Hall of Famer Leatherbury Closing in on 6,500th Career Victory
Hall of Famer Leatherbury Closing in on 6,500th Career Victory
G2 Winner Still Having Fun Pointing to G1 Allen Jerkens at Saratoga
Rocky Policy Seeks First ‘Home’ Turf Win in Saturday Allowance
Full Fields, Rainbow 6 Carryover for Return of Live Racing Friday
Prominent Sires Represented in Friday Maiden Special Weight
LAUREL, MD – Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Terp Racing’s Grade 2 winner Still Having Fun, based at Laurel Park with trainer Tim Keefe, is scheduled to make his next start in the seven-furlong H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) Aug. 25 at Saratoga Race Course.
After giving consideration to both the one-mile Dwyer (G2) July 7 at Belmont Park and the 6 ½-furlong Amsterdam (G2) July 28 at Saratoga, his connections opted to give Still Having Fun a brief freshening and point for the $500,000 Jerkens, previously run as the King’s Bishop.
“We decided to skip the Amsterdam and I didn’t want to go as far as a mile in the Dwyer,” Keefe said. “The horse has been consistently running every month since he started last November, so we thought it would be a good time to just back off slightly and get him freshened and ready for the race at Saratoga.”
Still Having Fun, a 3-year-old bay son of Old Fashioned, rallied from ninth in a 10-horse field to win the seven-furlong Woody Stephens (G2) June 9 at Belmont, on the eve of the Belmont Stakes (G1). It was the first career graded win for Keefe and his colt, who opened 2018 with victories in the Frank Whiteley Jr. and Miracle Wood over the winter at Laurel.
“He’s doing great right now,” Keefe said. “He came out of the last race super. He still goes out six days a week, je just does a lot more jogging. It’s a little bit more relaxing. I haven’t breezed him since the race; I may do something maybe this weekend or next weekend with him. I’ll kind of let him tell me.
“It’s a balancing act between getting him fresh and giving him some easy time,” he added. “We’ve got a couple spots we’re looking at for him if everything goes well at Saratoga, [so] we’re not doing a lot of speed work with him, just basic galloping and jogging, that sort of thing, to keep his mind going.”
Keefe earned his 500th career victory July 7 at Laurel with runaway maiden winner Ticker Tape Parade. He has never won a race at Saratoga, but did finish third by a length and a head with 22-1 long shot Strike Zone in a 1 1/8-mile turf claimer on Aug. 25, 2001 – one race after eventual Horse of the Year Point Given’s victory in the Travers.
“I’ve run before at Saratoga but I’ve never really done anything before,” Keefe said. “I really haven’t had a lot of horses that really warranted going up there to run, but this horse certainly looks like this will be a good spot for him.”
Hall of Famer Leatherbury Closing in on 6,500th Career Victory
Hall of Fame horseman King Leatherbury will reach the 6,500 mark with his next victory, which could come as soon as Saturday at Laurel Park.
Leatherbury, 85, has Norman Lewis’ Chateau de Vizille entered in Race 8, a second-level $42,000 allowance for 3-year-olds and up scheduled for 1 1/16 miles over the Exceller turf course. Co-highweighted at 124 pounds, the 6-year-old Jazil gelding drew Post 8 in a field of 11.
“We’ve got a live horse in Saturday, in a good spot. We had him in [Wednesday] at Parx because he’s Pennsylvania-bred and the owner, who also bred the horse, wanted to run him up there. With all the bonuses I don’t blame him,” Leatherbury said. “We went up there, it started raining and they took it off the turf. I was happy because when I get to 6,500 I’d like it to be in Maryland.”
Best known for his work with Ben’s Cat, the late Mid-Atlantic legend he bred, owned and trained to 32 wins, 26 in stakes, more than $2.6 million in purse earnings and four Maryland-bred Horse of the Year titles from 2010-17, Leatherbury’s stable is down to 11 horses.
He has four wins and a third from 11 starters at Laurel’s current summer meet, his last victory also coming with Chateau de Vizille July 1. For the year, Leatherbury has won seven races and $181,285 in purses from 45 starters.
“The next win will probably be the last milestone I hit,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll ever get to 7,000 but I’ve had a lot of wins and I’m proud of that.”
A winner of 26 training titles apiece at Laurel and legendary Pimlico Race Course, Leatherbury won at least 200 races for 11 straight years from 1974 through 1984, leading all American trainers in victories in 1976 and 1977. He won at least 100 races 26 consecutive years (1972-97) and topped $1 million in annual earnings 32 times, including a streak from 1974 to 1999.
Leatherbury ranks fifth all-time with 6,499 wins, trailing only Dale Baird (9,445) and fellow Hall of Famers Steve Asmussen (8,095), Jerry Hollendorfer (7,475) and Jack Van Berg (6,523). Closest to Leatherbury is Maryland regular Scott Lake at 5,926.
“I’m kind of just hanging on. What did General [Douglas] MacArthur say, ‘Old soldiers never die, they just fade away?’ I’m just kind of fading away, but I’m hanging in there,” Leatherbury said. “The lucky part is I’m still healthy and I’m definitely happy to say that. I’m going as long as I can and try to keep winning races.”
Rocky Policy Seeks First ‘Home’ Turf Win in Saturday Allowance
Richard Vermillion’s multiple stakes-placed Maryland-bred Rocky Policy will be going after the first win over her home turf course in Saturday’s featured third race, a third-level $50,000 optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and older on the Bowl Game layout.
Trained by Laurel-based Dale Capuano, a career winner of 3,373 races, 6-year-old mare Rocky Policy drew the far outside in a field of six and will be ridden by Forest Boyce.
“She likes to stalk, and it looks like there should be enough speed so she can do that,” Capuano said. “Hopefully she breaks well and gets a good trip and we’ll see what happens.”
Rocky Policy has run five times on the Laurel grass with one second and one third. Making her 26th career start, she owns four wins including a maiden triumph on the Laurel dirt in September 2014 for previous trainer Robert Leaf Jr.
She has placed in three stakes – the 2014 Maryland Million Lassie (second), 2017 Sensible Lady (third) and most recently in the Penn Ladies Dash (second) June 2.
“She’s doing well. She always trains well and we’re glad to have a race for her to run in here,” Capuano said. “It’s much better to be running at home.
Full Fields, Rainbow 6 Carryover for Return of Live Racing Friday
Full fields and a 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot carryover of $7,292.31 will greet bettors when live racing returns to Laurel with a 10-race card Friday, July 20.
First race post time is 1:10 p.m.
A total of 99 horses were entered, an average of 9.9 starters per race. There are five races scheduled for Laurel’s world-class turf course on the Bowl Game and Exceller layouts, which attracted a total of 57 entries, an average of 11.4 starters per race.
Highlighting the program is a $40,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies going 5 ½ furlongs on the Bowl Game in Race 3 where Sexyama, a daughter of two-time graded-stakes winner Cairo Prince, is the 5-2 program favorite. It will be her third career start and second since joining Laurel trainer Jeremiah O’ Dwyer.
Also in the field are first-time starters Varenka – by 2004 Horse of the Year and 2012 Hall of Famer Ghostzapper – Elsa and Melodrama, by Kentucky Derby winners Animal Kingdom (2011) and Orb (2013), respectively. Other sires represented are Grade 1 winners Hot Trick of Japan, Sydney’s Candy and Warrior’s Reward and multiple graded-stakes winners Friesan Fire and Kantharos.
The Rainbow 6 will span Races 5-10 and includes a $35,000 entry-level allowance for Maryland-bred/sired horses at 5 ½ furlongs in Race 9. Five-time winner Pete’s Play Call, trained by Robertino Diodoro for M and M Racing, is the 3-5 program favorite.
Saturday’s 11-race program at Laurel saw 95 horses entered in 11 races, an average of 8.6 starters per race. Seven turf races are scheduled with 67 entries, an average of 9.5 horses per race including a $50,000 optional claiming allowance in Race 3, a $40,000 maiden special weight for 3-year-olds in Race 6, a $42,000 allowance in Race 8 and $45,000 optional claiming allowance in Race 9.
