Hollywood Park notes: Majestic Stride continues strong comeback from illness

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Majestic Stride won his first stakes in Thursday’s $100,000 Vernon Underwood for sprinters at Betfair Hollywood Park.

It was not the first milestone of the 4-year-old gelding’s career.

Majestic Stride missed more than 18 months of racing from February 2012 to September of this year. Trainer Jeff Bonde said Majestic Stride was sidelined by a severe virus that affected his internal organs. At the depth of that illness, there was fear that Majestic Stride would not survive. Just getting Majestic Stride back to the races was satisfying to Bonde.

“He got some kind of wacky virus,” Bonde said. “It took him a long time to restore.”

Majestic Stride recovered from the illness but lost most of his 3-year-old season and the first half of his 4-year-old campaign this year. Much of that has been forgotten by recent results.

The illness was detected following a fifth in a division of the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park in February 2012. Majestic Stride did not resume racing until September of this year, winning an optional claimer at the Los Angeles County Fair. He followed that with a win in an allowance race at Santa Anita and a fourth, beaten 1 1/2 lengths, in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.

Jockey Edwin Maldonado was aboard Majestic Stride for the BC Sprint and the Underwood. Maldonado said Thursday that Majestic Stride prefers to race on the outside of horses and that the gelding’s chances were compromised by an inside draw in the BC Sprint.

Majestic Stride, who is by Trippi, has won 4 of 7 starts and earned $243,600 for owners Edward Brown Jr., Alan Klein, and Phillip Lebherz.

The win in the Underwood has left Bonde planning a start in the $200,000 Palos Verdes Stakes over six furlongs at Santa Anita on Feb. 2.

“He’s still a relatively fresh horse,” Bonde said. “He’s been a lot of fun.”

Silentio to wait for Kilroe

Silentio, the nose winner of Friday’s $250,500 Citation Handicap, will be rested for the remainder of the year and will make his 2014 debut in the $300,000 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita on March 8, trainer Gary Mandella said.

Silentio ended 2013 in the best form of his career. Owned by Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, Silentio was third to 2012 Horse of the Year Wise Dan in the BC Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 2. Mandella has the 2014 BC Mile at Santa Anita as a long-term goal.

“I haven’t planned out the whole year, but you won’t see him again until the Kilroe,” he said Saturday. “We can give him an easy month.”

Mandella said Silentio could remain in Southern California through 2014. With Hollywood Park closing permanently at the end of this year, the stakes schedule for May and June of 2014 is unclear. Those dates were previously run at Hollywood Park, but have been transferred to Santa Anita for 2014. Santa Anita has not released its stakes schedule for that portion of the season.

Mandella is hopeful that Santa Anita will adopt the Grade 2 American Handicap over a mile and Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile that was previously run on turf at Hollywood Park.

“I’m not in a big hurry to ship to other parts of the country if I don’t have to,” Mandella said of Silentio’s plans. “I would love to think that Santa Anita would continue with the tradition of the Shoemaker.”