Lewisfield romps in Maryland Million Sprint Handicap

LAUREL, Md. – Lewisfield became the third straight odds-on Maryland Million winner Saturday at Laurel Park when he annihilated the competition and pulled away to an easy 8 3/4-length victory in the $100,000 Sprint Handicap.

Trained by Jeff Runco and owned and bred by Linda Zang, Lewisfield blazed six furlongs in 1:09.08. The victory was sweet redemption for the strapping 4-year-old son of Great Notion, who finished fifth in the Grade 3 De Francis Memorial Dash in his last start following a bad start and wide trip.

Jevian Toledo was aboard Lewisfield Saturday after Arnaldo Bocachica rode him in his first 12 career starts.

“Sometimes you just can’t keep hitting the same nail and have to change things up,” Runco said.

Bocachica was named to ride three of Runco’s horses Saturday night at Charles Town.

Toledo put Lewisfield right into the race and they prompted a fast pace of 21.70 and 44.27 outside Onemoregreattime. Lewisfield put Onemoregreattime away in upper stretch and Toledo took him in hand for the final sixteenth of a mile.

“Jeff told me just to tap him a couple of times out of the gate and put him in a good spot,” Toledo said. “He’s a nice horse.”

Greatbullsoffire finished second, 1 1/2 lengths ahead of third-place Stolen Love. Onemoregreattime finished fourth.

Lewisfield carried 126 pounds in the Sprint Handicap and conceded from eight to 16 pounds to his six rivals. He paid $2.40.

Linda Zang’s late husband James F. Lewis III was a former president of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and was instrumental in getting the Maryland Million off the ground in its early days.

“It was my husband’s dream to win a Maryland Million race,” Zang said. “He would have loved this. I wish he was here.”

Nursery: Follow the Dog scores first win

Follow the Dog scored a breakout win in his first race with blinkers in the $100,000 Nursery, putting away fellow pacesetter Lippi Lorenzo in upper stretch and drawing off by 3 1/4 lengths.

The Nursery was the second stakes win of the day for Julian Pimentel, who had previously won the Ladies on My Sistersledge.

Follow the Dog, who races for the Waldorf Racing of David Wright, paid $9.60 in the nine-horse field. He covered six furlongs in 1:10.14.

Sky Magician rallied from just off the pace to finish second, a neck length in front of late-running Outofthepark, who checked in third. It was a nose back to Lippi Lorenzo in fourth and another nose to fifth-place Known Quantity.

Follow the Dog came into the Nursery a maiden after three starts but Parx-based trainer Marya Montoya equipped him with blinkers Saturday and he ran a professional race.

“He’s a very green horse and just starting to figure things out,” Montoya said. “We knew he needed blinkers, but he just wasn’t ready for them in his first few starts.

“We were going to try and rate him in his last race, but he broke a step slow and then just took off.”

Montoya is the daughter of the late horseman Dennis “Goose” Heimer, a five-time leading trainer at Philadelphia Park in the 1970s and 1980s.

Montoya said she would consider Follow the Dog for the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Futurity, a seven-furlong race on Dec. 8. She said she planned to give the son of Bandbox some time off over the winter.