Competitive Field Of Seven Will Start In Saturday’s $150,000 Maryland Million Classic

In a rare circumstance, no previous winner or defending champion returns in Saturday's $150,000 Maryland Million Classic at Laurel Park, leaving a wide-open and competitive field of seven to contest the richest race on the 35th annual Jim McKay Maryland Million program.

The 1 1/8-mile Classic for 3-year-olds and up headlines a 12-race card featuring eight stakes and four starter stakes on 'Maryland's Day at the Races,' celebrating the progeny of stallions standing in the state. First race post time is 11:25 a.m.

With 2019 victor Forest Fire sitting this one out, 2020 marks just the sixth time in the past 23 years and only the ninth in event history that the Classic will not have either the previous year's winner or a past champion in the lineup.

Returning from last year are runner-up Prendimi, beaten a half-length after setting the pace, and fifth-place finisher Tattooed, making his third straight Classic appearance. Among the competition are historic Pimlico Special (G3) winner Harpers First Ride, fellow multiple stakes winner Cordmaker, and stakes winners Monday Morning Qb and Top Line Growth.

G.J. Stable's Prendimi made his Laurel debut in last year's Classic for trainer Luis Carvajal Jr., who missed the race to be in California for the Breeders' Cup with Imperial Hint, only to have the multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire scratched the morning of the Sprint (G1) with a minor foot issue.

“It's very nice to have him in my barn. I used to gallop the mare and now we have this guy. Every baby she brings is a good horse, and Prendimi has never disappointed me,” Carvajal said. “The first time I ran him at Laurel, he definitely didn't disappoint me. Unfortunately last year I couldn't be at Laurel because I was at Santa Anita for the Breeders' Cup. This year Imperial Hint is retired so there's no Breeder's Cup for me, but it will be nice for me to be at Laurel for the Maryland Million.”

The 2019 Classic was not only Prendimi's first time at Laurel, it is the only other time the 5-year-old Dances With Ravens gelding has been nine furlongs. Daniel Centeno is named to ride from Post 1.

“I'm looking forward to it. Last year we didn't have much of an idea of if he was going to like the track or if he was going to be able to handle the mile and an eighth. There was a question mark there,” Carvajal said. “But, he did great and I was really happy with the way he ran. I'm hoping that he can perform the same way. He's doing great. He's working good for this race, so I'm very anxious to see him run again at Laurel.”

Prendimi has been third or better in 16 of 23 lifetime starts with five wins, including a trio of stakes wins at Carvajal's spring/summer base of Monmouth Park. Most recently, he was seventh in the one-mile Salvator Mile (G3) Sept. 20 after winning the Charles Hesse III Handicap Aug. 30 at the New Jersey track.

“My client, the first thing he told me when we came to Monmouth Park this spring he said, 'We have to look forward to the Maryland Million Classic.' It was the first thing he had in mind,” Carvajal said. “The horse did very well in the summer. We hope it's a beautiful day and he runs as good as he did last year.”

Maryland's overall leading trainer the past three years, Claudio Gonzalez entered stablemates Harpers First Ride and Tap the Mark. MCA Racing Stable's Harpers First Ride enters the Classic off back-to-back stakes triumphs in the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course and the 1 1/16-mile Deputed Testamony Sept. 7 at Laurel, where he owns six wins from seven career starts.

“Before the last race I expect him to run really good because he was showing me in the mornings that he was doing better than ever,” Gonzalez said. “Every race he gets better and better. I didn't know if he could [win], but I knew he was going to be there and he ran so good. He came out of the race good, he breezed good the other day and came out of it good, so everything's good.”

Among the horses Harpers First Ride defeated in the Pimlico Special were defending champion Tenfold, another Triple Crown race veteran in runner-up Owendale, and Cordmaker, third by two necks in the 2018 Special. Angel Cruz gets the return call from Post 5.

“The Pimlico Special is a very big race,” Gonzalez said. “It was very special because it's here in Maryland. This is where I have my license and make my home. It was special for everybody. The whole team was happy that day.”

BB Horses' Tap the Mark registered a win on the Special's undercard, a half-length optional claiming allowance triumph going 1 1/16 miles over Toughest 'Ombre and Tattooed. Weston Hamilton has the assignment from Post 6.

“He's a horse that tries all the time and is always right there. He's made almost $200,000 already and he's more mature. He's a big horse and I think he can run the long distance. He's the kind of horse that can run right there with the speed and he's an easy horse to ride,” Gonzalez said. “This is a big day for everybody. It [would be] very special for us to win one race, especially the Classic. We are going to give it a try.”

Cash is King and LC Racing's Monday Morning Qb, based at Parx with trainer Robert E. 'Butch' Reid Jr., has raced twice previously at Laurel, winning the Heft Stakes as a 2-year-old last December and running second in the Federico Tesio Sept. 7. The Tesio was the Imagining colt's first race in seven months and came at the Classic's distance.

Monday Morning Qb will try to join exclusive company Saturday. Bonus Points in 2017 is the only other 3-year-old to win the Classic.

“He obviously handles the dirt very well, and a firm dirt is what I'm looking for. He likes that track down at Laurel so we'll give it a shot,” Reid said. “We feel like he's sitting on a good race. He breezed beautiful the other day. We just let him kind of stretch his legs and blow off a little steam, and it should set him up perfect for this spot.”

Monday Morning Qb made his turf debut following the Tesio, racing in contention for a half-mile before fading in the one-mile James W. Murphy Oct. 3 on the Preakness (G1) undercard at Pimlico.

“He caught a real soft turf course that day and he's a big, heavy horse. I think it really compromised his chances in there,” Reid said. “He came out of it like he didn't even run, and he really didn't, so that's the reason why we don't mind running him back a little quicker for this spot.”

Sheldon Russell rides Monday Morning Qb from Post 3.

Hillwood Stable's Cordmaker has gone winless in five 2020 starts but has shown steady improvement since his belated season opener July 3. The gelded 5-year-old son of Hall of Famer Curlin was second in the Deputed Testamony and third for the second straight year in the Pimlico Special, beaten less than six lengths combined. Regular rider Victor Carrasco has the mount from Post 4.

The Elkstone Group's homebred Top Line Growth takes a perfect 4-0 record at Laurel into the Million. A 4-year-old Tapizar gelding, he finished a rallying second in the Salvator Mile last out snapping a two-race win streak. Promoted winner of the Iowa Derby last July, he capped his sophomore season with a second-level optional claiming allowance win at Laurel, then made a successful return off an 11-month layoff in a third-level spot Aug. 14. Julian Pimentel rides from Post 7.

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This Time It Counts: Pirate’s Punch Proves Best In Salvator Mile

Pirate's Punch left no doubt about the outcome this time.

Disqualified from first for interference in the stretch in the Grade 3 Philip Iselin Stakes four weeks ago, Pirate's Punch drew away coming out of the final turn to win the $150,000 Grade 3 Salvator Mile by two lengths on Sunday at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

Now it's onto the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on Saturday, Nov. 7, for the half-brother to 2017 Haskell Invitational winner Girvin, according to trainer Grant Forster.

“The Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile is definitely our plan based on these last two races,” said the Kentucky-based Forster. “For us here in Kentucky it's a home game this year. He does have one race at Keeneland when he ran very well as he was just starting to improve last fall. I know the owners and I are on board.

“We were treating this as our `win and you're in.' He won it, so I guess we have to put our money where our mouth is and give a horse the chance to show what he can do on the national stage.”

The speedy 4-year-old son of Shanghai Bobby, who generally races on the lead, was kept off the early quick pace set by Prendimi and Wind of Change, with the duo taking the eight-horse field to an opening quarter of :22.69 and a first half in :45.80.

Entering the final turn, jockey Jorge Vargas, Jr. gave Pirate's Punch his cue, with the gelding sweeping three wide and immediately getting a jump on the field as he made the lead. Final time for the mile was 1:37.19.

Top Line Growth, the Laurel Park record holder for a mile, was able to get second, a head in front of Bal Harbour.

“I'm pleased they gave me another chance to ride this horse after the Iselin,” said Vargas. “I didn't feel what happened that day was all that bad but I still felt bad about it and apologized to the owners afterward. They told me I did everything right and rode a good race.

“Obviously today we wanted to be on the lead because that's the best way he has run before, but they went quick early on. I didn't panic. I just tried to keep him clean. I knew I was on the best horse in the race. After the three-eighths he just took off. I wasn't going to challenge that fast early speed. I know this is a good horse and he will get in gear.”

Now with a 5-3-4 line from 17 career starts, Pirate's Punch earned his first graded stakes win. He paid $6.60 to win as the favorite in the field.

“He really validated that last race,” said Forster. “I said before the race I was concerned about bringing him back this quickly with the travelling (from Kentucky), but every day he has been a 10 out there on the track for us and he gave us every reason to come back.

“The jockeys who have ridden him have always said he will rate. He has run some very good races from just off the pace, but of course this is the first time to get a win doing it that way with such a fast early pace being set. Credit to Jorge Vargas, Jr. He rode a brilliant race. He didn't panic being on the favorite. He knew what he had underneath him. The horse runs the turns very well and Vargas asked him around the turn and he responded as we know he can.”

Owned by Gulliver Racing LLC, Craig Drager and Dan Legan, Pirate's Punch boosted his career earnings to $332,751 with the $90,000 winner's share of the purse.

He also moved Vargas a step closer to what would be a career riding highlight.

“The Breeders' Cup is one of my dreams so I am hoping this horse goes now,” said Vargas. “To be able to ride him in the Breeders' Cup would be a dream come true.”

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‘Very Fast Horse’: Track Record Holder Top Line Growth Headlines Sunday’s Salvator Mile

Different year, different horse, different Monmouth Park graded stakes race. But, trainer Kelly Rubley hopes, a similar result.

A year after the Maryland-based trainer shipped in with Divisidero to win the Grade 3 Red Bank Stakes, Rubley will look for history to repeat when she sends out Laurel track record holder Top Line Growth in Sunday's $150,000 Grade 3 Salvator Mile, the feature on Monmouth Park's 14-race card that day.

“Certainly that's the hope,” she said.

After making his 4-year-old debut in impressive fashion with a 5½-length romp at Laurel on Aug. 14 – a race in which he threatened his own track record for a mile – Top Line Growth will face seven challengers in the Salvator Mile his quest for his first graded stakes score.

The gelded son of Tapizar returned following a 10½-month layoff to sizzle a mile in 1:34.74 to launch his 2020 campaign. He set the Laurel track record for that distance on June 8, 2019 when he covered the distance in 1:34.07.

“It was very impressive,” Rubley said of Top Line Growth's comeback race. “He toyed with the track record he currently holds. He's a very fast horse.

“We have always felt he was a nice horse. We felt he deserved to try this race. His last race he had the conditions so we figured why not try it. It was a great start back. You hope you're not over-facing them when they're coming off a long layoff. Obviously, he was ready in that spot.”

Top Line Growth has consistently displayed two traits during his career: He likes to win and he loves eight furlongs. Owned and bred by The Elkstone Group LLC, Top Line Growth is 5-for-8 lifetime and 3-for-3 at a mile. Two of his career losses have come in Grade 3 stakes races: A third-place finish in the Smarty Jones at Parx last Sept. 2 and a fourth-place finish in the West Virginia Derby on Aug. 3 of last year.

“The race at Parx was one of his better ones numbers-wise,” said Rubley. “It was a bit of an off-track and I thought he did very well.

“We always thought he was a nice horse. He was a big, growing horse at 2, so he didn't start until he was 3. Luckily the owners were wonderful in giving me the time to develop him. He certainly showed up his first start.”

That was April 22 of last year, when Top Line Growth made his racing debut with a 9½-length victory.

Among the horses Top Line Growth will face in the Salvator Mile is Pirate's Punch, who was disqualified from first in his last start on Aug. 22 in the Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park. Trainer Chad Brown will send out Grade 1 winner Valid Point, with the colt trying dirt for the first time in his career.

Rubley, whose only two career graded stakes wins have come with Divisidero, has enlisted Joe Bravo to ride Top Line Growth.

“Joe rode him at Parx so he knows him,” said Rubley, who started training in 2014. “I felt that was a logical move.”

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