Ireland Native Reaches Milestone with 4YO Gelding Mosler Time
LAUREL, MD – Durr Racing Stable and Shawn Newsome’s 4-year-old gelding Mosler Time, making just his second lifetime start and first with blinkers, collared pacesetter Second Wave at the top of the stretch and powered home an easy winner to give trainer Cal Lynch his 1,000th career victory in Saturday’s finale at Laurel Park.
Ridden by Carlos Lopez, Maryland-bred Mosler Time ($10.80) covered six furlongs over a fast main track in 1:12.25 to win the claiming event for maidens 4 and 5 years old by three lengths. It was Lynch’s lone starter of the day, coming one day after jockey Forest Boyce rode her 1,000th winner at Laurel.
“I’m delighted for everybody that’s helped get to this point. It’s all about the team,” he said. “A thousand winners, a lot of people helped get there. A lot of owners and horses in 30-odd years of doing this. It’s my name on there but it’s because everybody did their part. We’re delighted.”
Unraced at 2, Mosler Time was making his first start since finishing sixth against older horses in a seven-furlong maiden special weight Dec. 17 at Laurel. Based with Lynch’s string at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., Mosler Time stalked Second Wave through splits of 22.94 and 46.82 seconds before pouncing while leaving the far turn and opening up once straightened for home.
“Carlos gave him a great ride. We talked about it yesterday. There was a lot of speed in there, we would sit and make one run,” Lynch said. “He’s only learning, that horse. He was a little green first time out and I think the drop helped a little bit. He rode him with a lot of confidence and the horse responded with the blinkers on.”
Lynch, 49, came to the U.S. in 1996 from Northern Ireland at the age of 19 after gaining experience training off his father’s farm. His younger brother, former English apprentice champion Feargal, rides on the Maryland circuit.
According to Equibase statistics, Lynch’s first training win came with Aneissa Chocolate April 11, 1997 at old Garden State Park in New Jersey, winning his first stakes with Holiest Punch in the 2001 Bold Josh Handicap at The Meadowlands. He spent 12 years based at Parx before relocating to Maryland in 2016.
Lynch has won the first of his three graded-stakes with Javerre in the 2013 General George (G3) at Laurel. The other two came in the 2017 Jerome (G3) and Withers (G3) with El Areeb, who missed the Triple Crown series after suffering a knee fracture after running third in the Gotham (G3).
Other top horses campaigned by Lynch include multiple stakes winners Recruiter, Buy the Best, No Cents, Miss J McKay, Francatelli, Lil Kiara and Never Gone South, Grade 2-placed Daring Reality and 17-time winner Flat Out Flying.
Lynch set career highs with 79 wins in 2014 and $2.3 million in purses earned in 2022, and has topped the $1 million mark in season earnings 16 consecutive years. His younger son, Anthony, works as his assistant while his older son, Charlie, assists trainer Brendan Walsh, currently based in South Florida.
“We’re not done yet. I’ll [look back] that when we’re sitting on a beach in Florida in like 20 more years. Right now, we’ll enjoy today,” Lynch said. “I just got back from the barn doing the feed. We’ll be back out there tomorrow morning and the day I don’t want to do that, that’s the day I’ll start looking back. We have a lot of really nice young horses coming in and a good barn full of horses here. I’m very, very lucky to be able to do this every day.”
Notes: Jockey Victor Carrasco rode back-to-back winners Saturday aboard Spoils of War ($7.20) in Race 2 and Honey B B ($9.60) in Race 3 … There will be carryovers of $4.160.78 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (Races 5-10) and $1,463.47 in the $1 Jackpot Super High Five (Race 6) for Sunday’s program. Post time is 12:25 p.m.