A decade ago, trainer Jamie Ness claimed a filly named Parade of Colors for $5,000 at Laurel Park. She only ended up winning three lower-level races lifetime and only one for Ness, and when she retired at the end of 2012, Ness simply gave her away to breeder John Williamson III.
But something about that filly resonated positively with Ness, and as he watched her offspring eventually reach the races as Maryland-breds, one in particular caught his eye: Ournationonparade, a son of Cal Nation, who won the 2019 Maryland Million Nursery as the favorite despite being a second-time-starter maiden.
Ness continued to follow Ournationonparade as he matured from ages two to five and changed barns several times via the claim box while competing on other major circuits.
So just four weeks ago, when the 7-for-24 gelding was on the cusp of a three-race winning streak, Ness, acting on behalf of owner Happy Got Lucky Stable, dropped a slip for $50,000 prior to a winning effort at Churchill Downs. Four other outfits had also put in claims for the Maryland-bred, but Ness and his client managed to win the five-way shake.
On Saturday, making his first start for the trainer who had been keeping tabs on his family for 10 years, Ournationonparade blasted past two previous $150,000 Classic S. winners to capture his fourth straight start, this one in the featured race on the 37th annual Jim McKay Maryland Million program.
The 5 3/4-length victory was the second stakes win of the afternoon for Ness and the second stakes score for jockey Jaime Rodriguez on the eight-stakes card for the offspring of in-state stallions.
“I've always been watching this horse,” Ness said in the Laurel winner's circle. “I've always had a little bit of a connection to the horse. And it kind of comes full circle [because we] finally got a chance to bring him back home to Maryland. He's a Maryland-
bred. He needs to be here. And hopefully, he'll be here for good from now on.”
Backed to 2-1 favoritism, Ournationonparade had a stutter-step start but quickly righted himself and took up the chase by assertively snagging a three-wide stalking spot through the opening turn.
Fourth for most of the trip down the backstretch, Rodriguez patiently rated with a handful of horse behind the speed-centric Prendimi (Dance With Ravens) and Monday Morning Qb (Imagining), the respective 2021 and 2020 winners of this same stakes.
But by the far turn, Rodriguez's calm body language atop Ournationonparade stood out in confident contrast to the desperate urging of the top two. The gelding cracked Prendimi first and then blitzed “Qb” at the head of the lane.
Ournationonparade began pouring it on in upper stretch, racing for a few strides with his head cocked out toward the grandstand before finishing with authority while kept to task by Rodriguez. The final time was 1:51.78 for nine furlongs over the “fast” dirt.
Other Oct. 22 highlights from Laurel included Great Notion, the state's leading stallion by progeny earnings since 2018, siring yet another Maryland Million winner, giving his offspring at least one Maryland Million Day stakes victory for 13 consecutive years.
And the second-crop stallion Blofeld swept the two Maryland Million races for juveniles, siring his first two stakes winners. It's the second year in a row one stallion has swept the card's baby races: Progeny of Buffum, who died in 2019, won both of those 2-year-old stakes in 2021.
Johnyz From Albany racked up the first stakes win for Blofeld by wiring the $100,000 Nursery. Off at 4-1, he turned for home with the three favorites bearing down menacingly, but he capably swatted them away to cruise home by five lengths in 1:11.35 for six furlongs under Jorge Ruiz for trainer Dale Capuano.
Owner Charles “Chip” Reed said that the win was special on several levels. First, he had named his homebred in honor of a recently departed Saratoga-area racetrack friend, John Zanella from Albany, New York. And second, Reed had also campaigned the colt's dam, Monster Sleeping, whom he had claimed for $30,000 in 2013.
“The mom won two [Maryland Million] races here, so we were hoping that the son took after the mom, and today he did,” Reed said.
In the counterpart $100,000 Lassie S. for 2-year-old-filles, the Blofeld-sired Chickieness was a 1 1/2-length victress at 9-10 odds while mowing down the center of the main track in 1:12.58 for six furlongs. Ness and Rodriguez again partnered here, this time for owner/breeder Jagger, Inc. and part-owner Morris Kernan, Jr.
In the $125,000 Turf Classic, 9-2 shot Wicked Prankster (Mosler) cleared the field from an outer post going nine furlongs over “firm” grass, but looked certain to be swallowed up late in the lane after leading the entire trip.
Yet the 4-year-old from owner/trainer Samuel Davis's barn fought back when headed, resurging to win by three-quarters of a length under Richard Monterrey in 1:49.44. Country Life Farm & Broken Trust Fund, LLC, bred Wicked Prankster.
Coconut Cake (Bandbox) delivered a score by a head at 6-5 odds in the $125,000 Ladies S. at nine furlongs on the turf, having gone winless since 2020.
Jockey Sheldon Russell stalked the speed, uncoiling the 5-year-old gray for a long stretch drive against a very stubborn 16-1 pacemaker, prevailing in the final few jumps for a 1:50.22 clocking. Tim Keefe trains and is part-owner along with N R S Stable and James Chambers. The breeders were Mr. & Mrs. Charles McGinnes.
The $100,000 Sprint S. yielded the heaviest-favored winner among the Maryland Million stakes, with the 1-2 chalk Fortheluvofbourbon (Bourbon Courage) getting a bit more late-stretch resistance than might have been expected from 15-1 runner-up Karan's Notion (Great Notion), the 2020 upsetter of this same stakes.
The winning margin was 1 1/2 lengths in 1:10.96 for six furlongs for connections Paco Lopez (jockey), Michael Pino (trainer), Smart Angle LLP (owner) and Hidden Acres 4-D Farm (breeder). The victory was Fortheluvofbourbon's sixth straight trip to the winner's circle and victory number 12 from just 23 lifetime starts.
Fille d'Esprit (Great Notion), the 1 1/4-length winner of the $100,000 Distaff S. over seven furlongs, is only one win away from matching Fortheluvofbourbon's impressive record. She's now 11-for-22 lifetime after stalking a legit pace with a rail run, then edging away powerfully in deep stretch to finish in 1:25.05.
The 6-year-old mare is making the most of regional incentives on the mid-Atlantic circuit. She also won her division of the MATCH stakes series this summer for jockey Xavier Perez, trainer John Robb, the ownership partners C J I Phoenix Group and No Guts No Glory Farm, and breeder Sweet Spirits Stables.
In the $100,000 Turf Sprint S., Sky's Not Falling (Seville {Ger}), forced the issue with an inside bid, split horses on the far bend, then repulsed late challenges to win by half a length at 7-2 odds under Lopez (two stakes-winning rides) in 1:02.75 for 5 1/2 furlongs. The Michael Trombetta trainee was bred by R. Larry Johnson, who partners in ownership with R. D. M. Racing Stable.
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