Madness in mid-Atlantic
If Marilyn's Madness could talk, she certainly would be bragging about her two sons. What mother wouldn't proudly point out that her offspring produced two track records in different states on back-to-back days?
Marilyn's Madness is the dam of 3-year-old gelding Coco's Madness and his 5-year-old full brother Magical Madness. Both sons were sired by Sword Dance.
Coco's Madness, making his first start on turf, set a Delaware Park turf course record on May 26, winning a mile allowance race in 1:34.88 and jumping up 30 points on the Beyer Speed Figure scale to a 92.
A day later at Mountaineer Park in West Virginia, Magical Madness won his seasonal debut, setting a turf course record of 1:27.48 for 7 1/2 furlongs in winning the $75,000 Memorial Day Handicap. Both horses are trained by Ned Allard.
Of the six runners of racing age produced by Marilyn's Madness, three have won stakes. That group is headed by Unreal Madness, who won four stakes and nearly $700,000 in his career, and Sejm's Madness, a five-time stakes winner who bankrolled more than $400,000.
Now it's time for Coco's Madness to make his family proud again. Coco's Madness will attempt to become the family's fourth stakes winner in Monday's $75,000 Nick Shuk Memorial Stakes at Delaware. The 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds is the last local prep for the $250,000 Kent Breeders' Cup on July 21.
Coco's Madness was undistinguished in his first six starts on dirt, winning just once and failing to break 70 on the Beyer scale. Then Allard switched him to turf.
"I really wanted to try him on grass," Allard said. "It just took a while for us to get him there. I always thought he would run much better on the grass."
He certainly did. After his record-breaking run, Coco's Madness finished second to Equality, a Preakness starter who was making his grass debut, in a minor stakes at Delaware. Equality is skipping the Shuk to await the Kent.
Patrol, 2 for 2 on turf this season for trainer Bill Mott, and Mr. O'Brien, winner of the $75,000 Woodlawn on the Preakness undercard, figure to provide the stiffest competition for Coco's Madness.