Laurel Park: Strapping Groom tries to pick up where he left off in Fire Plug
Strapping Groom, who began his 2013 season running for a $35,000 claiming tag and ended it by winning his fourth stakes of the year with a career-high 110 Beyer Speed Figure, will try to transfer his good form in New York to Laurel Park for Saturday’s Fire Plug Stakes.
The six-furlong Fire Plug, which drew eight older horses, is the last of four $100,000 stakes on a nine-race program that begins at 12:35 p.m. Eastern.
The now 7-year-old Strapping Groom won four of eight starts since he began racing for trainer David Jacobson in late June, highlighted by a 15-1 upset of the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga. Most recently, he dominated the six-furlong Gravesend Handicap on Dec. 21.
Strapping Groom will be making his first start in Maryland and is listed as the 6-5 favorite on the track's morning line.
The competition includes a pair of long-absent sprinters with Grade 3 credentials, Well Spelled and Bandbox.
Well Spelled, winner of the Grade 3 Jersey Shore at Monmouth Park in July 2012, made only one start in 2013, finishing a non-threatening fifth of seven in Monmouth’s Teddy Drone on July 28. He has looked sharp during training for his comeback, posting back-to-back half-mile bullets at the Bowie training center. Trainer Ben Perkins is 19 for his last 57 (19 percent) with a profitable $2.11 return on investment with sprinters returning from long layoffs.
Bandbox, runner-up in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Handicap in May 2012, missed all of 2013. He too looks fit for his comeback with a bullet five furlongs in 59.40 seconds Dec. 20, followed by a best-of-48 half-mile move in 48.20 on Dec. 28. Trainer Rodney Jenkins is 6 for 20 (30 percent) with a $2.42 ROI with sprinters first time back following a long absence.
Warrioroftheroses cuts back sharply in distance following a pair of 1 1/8-mile routes. He successfully made the switch from a route to a sprint to clear his second allowance condition last July 4.
Service for Ten and Fersmiley, separated by 1 1/2 lengths as the 1-2 finishers in the Dave’s Friend at Laurel in mid-November, both return for the first time since then. Service for Ten owns a 6-for-11 lifetime record at Laurel. Fersmiley is a need-the-lead type who beat Pennsylvania-bred stakes sprinters first time back from a break in September.
Sheldon Russell, named to two mounts in the Fire Plug, chose to ride Service for Ten rather than Strapping Groom. Previously racing for Damon Dilodovico, Service for Ten now trained by Mike Geralis, Dilodovico’s longtime assistant. Saturday’s start will be the first for Geralis.
"He is a nice, easy horse to ride," Russell said of Service for Ten. "We got a great set-up last time and it looks like that could happen again. There’s some speed in the race. I hope the horse runs well for Mike. It would be great to get him the win. He and Damon are good guys. I have full faith in Mike having him ready for a big run.”
◗ Jessethemarine, runner-up as the 6-5 favorite in the seven-furlong Marylander a month ago, and Mr. Rover, who improved dramatically when he stretched out to seven furlongs for the first time, head a group of six 3-year-olds in the seven-furlong Frank Whiteley Jr. (race 2).
◗ Jonesin for Jerry, Gracer, and Bacopa Breeze – all freshened after winning stakes in their most recent outings – are the top contenders among six 3-year-old fillies going six furlongs in the Marshua (race 4).
◗ Firenze Feeling, idle since easily clearing her first allowance condition in January 2013, makes her first start since moving into the barn of New York-based trainer Rudy Rodriguez in the Nellie Morse for older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles (race 6).
McCarthy, McMahon finish atop 2013 standings
Trevor McCarthy and Hugh McMahon finished 2013 as the top jockey and trainer in Maryland.
McCarthy, a 19-year-old apprentice rider, finished the year with 107 victories at Laurel and Pimlico, eight more than Sheldon Russell. McCarthy ranked 12th in the nation with 69 wins in early April when he broke his left tibia during training at Laurel and missed five months, effectively taking him out of the running for an Eclipse Award as leading apprentice.
McCarthy rode 50 winners during the Laurel fall meeting to finish second behind fellow apprentice Victor Carrasco in the standings. Carrasco finished the meet with 69 victories and ended the year as the leading apprentice in the nation in both wins (215) and earnings ($4,357,715). McCarthy finished fourth in victories (140) and was third in earnings ($3,653,365).
McMahon had 74 winners at Laurel and Pimlico, 14 ahead of Juan Vazquez. McMahon, 45, also captured the Laurel Park winter and fall titles