by Phil Janack/Maryland Jockey Club|08.11.2022|4:29pm Steve Newby, Dale Capuano Continuing Decades-Long Success Story With Back-To-Back Stakes Winners In an association that has touched parts of five decades, Steve Newby and Dale Capuano are still going strong – maybe stronger than ever. On back-to-back weekends at Laurel Park, the owner and trainer found themselves in the winner’s circle after 5-year-old gelding Justwaveandsmile won the $75,000 Ben’s Cat July 30 and 3-year-old gelding Vance […]
by Phil Janack/Maryland Jockey Club|07.21.2022|2:55pm ‘Maybe We Just Got Lucky’: $15,000 Uncle Mo Colt Wins For Fun At Laurel It took some time to get Mo Money Mo Honey to the races, but no time at all for the offers to start coming in following the 3-year-old Uncle Mo colt’s impressive debut victory July 16 at Laurel Park. Owned by R.J. Bristle of Metropolitan Thoroughbreds and Robin Doser, Mo Money Mo Honey romped by […]
by Phil Janack/Maryland Jockey Club|05.18.2022|10:51am ‘I Think of Him Every Race’: Luna Belle Carries Late Breeder’s Legacy To Black-Eyed Susan Of all the pictures on Deborah Greene’s phone, there’s one that holds the most special of meanings. Taken in the spring of 2019 it shows her father, then 92, gently holding the lead while standing over one of his newest foals, a three-week-old bay filly. The foal’s mare stands protectively behind them. The photo represents […]
by Phil Janack/Maryland Jockey Club|10.20.2021|12:27pm Merryman Family Tradition Still Going Strong In Maryland Million There was a time, not long ago, when Michael Merryman considered making his living at something other than the family business. At first, he followed his dream to become a major league pitcher before that gave way to more practical pursuits like architecture or engineering. Eventually, the lure of a life he had always known […]
by Phil Janack/Maryland Jockey Club|09.07.202109.08.2021|5:26pm11:43am Teen Phenom: How A High School Student Has Become Maryland’s Leading Rider Idle time is something rare for Charlie Marquez these days. When the teenage riding sensation somehow managed a three-hour break between mounts over closing weekend of historic Pimlico Race Course’s Preakness Meet, he took the opportunity to shut off his cell phone and turn off his mind. The respite was short-lived. Maryland Jockey Club clerk […]
by Phil Janack/Maryland Jockey Club|03.18.202103.18.2021|12:46pm10:03pm After ‘Three-Plus Years Of Twists And Turns,’ Exculpatory Delivers Emotional Maiden Victory Grace Merryman wasn’t born when the Grateful Dead released its hit single Truckin’ in 1970 but, boy, can she relate. Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me Other times, I can barely see Lately, it occurs to me What a long, strange trip it’s been When it comes to her 3-year-old homebred colt Exculpatory, a […]
by Phil Janack/Maryland Jockey Club|02.08.2021|12:42pm No ‘Kid’ding: Dontletsweetfoolya More Settled Alongside Goat Friend Entering Barbara Fritchie There’s a scene in the 2003 motion picture ‘Seabiscuit’ where trainer Tom Smith cradles a goat in his arms as he walks along the road on owner Charles Howard’s California ranch leading to the stable where the movie’s cantankerous main character has been keeping his connections on their toes. “Goat racing?” Howard, played by actor […]
by Phil Janack/Maryland Jockey Club|05.15.202005.16.2020|1:33pm11:49am Delayed Preakness Hearkens Back To 1945 Upset By Polynesian From the Alibi Breakfast to the blanket of handmade Black-Eyed Susans to the painting of the infield cupola’s weathervane in the colors of its winner, the Preakness Stakes is an event that revels in tradition. First run in 1873 it is the second-oldest of the three Triple Crown races, predating the Kentucky Derby by two […]
by Phil Janack/Maryland Jockey Club|05.14.202005.14.2020|12:35pm5:59pm Baffert Looks Back At Silver Charm’s Thriller Of A Preakness Finish “Final furlong, Free House by a head … Silver Charm, Captain Bodgit, Touch Gold … Free House and Silver Charm head to head … They’re in very close quarters, shoulder-to-shoulder, head-to-head, nose-to-nose … Free House, Silver Charm, Captain Bodgit … And it’s close! Could be Silver Charm, in between Free House and Captain Bodgit in […]
by Phil Janack/Maryland Jockey Club|10.14.201910.14.2019|1:41pm11:21pm ‘The Crab Is In’: Maryland-Based Trainer Smith Approaching 2,000-Win Milestone A weathered sign hangs from twisted wire on the green-painted office door of trainer Hamilton Smith’s barn at Laurel Park, aged by years of hot sun and harsh winters. Greeting visitors is the unblinking stare of a faded crustacean, holding a message in its claws. “The Crab Is In.” Don’t be fooled by the message, […]