Harpers First Ride, Cordmaker face off again in Deputed Testamony Stakes
Harpers First Ride and Cordmaker will renew their rivalry in Saturday’s Deputed Testamony, perhaps the most evenly matched of the three $100,000 stakes on the Pimlico card.
Six are expected to start in the 1 1/8-mile Deputed Testamony. Trainer Ian Wilkes said Thursday that Bourbon Calling will scratch to await another race next week.
Harpers First Ride, a winner in half of his 22 starts, defeated Cordmaker four times last year, including in this race. After being trained by Robertino Diodoro for three races, Harpers First Ride celebrated his return to trainer Claudio Gonzalez with a rallying victory June 27 in a conditioned allowance race. Although the Beyer Speed Figure – an 87 – came back light, it’s worth noting Harpers First Ride overcame glacial fractions.
Cordmaker utilized his tactical speed to post a gate-to-wire victory in the Harrison E. Johnson Memorial on March 13. He backed that win up with a fourth in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special, finishing ahead of Harpers First Ride. Trainer Rodney Jenkins hopes the 6-year-old Cordmaker will control moderate fractions once again.
“That’s my idea,” Jenkins said. “I don’t know if he can, but we’ll definitely give it a shot.”
Trained by Jamie Ness, Magic Michael has won 6 of 9 since being claimed for $30,000 last November. Seven of those races were at Parx.
Ness wanted Magic Michael because “he fit the condition book at Parx.”
“They write the starter $25,000 non-two, non-three, non-four, so those are the kind of horses we’re looking for,” he said.
Magic Michael had a three-race win streak snapped in his last start when second to graded stakes winner Phat Man in the $50,000 Battery Park at Delaware.
“We got stuck behind horses,” Ness said. “The other horse got away. I think if we got a clean trip, it would have been a close race.”
Ness mentioned the 1 1/8 miles as the reason Magic Michael was pointed to the Deputed Testamony.
“I think the distance is good for him,” Ness said. “He acts like he wants to run all day.”
A lack of early pace does concern Ness.
“He usually sits back and makes one run, but there looks to me like there’s no speed,” he said. “He might have to be tactically placed.”
Stakes winner Two Thirty Five makes his first start for Diodoro after running sixth facing top-level competition in the Hollywood Gold Cup.
“A private purchase out of California,” Diodoro said. “I had a guy that does work behind the scenes for me with Rag numbers and watching replays and stuff. He liked the horse and sent it to me.”
Diodoro isn’t concerned about pace and distance.
“The distance should hit him right on the button,” he said. “We’ll be very forwardly placed for sure.”
Although Mischief Afoot rallied from last to beat three next-out winners in an allowance at Pimlico in May, trainer Jimmy Toner believes the Into Mischief gelding can be closer to the pace.
“It’s not like he’s a plodder and he takes himself back,” Toner said. “If there’s no pace, he doesn’t have to be 10 or 15 lengths back.”
Toner believes Mischief Afoot is living up to his potential since being gelded last year.
Multiple stakes winner Informative completes the field.
Challedon Stakes
With first-place finishes in five of his last six starts, all in stakes, Whereshetoldmetogo stamped himself as one of the region’s top sprinters. Trained by Brittany Russell, the 6-year-old looms the one to beat in the Challedon at six furlongs.
The Challedon isn’t some mere walkover, though. Laki and Lebda, the one-two finishers in the Frank Whiteley on April 24 at Pimlico, are solid contenders, as is Mucho.
Laki enters in good form following a runner-up performance behind graded-class sprinter Yaupon.
Breaking from the rail, Lebda will put his early speed to good use. A multiple stakes winner routing, he has transformed into a capable sprinter for Gonzalez.
With his runner-up effort in last month’s Kelly’s Landing, Mucho earned his first stakes-placing since his second as the favorite in the 2018 Hopeful. Trainer John Ortiz claimed Mucho for $80,000 last fall.
“I saw a lot of potential in his past performances,” Ortiz said. “You could see he had a lot of back class.”
Ortiz stopped giving Mucho Lasix three starts back, and Mucho has responded nicely.
“I’ve seen an improvement in his weight,” Ortiz said. “I don’t train horses in the mornings on Lasix. Sometimes it just takes a little too much out of their weekly works.”
Threes Over Deuces and Whiskey and You complete the field.
Alma North Stakes
Russell sends out prohibitive favorite Hello Beautiful in the Alma North for fillies and mares at six furlongs. Hello Beautiful finished a neck behind unbeaten Chub Wagon in the Shine Again on June 13, and seems like the controlling speed Saturday.
Club Car, one of Hello Beautiful’s main rivals, is “90 percent” to scratch, according to trainer Ben Colebrook.
Bluefield and stakes-placed fillies Call On Mischief, Paisley Singing, and Precious round out the field.
All three stakes races Saturday are part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship Series.