LAUREL, MD. 09-05-14---After a 12-week break, live racing returned to the major Maryland tracks with the opening of the Laurel Park fall meeting.

Gary Capuano saddled a pair of winners, taking the opener with Rumblin Kyle ($4.60) and the finale with Flyingtobechilders ($48.40), who nipped Drunken Love at the wire.

“It is good to be home. It has been a long summer,” Capuano said. “This last one (Flyingtobechilders) had been off more than a year. We got a race into him at Timonium, he ran well (fourth place finish on Aug. 30) and so we wheeled him right back into this spot and he ran a big race.”

Forest Boyce was aboard the winner.

“I thought I had a shot because he was sitting in a perfect spot,” Boyce said. “I didn’t know if we would win but we would be right there. Drunken Love is a nice horse. My horse was just game.”

The nine-race card featured four $42,000 allowance races for fillies and mares on the turf course. Paddle Board ($6.60-third) and Turf Craze ($12.80-seventh) were victorious in the 5 ½ furlong sprints, while Giant Shadow ($8.20-fifth) and Easton Arch ($6.80-eighth) proved to be the best in the 1 1/16 mile tests.

Racing will take place four days a week through December 31 on a Wednesday through Saturday schedule, holidays excluded.

Saturday’s 10-race program features four stakes races: the $125,000 All Brandy Stakes (race 4), the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes (race 6), the $100,000 Dave’s Friend Stakes (race 8) and the $100,000 Japan Racing Association Stakes (race 9).

MICHAEL RITVO JOINS JOCKEY COLONY

Promising apprentice Michael Ritvo, the leading bug rider at Gulfstream Park, has moved his tack to the mid-Atlantic. The 20-year-old plans to ride at Laurel Park, Delaware Park, Parx Racing and Penn National during the fall and winter months.

“The big boys are returning to Gulfstream and there is so much more opportunity up here to ride six or seven days and nights,” Ritvo said. “I am excited to show everyone what I got. The plan is to ride mostly at Delaware until the meet ends (October 22) to get my name out there and then focus on Laurel.”

Last year, Victor Carrasco became the 10^th Maryland-based apprentice rider to earn the Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice joining Chris McCarron (1974), Ronnie Franklin (1978), Alberto Delgado (1982), Allen Stacy (1986), Kent Desormeaux (1987), Mike Luzzi (1989), Mark Johnston (1990), Jeremy Rose (2001) and Ryan Fogelsonger (2002).

“You see all the high-caliber riders that have come out of here and that excites me,” added Ritvo. “The trainers are very friendly to the bug which gives young riders so many opportunities to succeed.”

Ritvo’s racing pedigree is impressive. His father Tim is a former jockey (1983-89) and trainer (1996-2010), who now serves as president of Gulfstream Park. His mother, Kathy, trained recently retired Mucho Macho Man, the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) champion.

“Everyone thinks this was something I always wanted to do my whole life but it wasn’t,” Ritvo said. “I liked different sports growing up and wasn’t fixed on being a rider. That changed during my junior year of high school and then my senior year it was really something I wanted to do, so two days after graduating I got on a plane to Philly to learn how to ride from my uncle (trainer Mike Petro). Then I headed down to Ocala to break babies for a year.”

Ritvo is expected to make his Laurel debut aboard Segovia in Wednesday’s fifth race. He will be riding with the weight allowance until June 7, 2015.

About Laurel Park
Laurel Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida and is one of North America's top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world's largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is also a major producer of televised horse racing programming through its HRTV cable and satellite network and is North America's premier supplier of virtual online horse racing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.