Juvenile Colt Lugamo Impresses in Friday Maiden Triumph
Juvenile Colt Lugamo Impresses in Friday Maiden Triumph
Stablemates Cordmaker, Bunting Breeze Friday for Maryland Million
LAUREL, MD – Lugamo Racing Stable’s eponymous 2-year-old colt Lugamo, second to runaway debut winner Jaxon Traveler last month, was impressive in his own right with a similarly successful performance Friday at Laurel Park.
Lugamo ($6) ran seven furlongs in 1:25.18 over a fast main track to win the maiden special weight for juveniles by six lengths under jockey Angel Cruz. Eric’s Empire passed tiring horses for second, 4 ¾ lengths ahead of late-running Flight Map in third.
“He’s doing really, really good,” trainer Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon said of the winner. “I thought he was going to run big, but maybe not that big. I was a little concerned about the distance, but he proved he can go a little long now
One of two in the race for Sanchez-Salomon, who has won with four of 13 2-year-old starters (30.7 percent) over the past two years, Lugamo is a Florida-bred son of 2014 Sunland Derby (G3) winner Chitu out of the stakes-placed Service Stripe mare Shegoestoeleven.
In his previous start, Lugamo outfinished Speightster Red by a nose for second at odds of 41-1 behind Jaxon Traveler, a 10-length maiden special weight winner Sept. 25 at Pimlico Race Course for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.
Speighster Red had the early advantage Friday, running a quarter-mile in 23.05 seconds pressed on his right hip by Lugamo with Scottsdale, a half-brother to multiple Grade 1 winner The Factor, racing in the clear in third. Lugamo swept to the lead after running a half in 46.79, edged clear approaching the stretch and opened up through the lane as the 2-1 favorite in a field of six.
“He was keeping himself pretty much in really good shape and he didn’t need another work. It’s only been two weeks since he ran,” Sanchez-Salomon said. “He’s got a lot of talent and he’s very confident in himself.”
In Friday’s other maiden special weight, Chiefswood Stables Limited’s Pilot Episode ($2.80), a homebred daughter of champion sprinter Speightstown, was a popular winner over fellow fillies and mares 3 and up, romping by 17 lengths in front-running fashion for the team of jockey Forest Boyce and Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, who have clicked at 33 percent in Maryland over the past two years.
Stablemates Cordmaker, Bunting Breeze Friday for Maryland Million
Rodney Jenkins-trained stablemates Cordmaker and Bunting, both owned by Ellen Charles’ Hillwood Stable, turned in sharp breezes Friday over Laurel Park’s main track ahead of possible starts in the 35th Jim McKay Maryland Million Saturday, Oct. 24.
Cordmaker, bred in Maryland by Katy Voss and the late Bob Manfuso, went five furlongs in 1:00.60, the fastest of four horses at the distance. Though winless in five 2020 starts, the gelded 5-year-old son of Hall of Famer Curlin is a multiple stakes winner and finished second in the Deputed Testamony and third in the Pimlico Special (G3) his last two tries, both behind Harpers First Ride.
Both Cordmaker and Harpers First Ride were pre-entered Wednesday in the $150,000 Classic for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles, the richest race on the Maryland Million program.
Bunting, bred and owned by Hillwood, was pre-entered in the $100,000 Distaff, a handicap for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting seven furlongs. A 4-year-old daughter of 2014 General George (G3) winner Bandbox and runner-up in the 2019 Miss Disco at Laurel, Bunting breezed four furlongs in a bullet 47.40 seconds, fastest of 10 horses.
Also on Friday’s worktab was Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Terp Racing’s Grade 2 winner Still Having Fun, who went a half-mile in 49.20 seconds. It was the second work for the 5-year-old Maryland-bred son of Old Fashioned since returning from a freshening following his sixth-place finish in the Carter (G1) June 6 at Belmont Park.
Notes: Friday’s co-features saw Hickory Ridge Farm’s Maryland 3-year-old homebred gelding Carey Times ($4.40) register his second straight win in Race 4, an entry-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up, sprinting six furlongs in 1:09.36; while Respect the Valleys’ sophomore filly Sailingintothewind ($5.80) captured Race 6, an off-the-turf entry-level allowance for fillies and mares 3 and older. The winning time was 1:39.10 … No one had all six winners in Friday’s 20-cent Rainbow 6, creating a jackpot carryover of $5,156.27 for Saturday’s nine-race program that begins at 12:40 p.m. Tickets with five of six winners each returned $309.54.
