No Cents Hits Paydirt Again in $100,000 Heft
No Cents Hits Paydirt Again in $100,000 Heft
Street Lute Narrow Winner of $100,000 Gin Talking
Shackqueenking Rules in $100,000 Howard County
Miss Leslie Steps Up in $100,000 Anne Arundel County
LAUREL, MD – Isabelle de Tomaso and Hope Jones’ homebred No Cents survived both a resurgent effort from fellow stakes winner Kenny Had a Notion along the rail and a lengthy inquiry to extend his win streak to four races in Saturday’s $100,000 Heft at Laurel Park.
The Heft for males and $100,000 Gin Talking for fillies, both sprinting seven furlongs, were among four stakes for 2-year-olds on a Christmastide Day program serving up eight stakes worth $850,000 in purses.
Juveniles also went around two turns at about 1 1/16 miles in the $100,000 Howard County for males, won by Shackqueenking, and $100,000 Anne Arundel County for fillies, won by Miss Leslie.
It was the second straight stakes victory for No Cents ($3.40) following his 1 ¼-length triumph in the James F. Lewis III Nov. 14, also at Laurel. Ridden by Alex Cintron, the juvenile son of multiple Grade 1 winner Goldencents completed the distance in 1:23.79 over a fast main track.
Kenny Had a Notion, winner of the Jamestown on turf for Virginia-breds and Maryland Million Nursery on dirt two weeks apart in October, ran the opening quarter-mile in 22.78 seconds before fellow stakes winner Singlino went a half in 45.45. Cintron kept No Cents in the clear three wide and went after the leaders at the top of the lane, grinding away to take a short lead inside the eighth pole, only to have Kenny Had a Notion battle gamely inside but fall a neck short.
Jevian Toledo, the rider of third-place finisher Singlino, lodged an objection against Cintron and No Cents for drifting in and impeding his path near the eighth pole, but the complaint was dismissed after an extended review.
Based at Laurel with trainer Cal Lynch, No Cents made his first three starts at Monmouth Park, breaking his maiden against fellow New Jersey-breds second time out Sept. 27 and winning an open entry-level allowance Oct. 21 prior to his score in the Lewis.
Street Lute Narrow Winner of $100,000 Gin Talking
Lucky 7 Stables’ Street Lute ended a near-perfect rookie season the way it began – in the winner’s circle – leading from start to finish and holding off a frantic late bid from longshot Fraudulent Charge for a popular nose triumph in the $100,000 Gin Talking.
Ridden for the third straight race by Xavier Perez for trainer Jerry Robb, Street Lute ($2.80) ran seven furlongs in 1:23.39 over a fast main track. Sent off at 2-5 in a field reduced to four by scratches, Street Lute earned her fifth win from six starts, fourth in a stakes and third straight, all at Laurel.
Street Lute broke on top and raced through fractions of 23.55 and 46.21 seconds under mild pressure from Whiskey and Rye, making her stakes debut. Out of Sorts, runner up to Street Lute in the Nov. 14 Smart Halo, made a sweeping move to get into contention on the far turn but couldn’t keep up as Street Lute began to separate from the field.
Fraudulent Charge settled in a ground-saving position along the rail and was second after turning for home. Tipped to the outside by jockey Johan Rosado, Fraudulent Charge made a spirited bid on the outside and nearly pulled off the upset at 9-1 in just her second career start.
Out of Sorts was third, with Whiskey and Rye fourth. Aug Lutes, Beautiful Grace and Blissful Behavior were scratched.
Street Lute, bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman and Dr. Brooke Bowman, won the Small Wonder in September at Delaware Park second time out and suffered her only career loss by a neck in the Oct. 24 Maryland Million Lassie behind Miss Nondescript, avenging that defeat in the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship Dec. 5 at Laurel.
Shackqueenking Rules in $100,000 Howard County
Pocket 3’s Racing’s Shackqueenking, favored in his first try against stakes company, dueled with stakes-tested Ain’t Da Beer Cold through the stretch and got his nose down on the wire to win the $100,000 Howard County.
Ridden by Victor Rosales for trainer Gary Capuano, Shackqueenking ($6.40) completed about 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.36 over a fast main track for his second win from four starts, all since Nov. 1.
“I’ve run him pretty quick four times now in a short period of time but he seems to relish it. I have to train him the morning of the race because he just gets wild, but he’s not bad,” Capuano said. “He’s just a good-feeling horse. Victor does a good job with him and it all worked out well. He ran game. It was tight.”
Ain’t Da Beer Cold, most recently fourth in the Maryland Juvenile Futurity behind undefeated Jaxon Traveler Dec. 5 at Laurel, was hustled to the front from Post 6 by jockey Angel Cruz and held it through splits of 24.13 seconds, 48.06 and 1:12.17. Shackqueenking rated just off the leader heading to the stretch when they hooked up, with Ain’t Da Beer Cold appearing to take a short lead inside the sixteenth pole before Shackqueenking surged again.
“I was really happy. The six horse broke and looked like he really wanted the lead. He sent him there and victor did a good job. He got him out of there but once that horse committed to go, he was able to just relax and track on the outside. He really had a good trip,” Capuano said.
“I wasn’t sure [he won] because he had gone by that horse and that horse came back and looked like he had the jump on him,” he added. “The last couple jumps we just nosed him out. It was good horse race. You don’t want to be on the losing end of that so I’m happy.”
Erawan was 3 ½ lengths behind Ain’t Da Beer Cold in third, followed by Market Cap, Reassured, Brett’s World and Twitty City.
Miss Leslie Steps Up in $100,000 Anne Arundel County
BB Horses’ Miss Leslie, trying two turns for the first time in her stakes debut, emerged from a three-way photo finish a head in front of favored shipper The Grass Is Blue to capture the $100,000 Anne Arundel County.
Miss Leslie ($7), with Roimes Chirinos up, had never gone beyond six furlongs in her first four starts and was racing for the second time since being claimed for $25,000 by trainer Claudio Gonzalez Nov. 13. The win was the third straight overall for the daughter of Grade 1 winner Paynter.
Breaking from Post 7, outside all but Buckey’s Charm, Miss Leslie settled in fifth as 19-1 longshot Malibu Beauty led the way with splits of 24.24 seconds for a quarter-mile and 48.43 for the half. Chirinos swung Miss Leslie outside leaving the backstretch and had The Grass Is Blue on her right hip as they descended on Buckey’s Charm, who raced greenly on the lead. The three hit the wire together with Miss Leslie in between horses.
Buckey’s Charm was second, a head in front of The Grass Is Blue. It was 2 ¾ lengths back to Malibu Beauty in fourth. The winning time was 1:44.97 over a fast main track.
“We were talking about it in the paddock and she broke pretty good. I saved the most ground I could, and she was relaxed,” Chirinos said. “She wasn’t scared at all. She was just fighting to take the lead and she fought pretty good.”
