Lynch Registers First Career Win in FEGENTRI Amateur Race

LAUREL, MD – Philmor Racing Stable’s Bustoff extended his win streak to five races, taking the lead with two furlongs to run and dug in tenaciously to hold off Absolved down the stretch for a head victory in Sunday’s featured sixth race at Laurel Park.

Ridden by Sheldon Russell for trainer Hugh McMahon, 4-year-old Bustoff ($7.80) ran one mile in 1:36.47 over a fast main track in the $42,000 entry level allowance for 3-year-olds and up.

It was the sixth career win in 18 starts for the gelded Maryland-bred son of Grade 1-winning millionaire Haynesfield, all coming at Laurel, his streak dating back to a claiming triumph May 2 and including a neck score last out Aug. 18, also under Rusell.

“Last time, he hadn’t ben a mile for a while and we got pretty much of a hot pace and he was able to wear down the [leader], and I sort of had the same setup today,” Russell said. “He’s a cool horse.”

Claimed three times since March, Bustoff was sent off as the favorite in a field of 10 and sat in a stalking position outside of Marco Island, who set fractions of 23.87 and 46.97 seconds. Bustoff forged a half-length lead after six furlongs in 1:11.89 and was set down for a drive to the wire, turning back Absolved after the 20-1 long shot drew alongside inside the sixteenth pole.

Absolved was a clear second, 1 ¾ lengths ahead of Marco Island. Bustoff, out of the Ghostzapper mare Grecian Maiden is now three-for-seven at the one-mile distance.

“I just got him into a comfortable rhythm. Clearing the chute down on the backside, he was just galloping,” Russell said. “At the top of the stretch he sort of inherited the lead and he was going easy. It was just a matter of whether they were going to come to us or not, but luckily enough he got into his stride and he battled really hard to the wire.”

Lynch Registers First Career Win in FEGENTRI Amateur Race

Maryland native Talie Lynch became a winner in her first race as an amateur, guiding Michael Schmidt’s 3-year-old gelding Multiple to a three-length victory in Sunday’s third race, the Longines FEGENTRI Championship.

Multiple ($12.60), trained by Bob Klesaris, ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.73 over a firm Kelso turf course in the $22,000 maiden claiming event for 3-year-olds and up.

Lynch, a former Laurel Park-based assistant to trainer Jeremiah Englehart who now works for trainer Wayne Potts, hustled Multiple to an early lead from their rail post through a quarter-mile in 24.22 seconds, yielding the top spot to Voodoo Valley after a 49.18 half. Lynch tipped Multiple outside in upper stretch, re-established their position in front and drew clear.

“It was really good. I noticed at the three-eighths pole that I was just sitting behind and I had so much horse, so I just decided at the quarter pole to kind of take him wide and let him finish up,” Lynch said. Right when I got to the other horses he kind of hesitated for a second and then he just went on with it.”

Lynch began galloping horses while at Walter Johnson High School in Montgomery County and continued while pursuing a nursing degree, first at Towson University and then at Shepherd University in West Virginia.

She worked for trainers Graham Motion at Fair Hill and Brendan Walsh in Florida, eventually hooking on as the top exercise rider and assistant for Englehart’s local string, overseeing 29 horses during the winter. Lynch spent the summer with Englehart in Saratoga before hooking on with Potts, and was unsure whether she would pursue a pro riding career.

“Maybe,” she said. “I don’t know yet.”

FEGENTRI, the International Federation of Gentlemen and Lady Riders, was founded in 1955 by a handful of enthusiastic amateur riders from France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland, and today membership consists of 25 different nations. FEGENTRI’s main purpose is to promote international races for amateur riders.