Arrifana Romps, Epic Idea Rallies for Maiden Victories
Links: Stronach 5 All Star Ticket, Free PPs
Rainbow 6 Carryover Jackpot Stands at $13,508 for Friday

LAUREL, MD – Alex G. Campbell Jr.’s King of Egypt, a homebred son of 2015 Triple Crown champion American Pharoah, made a triumphant race debut Thursday, shaking loose from a three-way duel up front and pulling away for a 1 ¼-length victory at Laurel Park.

A 2-year-old half-brother to Ultra Brat, a multiple graded-stakes winner on the turf, and Shootin the Breez, third in the James W. Murphy Stakes May 18 at Pimlico Race Course, King of Egypt ($12.60) ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:03.21 over a firm Bowl Game turf course.

The $40,000 main event was one of three maiden special weights on Laurel’s eight-race program and the only one restricted to 2-year-olds. With Jorge Vargas Jr. aboard for trainer Graham Motion, King of Egypt was the fourth choice in a wide-open field of six at odds of 5-1.

“It appeared to be a pretty salty group. He’s a colt we’ve always liked a lot. We followed him over the winter. He’s out of a good family,” Motion said by phone from Saratoga, where he had three horses entered, including King Zachary in the Birdstone Stakes.

“We really liked him in the winter,” he added. “Dr. [Barry] Eisaman had him in Ocala, and he felt like he was one of the better ones he had down there. And that speaks volumes, because he has a lot of nice horses.”

Out of the Storm Cat mare Prof. McGonagall, King of Egypt was broken at Eisaman’s 420-acre farm in Williston, Fla., near Ocala, before joining Motion’s string at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., where he had 10 works split over the dirt and synthetic surfaces since late April.

“I’ve got to be honest, I’ve been a little confused with his workouts in the morning,” Motion said. “He’s been pretty laid-back, and it’s been a little bit hard to gauge him in the morning so that’s kind of why I chose to run him at Laurel. I thought it would be throwing him in the deep end if I brought him up to Saratoga, but I was glad to see him run to the way we had hoped he would over the winter.”

Vargas and King of Egypt found themselves between horses as 6-5 favorite Chapalu on the inside and He’s Not Tapit to the outside were never more than heads apart for three furlongs, speeding through an opening quarter-mile in 22.78 seconds.

King of Egypt wrested a short lead from Chapalu once straightened for home and steadily edged clear, going five furlongs in 57.24 seconds. Chapalu was a clear second, 2 ¼ lengths ahead of House Arrest in third.

“He is pretty professional since the beginning. I’ve been on him for three or four works now, and he’s always been breaking good. It was such a short race for babies, so I just took advantage of it,” Vargas said. “I just let him break and he broke good and relaxed, and when I asked him the class was there. He does things pretty well. He’ll work fast if you want, he’ll slow it down if you need to. He’s pretty smart, that’s what I like about him.”

Motion was similarly impressed with King of Egypt given the way the race played out.

“I thought he was very brave and he kind of took the worst of it in that respect,” he said. “That’s a position I hate to be in, kind of dueling in between two horses. I think it’s very awkward for the horse, but I was very proud of him and impressed with him. He’s a gorgeous animal.”

King of Egypt was the second American Pharoah offspring to debut for Motion in the past week at Laurel. Bernadette the Jet, by Saint Bernadette, ran fourth in her unveiling July 26, also going 5 ½ furlongs on the grass.

“She’s fine. I really do feel like she handles the dirt,” Motion said. “She has more of dirt pedigree, perhaps. I just thought it would be a little kinder on her to start on the grass, but I will run her on the dirt next time. She’s by a dirt horse out of a dirt mare, where this American Pharoah is out of what’s mostly a turf family.”

Arrifana Romps, Epic Idea Rallies for Maiden Victories

Patience paid off for the connections of Gunpowder Farms’ homebred Arrifana, a sophomore daughter of two-time Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Curlin who romped to a popular 10-length victory in her career debut Thursday at Laurel.

Under a hand ride from jockey Julian Pimentel, Arrifana ($5.40) sailed past the wire in 1:23.95 for seven furlongs over a fast main track in the $40,000 maiden special weight for fillies and mares 3 and up.

Breaking from the far outside in a field of nine, Arrifana was unhurried early before coming with a sweeping move on the far outside around the turn and overpowering her rivals with little encouraging from Pimentel. Hunting Season, trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, was a distant second, with Accumulate third.

Arrifana is out of the undefeated A.P. Indy mare Vaulcluse, a winner of her only three career starts including the 2008 Suncoast Stakes in what would be her career finale.

“We honestly were [expecting that kind of effort],” winning trainer Kelly Rubley said. “We’ve been waiting a long time to get this filly to the races. We’ve had a few little issues where we’ve had to slow down but we knew she was worth the wait. [It was] nothing major, [she] just needed a little time here and there, and it was definitely the right thing to wait. She was growing a little too fast for what she needed.”

In Thursday’s first maiden special weight event, also for fillies and mares 3 and up, Vivian E. Rall-bred and owned Epic Idea ($18.60) sat behind a wicked early pace, reeled in pacesetting Awesome Exchange in mid-stretch and surged past for a one-length victory in Race 3.

Ridden by Trevor McCarthy for trainer Ann Merryman, Epic Idea ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:02.50 over a firm Exceller turf course layout. Awesome Exchange was a game second, with Alleria third and favored Confidently checking in fifth.

Epic Idea is a fourth generation winner whose family includes 1989 Maryland Hunt Cup winner Uncle Merlin. Rall also bred and owned Epic Idea’s mare, Calliope, a four-time winner of $108,089 in career purses.

“It’s all thanks to Ann. She’s the key,” Rall said. “It means a lot. I’m keeping the family going. Her great uncle was a Maryland Hunt Cup winner and her dam won four races and over $100,000. We got lucky.”

Links: Stronach 5 All Star Ticket, Free PPs

Friday’s Stronach 5 will offer a $100,000 pool guarantee and an industry-low 12 percent takeout while featuring races at Laurel Park and Gulfstream Park.

Laurel’s Stanton Salter and Gulfstream’s Ron Nicoletti have teamed to construct an All Star ticket for the increasingly popular national multi-race, multi-track wager.

All Star Ticket: Click here to view

The Stronach 5 will kick off with Laurel’s Races 8 and 9 before moving to Gulfstream for its Race 8, then cap the sequence with back-to-back turf events in Laurel’s Race 10 and Gulfstream’s Race 9.

Free Past Performances: Click here to view

The minimum bet for the Stronach 5 is $1 through Laurel Park’s mutuel pool. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

Notes: Summer meet-leading jockey Trevor McCarthy won back-to-back races Thursday aboard River Hawk ($23) in Race 2 and Epic Idea ($18.60) in Race 3 … No one selected all six winners in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 Thursday, growing the carryover jackpot to $13,508.22 for Friday’s 10-race card, which begins at 1:10 p.m. Tickets with five of six winners Thursday were worth $89.02. Friday’s sequence spans Races 5-10.