furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Trained by Antonio Arriaga for owner Silvino Ramirez, the son of Candy Ride ran just 11 days ago, where he bested six others in a seven-furlong allowance at Parx by 7 ½ lengths, garnering a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Breaking from post 5 in the seven-horse field, jockey Jose Ortiz hustled Share the Ride through the first few strides out of the gate and secured his mount a path to the outside as Tribecca dictated terms on the front end through an opening quarter-mile in 23.03 seconds over the fast main track.

Around the far turn, Share the Ride inched his way closer to Tribecca under no urging from Ortiz, who looked over both shoulders as they approached the quarter-pole through a half in 46.14.

Ortiz gave Share the Ride his cue just outside the three-sixteenths pole, but a stubborn Tribecca did not retreat and dug in toward the rail as multiple stakes-winner Stan the Man and five-time winner Absentee made late bids in tandem to the outside.

Share the Ride edged clear of Tribecca just inside the eighth-pole to hit the wire a three-quarter length winner in a final time of 1:10.62.

Late closers Stan the Man and Absentee finished a respective second and third. Tribecca, Drafted, Arch Cat and Majestic Dunhill, who was compromised by an unfavorable beak, rounded out the order of finish.

Share the Ride has been a model of consistency through his 5-year-old campaign, winning 4-of-9 starts, including a triumph in the Mr. Prospector on September 12 at Monmouth Park. He also was third to Firenze Fire in the Grade 2 Vosburgh on September 26 at Belmont Park and was a game runner-up to Majestic Dunhill in the Grade 3 Bold Ruler on October 31 at Belmont.

Returning $5.20 as the favorite, while carrying 133 pounds as the co-highweight, Share the Ride upped his lifetime earnings to $369,860 and record to 20-8-3-4.

“Everybody had a little extra weight today, but my horse was very game,” Ortiz said. “It was a great training job. This horse was 100 percent ready. He broke well and sat second and relaxed. I asked him to go passing the three-eighths pole to engage Tribecca. I wanted to be close to him at the quarter-pole because he's hard to beat on the lead and he digs in. I was in good range to win the race and they battled down the lane; two good horses in a match race and then the other horses were coming too, at the end, but he dug in.”

Bred in Kentucky by Dixiana Farms, Share the Ride is the second progeny out of the multiple stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed Graeme Hall mare Belle of the Hall.

Live racing resumes Thursday at the Big A with a nine-race card. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

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Majestic Dunhill Faces Comebacking Drafted, 5 Others In Fall Highweight

A compact-but-competitive field of seven dirt sprinters will be on tap for Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Fall Highweight Handicap at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., led by the versatile Majestic Dunhill for trainer George Weaver and owner R. A. Hill Stable.

A son of Majesticperfection that always seems to pack a late punch, Majestic Dunhill is in career form as his 5-year-old campaign winds down. Majestic Dunhill was at one time strictly a turf horse, having run on grass for the first nine starts of his career before making his foray onto the main track late in 2018. His first dirt start, which came in the ungraded City of Laurel at Laurel Park, resulted in a win, and his connections then decided to focus exclusively on dirt races for his 2019 campaign.

Despite running well on a number of occasions, including a near miss in the 2019 Grade 2 General George at Laurel, Majestic Dunhill failed to pick up a win as a 4-year-old and the drought continued in his initial start of 2020, which prompted Weaver to try him on turf again in the First Defence at Belmont Park, a race he very nearly won.

After a disappointing seventh in an optional claimer on the Belmont lawn, however, it was back to dirt for the dark bay gelding, where he finished up the track in the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga Race Course. Following another near miss in an optional claimer on September 25 at Belmont, Majestic Dunhill finally got back to his winning ways with a last-out victory in the Grade 3 Bold Ruler Handicap on October 31 at Belmont over a muddy track.

Interestingly, Majestic Dunhill has flashed new and improved early speed in his last two starts, which should be beneficial as he cuts back from seven furlongs to three-quarters for the Fall Highweight. With his rider for those last two starts, Joel Rosario, out of town on Sunday, Jose Lezcano will pick up the mount from post 3. He's been assigned co-highweight of 133 pounds.

To make it two straight, Majestic Dunhill will have to deal with the classy Dubai shipper Drafted, who hasn't run since finishing sixth in the Saudi Cup Sprint on February 29 at King Abdulaziz Racetrack. A son of Field Commission, Drafted was at one time a contender in the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, having won a pair of graded events in the UAE in the lead-up to the 2019 Golden Shaheen. After finishing a decent fifth in the race, the Florida-bred gelding was forced to hit the sidelines for a long time before he returned with a third-place finish in the Group 3 Dubawi at the start of 2020, which he followed with a fourth in the Group 3 Al Shindagha, both at Meydan in Dubai.

Previously trained by Doug Watson, Drafted will make his first start for the New York-based David Duggan on Sunday and his third domestic run as he raced twice in the U.S. as a 2-year-old when he was under the care of trainer Eoin Harty and Godolphin LLC.

“When quarantine hit in Dubai my longtime friends decided to redirect him to America,” said Duggan, who trains Drafted for Misty Hollow Farm. “He's been here a couple months now. He spent a month in Maryland and then came to me. He's straightforward. He can be a little funny to gallop but his works have been very good and on his best day he can be competitive here. He could be a little ring rusty, but this race is just a starting point. I wish it were an easier spot but that's the way it goes in New York. He's working well and is fit enough, so I can't complain.”

A six-time winner from 16 lifetime starts, Drafted will be ridden for the first time by Dylan Davis from post 2 while carrying 131 pounds.

Claimed for $16,000 earlier this year by Silvino Ramirez, Share the Ride will look to keep his magical season going and overturn the decision from the Bold Ruler two starts ago, in which he finished a neck behind Majestic Dunhill. Since being claimed in his first start of 2020 on July 5 at Monmouth Park, the 5-year-old Candy Ride gelding has been in raging form, possibly due to the addition of blinkers, which occurred on September 5 in the Grade 3 Red Bank on turf and have been equipped ever since.

It took him awhile to find the winner's circle for his new connections, but he did so in style on September 12 at Monmouth, taking the Mr. Prospector by a widening 3 ¾ lengths before finishing third in the Grade 1 Vosburgh and second in the Bold Ruler.

Jose Ortiz will take the call from post 5 aboard Share the Ride, who makes a quick turnaround for the Fall Highweight having recently dominated an allowance event at Parx Racing on November 18. He was assigned co-highweight of 133 pounds.

Another reformed claimer, Tribecca will attempt to win his fourth race of the year on Sunday. A New York-bred son of Bustin Stones, Tribecca was haltered for $25,000 last summer by trainer Chris Englehart and owner Ronald Brown and has won six of nine starts for his new connections, including an emphatic victory last out in the Hudson on October 24 at Belmont.

Kendrick Carmouche will retain the mount aboard Tribecca from post 7 at 130 pounds.

Trainer John Terranova will send out the salty older dirt runner Stan the Man, who turns back in distance following a distant third-place finish in the Grade 2 Kelso in his most recent outing. The 6-year-old Broken Vow gelding has won at distances ranging from six furlongs to 1 ⅛ miles on the main track and has been a force at the Big A, where he's notched five of his seven lifetime victories. Although he struggled earlier in the year, he seems to have benefited from his connections removing blinkers two starts ago, which resulted in a win in the Tale of the Cat at Saratoga.

Eric Cancel, who was aboard Stan the Man in the Kelso, will take the call again from post 6 at 132 pounds.

Burns Thoroughbred Racing's Arch Cat, trained by Daniel Velazquez, finished third last out in the Grade 3 Bold Ruler. A 13-time winner from 38 career starts, Jorge Vargas, Jr. will have the call from the inside post aboard the 6-year-old Arch gelding at 130 pounds.

Absentee, a five-time winner exiting an off-the-turf score at Belmont on October 29, completes the field for trainer Jorge Duarte, Jr. and Colts Neck Stables. Junior Alvarado has the call from post 4 under 128.

The Fall Highweight is slated as Race 8 on Sunday's 10-race card. First post is 11:50 a.m. America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the Aqueduct fall meet with coverage to air on FOX Sports and MSG Networks.

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