Just Philtored asserts herself by dominating Maryland Juvenile Filly Stakes
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Just Philtored re-established herself near the top of the Maryland-bred juvenile ranks with a commanding victory in the $125,000 Maryland Juvenile Filly Stakes on Saturday at Laurel Park. She remains undefeated in state-restricted stakes company, having won two such races at Colonial Downs in August.
After an uncharacteristic defeat in the $100,000 Smart Halo last time out, trainer Mike Trombetta wasn’t sure how much the muddy track came into play. He now has an abundantly clear picture.
“If she would have run poorly today, I would say that maybe it wasn't the track," Trombetta said. "She's probably just going off form. But I'm 100% convinced now it was all the track, because she didn't even look like herself that day. She wasn't striding out. I just don't think she trusted it to try hard on it.”
In a rematch of the $100,000 Keswick and $125,000 Dolley Madison at Colonial, Just Philtored and Slewperstitus found one another at the top of the stretch once more on Saturday. The top two choices in the field of five stalked behind Project Maximus in the early going. The Butch Reid filly completed the opening quarter-mile in 23.30 seconds and half-mile in 47.11.
Just Philtored got the better of Slewperstitus in both of their prior meetings at Colonial, haunting her in what would otherwise be an undefeated juvenile campaign for trainer Robert Bailes. This time, Slewperstitus was favored, having earned a breakthrough victory in the $100,000 Maryland Million Lassie in October.
With Just Philtored back in her sights, however, the result remained the same. Trombetta’s filly powered home to a 1 3/4-length victory under jockey J.G. Torrealba, paying $6 to win. She completed the seven-furlong sprint in 1:26.02, more than a second faster than the male juveniles in the $125,000 Maryland Juvenile earlier on the card.
Doc’s Miracle, who defeated Just Philtored in the Smart Halo last time out, finished six lengths behind Slewperstitus for trainer Gary Capuano.
It was sweet revenge for Just Philtored, now a three-time stakes winner in six starts. Barring her quirky third last month, her only other defeat came in the Grade 3 Matron in October. Trombetta said that she is working her way toward a short layoff, which should help her prepare for a promising 3-year-old campaign.
Maryland Juvenile Stakes
Coming off a maiden special weight victory in November, juvenile gelding Code of Silence proved to be the real deal in the $125,000 Maryland Juvenile Stakes on Saturday. Bettors were confident in his improvement last time out, and he paid $5.80 as the favorite in the nine-horse field.
The group assembled for this year’s Maryland Juvenile might not have been the flashiest — the winner’s seven-furlong time of 1:27.23 hardly held a candle to Just Philtored’s performance in the Maryland Juvenile Filly later on. The racing action more than made up for it, however, as deep closers Code of Silence and G Q Worthy ran step for step all the way.
Closing from eighth under Carlos Lopez, 26-1 longshot G Q Worthy was only ahead of Code of Silence and jockey Angel Cruz when front-runner Worker Bee dueled through an opening quarter-mile in 23.06 seconds. The trailing two gradually advanced through the field while the top flight completed the half-mile in 46.63.
The three leading horses through a quarter-mile were still in front at the top of the stretch, but all three began to fade when Code of Silence and G Q Worthy came calling. The Chad Summers-trained colt Tartabull also made a strong move from sixth, and the deeper closers moved past on either side of him near the wire.
The trio could have finished in any order with similarly strong late bids, but the move from last proved best. Code of Silence kicked clear of Tartabull and prevailed over G Q Worthy by a neck. G Q Worthy, far from disgraced at long odds, finished a half-length clear as the runner-up for John Robb.
Summers lodged an objection against Code of Silence for brushing Tartabull in the stretch, but no action was taken.
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