Maker looks ahead after big weekend at Pimlico
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Trackside training annex near Churchill Downs is quiet, just like the trainer whose stable nearly overruns the place. Mike Maker has always preferred that his horses do the talking for him, just as they did last weekend 600 miles away at Pimlico.
“Sure was,” Maker said with typical brevity when it was mentioned how awesome his Preakness weekend was.
Four stakes wins, all of them graded, was the Maker yield from the two-day Preakness festivities in Baltimore. If the totality of the weekend didn’t quite match up to any of the three Breeders’ Cup races he has won through the years, “it’d be close,” he conceded.
Indeed, only the Preakness itself overshadowed what Maker accomplished in winning the Grade 3 Pimlico Special with Last Judgment ($11.80) and the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan with Army Wife ($11) on Friday, then the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint with Special Reserve ($9.80) and the Grade 2 Dinner Party with Somelikeithotbrown ($7.60) in the two Saturday races leading directly up to the Preakness. Not one of those winners was a post-time favorite, and Maker, characteristically, presented himself with humility in numerous post-race interviews, deflecting praise to his owners, staff, and the horses.
“It’s super because the clients we won for are longtime supporters,” Maker, 52, said after the Dinner Party.
Even with his four wins, Maker did not capture the $50,000 first prize in the annual trainer-bonus contest offered by the Maryland Jockey Club. That went to Steve Asmussen, whose one win (the Chick Lang with Mighty Mischief) and five seconds that included Midnight Bourbon in the Preakness and Willful Woman in the Black-Eyed Susan helped to amass the most points in a grading system (1st equals 10 points, 2nd equals 7 points, etc.) that skews more favorably toward volume and participation than outright wins. It was the third time in five years that Asmussen, who had 11 stakes starters versus Maker’s seven, has won the top prize.
Aside from his trainer’s commission from $523,300 in purses won, Maker got another $25,000 for second in the contest. Bonuses worth a total of $100,000 are paid down to sixth place.
“That’s the way it is, I guess,” Maker said.
Whatever. Back in the serene environs of Trackside by Wednesday morning, Maker was mulling future races for his Pimlico winners, along with those for the stalwart Zulu Alpha, whose 8-year-old debut can’t be too far away.
Last Judgment, owned by a four-way partnership, could race next in the July 2 Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows, Maker said.
Army Wife, owned by the Three Diamonds Farm of Kirk Wycoff, could go next in the Delaware Oaks on July 3, with the Alabama and Cotillion to possibly follow.
Special Reserve, owned by Paradise Farms and David Staudacher, might show up next in the Iowa Sprint on July 3 at Prairie Meadows. The 5-year-old gelding was claimed for $40,000 in February and, in true Maker fashion, has more than paid for himself in short order.
Somelikeithotbrown, the cleverly named New York-bred owned jointly by the Skychai Racing of Harvey Diamond and Jimmy Shircliff and the Sand Dollar Stable of David Koenig, is a prime candidate for the Wise Dan on June 26, closing day of the Churchill spring meet.
Maker is currently active on four fronts – Churchill, Belmont, Gulfstream, and Indiana Grand. At this time of year, he can most often be found at Trackside, which locals still call “The Spectrum,” a reference to its long-ago name, the Sports Spectrum. It’s where Zulu Alpha, a fan favorite who has earned $2.26 million in a 35-race career, is gearing back up for his return to action after having to miss the Breeders’ Cup Turf last fall with a minor ankle injury.
“He’s had four works now,” Maker said. “Saturday, he’ll have his first five-eighths work since we’ve gotten him back. Kentucky Downs is the main goal,” that being the $1 million Calumet Turf Cup on Sept. 11. “We’ll keep taking our time with him and whenever he tells us he’s ready we’ll look for a spot no matter where it is.”
Night card set for Saturday
A Saturday night card will be held under the Churchill lights for the first time since the April 24 opener when a pair of stakes for fillies and mares anchor an 11-race program.
Frank’s Rockette, first or second in all but one of 13 career starts, surely will be a solid favorite for trainer Bill Mott in the Grade 3, $150,000 Winning Colors, which was expected to have a short field. The $110,000 Keertana, an overnight race going 1 1/2 miles on turf, is the secondary feature. First post is 6 p.m. Eastern.
One other night card at the 38-day spring meet is set for June 12. Eight-race twilight cards (first post, 5 p.m.) are run every Thursday.