Special Reserve sharp for Maryland Sprint
Special Reserve looms a strong contender in Saturday’s Grade 3 Maryland Sprint for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs. The Maryland Sprint is a part of the MATCH (Mid-Atlantic Championships) series, which comprises 24 stakes in Maryland and Virginia in 2021.
Trainer Michael Maker claimed Special Reserve for $40,000 at Oaklawn in February, and Special Reserve paid back his claim price and then some by winning an allowance at Oaklawn in March in his first start for Maker.
“The purses and conditions at Oaklawn were good,” Maker said. “If you spend that amount of money and come back and win the same condition – which he did – you come out ahead.”
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Maker hiked Special Reserve up in class for his second start following the claim, and the gelding rewarded his confidence with a runner-up effort behind Flagstaff in the Grade 3 Commonwealth at Keeneland. Flagstaff returned from that race to win the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes and has established himself as one of the premier sprinters in the country.
“I was very impressed,” said Maker. “It was a little suspect stretching him out to seven-eighths, but he ran his race and didn’t embarrass himself.”
Special Reserve was the Commonwealth pacesetter, but he has won from off the lead. Maker said Special Reserve will be “in the thick of things” in the Maryland Sprint, but said he’ll leave race tactics to jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.
The Maryland-bred Laki tries to win his second graded stakes in the Maryland Sprint. He became trainer Damon Dilodovico’s first graded stakes winner when he captured the Grade 3 De Francis Memorial at Pimlico on Oct. 3. After four consecutive losses, Laki returned to the winner’s circle after last month’s Frank Whiteley Stakes over the Maryland Sprint course and distance.
“He had a nice little gallop today and seems to be feeling good,” Dilodovico said Wednesday morning.
Laki drew post 1, which has Dilodovico concerned, even though Laki has won from the rail before.
“We’re going to have to be forward,” Dilodovico said. “He has had success from the inside but in smaller fields than this. Hopefully, the track is playing fair and we get a good break and some position early on.”
Eight-time winner Yodel E. A. Who was claimed by trainer Brittany Russell for $62,500 on Jan. 10. Third for an $80,000 tag at Belmont two weeks ago, Yodel E. A. Who earned a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure in that race.
“He seems like he’s consistent and runs every time,” Russell said about the decision to claim the gelding. “He looks like he has some options, and if he can move forward a touch, he should be able to run with horses in stakes races.”
Strike Power could be the speed of the speed in the Maryland Sprint. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Strike Power earned a triple-digit Beyer at Oaklawn two starts back before finishing a tired fourth when tackling top sprinters C Z Rocket and Whitmore in the Grade 3 Count Fleet at Oaklawn.
Breezy Gust, Threes Over Deuces, Mucho, Frosted Grace, Lebda, Seven Nation Army, and War Tocsin complete the field.
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Skipat Stakes
French Empire seeks her fifth consecutive victory when she faces stakes company for the first time in the $100,000 Skipat for fillies and mares at six furlongs.
Trained and part-owned by Cipriano Contreras for her last five starts, French Empire makes her first start for Brad Cox.
“I picked her up the first of April,” Cox said. “I’ve had her enough to really like her. She works really well. She trains the part. She’s given me a lot of confidence.”
Contreras claimed French Empire for $20,000 at Churchill in September. She finished second going a mile at Churchill last November in her first start for Contreras, and has reeled off four wins since, all in sprints.
French Empire rallied from off the pace in those four wins – two in Turfway allowance races and two in Oaklawn allowance races – and would appreciate fair fractions up front in the Skipat.
Chub Wagon and Dontletsweetfoolya are certain to show speed in the Skipat.
Chub Wagon, the 8-5 morning-line favorite, has won all five of her starts. Based at Parx with Guadalupe Preciado, she was ridden out to a 7 1/2-length victory in the Unique Bella Stakes there on April 27. In her only start away from Parx, she won an allowance sprint at Aqueduct on April 2 with a 99 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest Beyer in the Skipat field.
Dontletsweetfoolya won five straight last year. She was caught up in a wicked pace battle with odds-on Hello Beautiful that left both gasping at the end of the Barbara Fritchie at Laurel on Feb. 20. Dontletsweetfoolya ended up seventh in that seven-furlong race, beaten 12 lengths.
Dontletsweetfoolya was one of the horses affected by the equine herpesvirus and racetrack maintenance issues that plagued the Laurel Park backstretch earlier this year.
“She did end up testing positive for herpes and got 21 days on the farm,” said trainer Lacey Gaudet. “Then, with the changes with the racetrack at Laurel, we have since relocated to Delaware Park.”
Dontletsweetfoolya breezed five furlongs in 1:01 at Delaware last Sunday.
“As far as training-wise, she’s doing as good as always,” Gaudet said. “Her first work back was a little bit slow getting over this racetrack at Delaware, but I’m finding a trend that they’re all doing that. We worked her last Sunday and she put in an absolute incredible work. The time was much more up to her standards and visually it was really impressive.”
Never Enough Time won the Skipat last year when it was contested during the fall and will make her seasonal debut in the race on Saturday.
Never Enough Time ended last year with three straight losses in sprint stakes at Belmont and Laurel.
“She’s training really well,” trainer Michael Trombetta said. “We gave her some time off over the winter and we’re gearing her back up for spring. I didn’t know if she would be ready, but her last workout was exceptionally good. Based on that, I told the owner that if she had a good week, I want to run her.”
Trainer Steve Asmussen sends up Casual from Oaklawn following a second in the Spring Fever and a third in the Carousel there. She would benefit from a swift pace up front.
Completing the lineup are Club Car, third in the Fritchie, and stakes-placed Call On Mischief.