Alwaysmining, Our Braintrust could soon see rematch

Alwaysmining and Our Braintrust ran strong races to finish first and second in the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Futurity last Saturday at Laurel Park. The two Maryland-breds could meet again in either the $150,000 Jerome at Aqueduct or the $100,000 Heft Stakes at Laurel.

The one-mile Jerome will be held New Year’s Day. The Heft is a seven-furlong race for 2-year-olds on Dec. 29.

Kelly Rubley trains Alwaysmining, who went to the lead in the seven-furlong Maryland Futurity and held off Our Braintrust to win by 2 1/2 lengths. The victory validated his 10-length optional-claiming score going a mile at Laurel in late October.

“I’m not willing to commit to either race yet,” Rubley said of the Jerome and Heft, “but that’s what we’re thinking.”

The Futurity was Alwaysmining’s eighth start of the season. A $130,000 yearling purchase by James McIngvale, Alwaysmining was trained by Laura Wohlers, who sent him to Laurel as a maiden for his fourth start. He won by 4 1/2 lengths and afterward was purchased by the Runnymede Farm of Gregory and Caroline Bentley.

Alwaysmining made one start for trainer Eddie Graham and then was transferred to Rubley, for whom he has raced three times.

“He’s maturing more with each race, and even though he hasn’t gone two turns, I think he will be able to,” Rubley said. “The Futurity worked out perfectly. I thought he might be pressured more than he was.”

The Laurel Park strip was lightning fast last weekend, and Alwaysmining was timed in 1:21.91, less than a second off the seven-furlong track record. On Sunday, Tradfest broke the 38-year-old track record of the great Dave’s Friend when he covered five furlongs in 56.65 seconds.

Our Braintrust ran well in defeat for trainer Cal Lynch while making his first start in six months after being given time to recover from a minor shin problem. The Freud colt advanced along the inside on the turn and then tried hard in the stretch.

“I was pleased with his race,” Lynch said. “I thought he might run the winner down, but he didn’t. Seven furlongs is tricky enough off the layoff.”

In his prior start, Our Braintrust won the $150,000 Tremont at Belmont Park. He now has two wins and a second in three starts.

Lynch said Our Braintrust came out of the race with some mucus – “three on a scale of five” – but that the problem isn’t serious and that he already has returned to training.

“He ran a better number in the Futurity than when he won the Tremont, but I’ll be looking for improvement in his next race,” Lynch said. “We’ll be looking at two spots with him, the Jerome or the Heft.”

The extra furlong of the Jerome would certainly suit Our Braintrust, who from the start has looked like a horse who will enjoy longer distances. Lynch scored one of his more memorable victories in the 2017 Jerome with El Areeb.