Speedyness digs in to outlast rivals in Miracle Wood

Speedyness overcame race-long pace pressure on Saturday to win Laurel Park’s Miracle Wood run at a one-turn mile.

The Miracle Wood was one of two $100,000 stakes on the card for 3-year-olds, along with the Wide Country for fillies at seven furlongs.

Trained by Jamie Ness, Speedyness broke well, but not as quickly as multiple stakes-winner Sweet Soddy J. Nonetheless, jockey Jaime Rodriguez refused to concede inside position, and Speedyness rode the rail while battling Sweet Soddy J through an opening split of 24.03 seconds.

Point Dume joined the fray with a three-wide bid after an opening half of 47.68, and it appeared that both Point Dume and Sweet Soddy J would soften up Speedyness enough for the closers to benefit from the long stretch at Laurel.

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Instead, Rodriguez cut the corner and put distance between Speedyness and his two pace challengers after six furlongs in 1:13.31. Point Dume attempted to re-rally outside with Circle P kicking widest, but Speedyness always found just a bit more.

He polished off the mile in 1:39.95 while 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Point Dume. Circle P was third, a half-length behind the runner-up.

Completing the order of finish were Startswithadream, Sweet Soddy J, Regalo, and Cool in Blue. Formal Affair, Copper Tax, Cap Com, and Had to Have Him scratched.

Speedyness paid $3.60 to win as the chalk.

A gelded son of Great Notion, Speedyness is a homebred owned by Jagger Inc. and Morris Kernan, Jr. He is a half-brother to stakes-placed runners Starry Moon and Royal Number out of multiple stakes-winner Hartigan, a mare by Include.

Speedyness won his debut traveling 4 ½ furlongs at Laurel on June 16, and Ness believed he had a horse with distance limitations on his hands.

“He came across as a stone-cold sprinter when he was young,” Ness told Daily Racing Form earlier this week. “Ever since I put blinkers on and stretched him out, he’s been a different horse.”

Speedyness has won four of five starts since adding blinkers and is now unbeaten from three tries at the one-turn mile. He raced that distance for the first time Nov. 17 when entered for a $62,500 claiming option, and devastated nine other juveniles, winning by 7 1/4 lengths in 1:38.27.

Fifteen days later, he turned back to seven furlongs and placed third in the Maryland Juvenile, a race won by Circle P. Speedyness prepped for the Miracle Wood with a 14 1/4-length win in a first-level allowance over muddy footing Jan. 7.

Still, there were questions surrounding the gelding’s ability to conquer the distance while facing early pressure. In his prior two wins at a mile, he was never challenged for early supremacy.

“I was a little bit insecure because he was going to have a bit of pressure today,” Rodriguez said in a post-race interview conducted by the Maryland Jockey Club. “I was a little bit worried turning for home. Once I asked him, he just dug in and kept going.”

Speedyness has won five of nine starts for lifetime earnings of $221,200.

Miss Harriett takes Wide Country

Rodriguez swept both stakes when Miss Harriett earned a front-running triumph in the Wide Country.

Trained by Brandon McFarlane, the 3-year-old daughter of Blofeld jumped well from the starting blocks and set fractions of 23.46 and 47.44 seconds, while pressured by Maryland Juvenile Filly winner Kissedbyanangel.

That foe began lugging out on the turn, and Roanan Goddess, the recent winner of Laurel’s Xtra Heat, took the first shot at Miss Harriett with a three-wide bid.

Roanan Goddess soon flattened out, but stakes-placed Determined Driver loomed a danger after parlaying an inside-out pocket journey into a contending position in upper stretch.

Determined Driver did her best, but Miss Harriett still had more in the tank, and she streaked under the line three-quarters of a length better than Determined Driver in 1:26.14. Roanan Goddess was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third.

Then came Perfectly Wicked, Shamans Girl, and Kissedbyanangel. Photo Finish scratched.

Miss Harriett returned $5 to win as the betting favorite.

McFarlane expressed confidence in Miss Harriett earlier this week when he told Daily Racing Form that “she’s still a little baby, but I’ve noticed in the last week, the light switch went off in her head.”

Foaled in Maryland, Miss Harriett is a homebred owned by David Baxter’s Narrow Leaf Farm. She made an auspicious debut when winning her debut at 62-1 odds in the Maryland Million Lassie at Laurel Oct. 14. The filly returned four weeks later to place fifth in her 2-year-old finale, the open Smart Halo. Both of those races were at six furlongs.

Given two months to regroup, Miss Harriett won her first start of 2024 when dominating an open first-level allowance group at 5 1/2 furlongs by seven lengths with a career-best 73 Beyer Speed Figure.

“The layoff really helped her a lot,” McFarlane said in a winner’s circle interview broadcast by the Maryland Jockey Club. “She was dealing with a little injury, but this layoff, she came back a good horse.”

Miss Harriett is the fourth blacktype earner produced by Tejano Sea, a winning mare by Sea of Secrets. Tejano Sea has also produced stakes-winner Keep Momma Happy, who won the Maryland Million Nursery at 23-1 as a first-time starter in 2012, stakes-placed sprinter In Arrears, and Grade 3-placed sprinter Hemp. Miss Harriett has earned $151,810 from her four outings.

McFarlane credits exercise rider Catie Keil for much of Miss Harriett’s development and believes that Miss Harriett will continue sprinting.

“I think she’s all sprinter. I’ve trained seven [of her siblings]. They’re all sprinters.”

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