Old Time Revival Seeks Stakes Breakthrough in $75,000 Challedon
Old Time Revival Seeks Stakes Breakthrough in $75,000 Challedon
Cairenn Looks to Go Out on Winning Note in $75,000 Shine Again
Class on the Grass’ Program Features Six Stakes, Four on Turf, Worth $650,000
LAUREL, MD – Fred Brei’s Jacks or Better Farm homebred Old Time Revival, third in a trio of stakes and briefly on the Triple Crown trail this spring, faces 10 rivals including fellow graded-stakes placed Top of Mind in Saturday’s $75,000 Challedon at Laurel Park.
The Challedon for 3-year-olds and up and the 11th running of the $75,000 Shine Again for fillies and mares 3 and older, each at seven furlongs and restricted to non-winners of a sweepstakes, are among six stakes worth $650,000 in purses on the 12-race ‘Class on the Grass’ program.
Highlighting the card are the $200,000 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup (G3) for 3-year-olds and up and inaugural $150,000 Bald Eagle Derby for 3-year-olds, also on the grass. First race post time is 12:30 p.m.
Old Time Revival will carry low weight of 116 pounds as the lone 3-year-old in the Challedon, his first start since finishing last of six after pressing the pace in the 6 ½-furlong Amsterdam (G3) July 28 at Saratoga. The Brethren colt has breezed three times at Laurel since, most recently firing a bullet half-mile in 46.60 seconds Sept. 15, the fastest of 42 horses.
“We’re going back in there feeling strong. He came back good from his last race. He just needed a little time when we got back,” trainer Ken Decker said. “It was a little bit of a taxing trip so we backed off of him a little bit and freshened him and got a couple of pretty good works going back into this one. He likes this racetrack and he’s run good on it so we’ll see what happens on Saturday.”
An impressive maiden winner in his final start at 2, Old Time Revival ran second by a neck in the Miracle Wood Stakes Feb. 17 at Laurel and by 2 ¾ lengths in the Gotham (G3) March 10 at Aqueduct, both at one mile. He was sent back to New York for the 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial (G2), where he opened up by daylight while setting the pace but tired to be eighth.
Old Time Revival has primarily sprinted since then, setting the pace before being caught late in the seven-furlong Concern Stakes July 7 at Laurel, beaten less than a length. He has been on the board in five of his eight starts at Laurel with a win and a second in three tries at the Challedon distance.
“I think it really is his best distance. It’s kind of where he’s shown he’s pretty good. He’s got some good early speed but he has shown that he can get the seven furlongs. It all comes down to how we leave there Saturday and what kind of trip we get,” Decker said. “He’s been facing some pretty tough company all along. I know there are some nice horses in there but maybe not what we’ve been facing. All we can hope for is a good trip and see how it unfolds.”
Hillwood Stable’s Top of Mind enjoyed his best season in 2016, when he won three of seven starts and was second twice, including a half-length loss at odds of 29-1 in the Commonwealth Turf Cup (G2) going a mile on the Laurel grass.
With six career wins split evenly over the dirt and turf, Top of Mind has raced just once since July 2017, making his comeback with a dramatic neck victory in a third-level optional claimer going about 1 1/16 miles July 14 over Laurel’s main track.
“He ran probably the best race of his life that day, I thought,” trainer Rodney Jenkins said. “He could be very tough. I like the horse a lot. I put him in there because he’s never won a stake. He’s been second and third in stakes but he’s never won one and the horse has won more than $200,000. He handles the dirt good. He ran great on the dirt the first time back this year.
“He’s doing real good,” he added. “He’s a horse that always lays out of it and then comes running, but he lays out of it because the riders let him do it. He’s very laid back and when you ask him to run, he runs. We’ll have to see how the race shapes up.”
Jack Cannon’s Union Blues, a son of Union Rags whose sire and grandsire, Empire Maker, are both Belmont Stakes (G1) winners, figures prominently in the pace scenario. The front-running 4-year-old was third behind Colonel Sharp and Rockinn On Bye in the Maryland Coalition Stakes Sept. 1 at Timonium; Colonel Sharp returned to run fourth in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) last weekend.
Two starts back Union Blues finished first by 1 ¾ lengths but was disqualified to second for coming over on runner-up Graves Island late. Claimed for $6,500 out of a May 5 win at Laurel, he has a win, three seconds and two thirds in seven starts for trainer Jennifer Shannon.
“This horse was running for $4,500 and you see his last few races he went in 1:09, 1:22. His last win when he got taken down it really wasn’t his fault. He was much the best in the race, the rider didn’t look over and came over into the path. He’s well exceeded our expectations for him,” Shannon said. “He’s got natural speed and it’s the way he likes to run. We’re going back to seven-eighths where he’s already won here so I think he has a good shot.”
Rounding out the field are Belfour, Glory Stars, Perfect Cover, Tour de Force, Honor the Fleet, Flash McCaul, Rockinn On Bye and Siem Riep, who is cross-entered in the BWI Turf Cup.
Cairenn Looks to Go Out on Winning Note in $75,000 Shine Again
Heider Family Stables, Madaket Stables and Michael Kisber’s multiple stakes-placed Cairenn, ambitiously spotted in her last start, will get a bit of class relief for her final race of 2018 in the $75,000 Shine Again Stakes.
Cairenn had placed in four consecutive stakes prior to finishing last of eight in the seven-furlong Ballerina (G1) Aug. 25 at Saratoga. She was sixth in both the six-furlong Primonetta April 21 at Laurel and the Aug. 1 Shine Again, also at seven furlongs at Saratoga, beaten a length each time.
The Graham Motion trainee also finished third in the Bed o’ Roses (G3) June 8 at Belmont Park and third by a head in the six-furlong Dashing Beauty Stakes July 7 at Delaware Park, the latter under Jorge Vargas Jr., who returns to ride from Post 4 in a field of eight. All horses will carry 120 pounds.
“We kind of threw her in the deep end a little bit last time. She’s been a very hard-knocking filly,” Motion said. “She’s a lovely filly to train, very straightforward. This will probably be her last race this year because she’s had a pretty good campaign. I wanted to get her back at Laurel, and back in a more conservative spot.
“I think Jorge knows her, which will help. I thought she was a little unlucky at Delaware. She kind of got stuck down on the rail so hopefully she’s got another good race in her this year,” he added. “This will be a good opportunity for her, and then we’ll give her a little freshening.”
Old Coach Farm’s Angel At War opened her career going undefeated in six starts as a 2-year-old in 2017. She has won just one of nine since, a front-running 2 ¼-length score in a six-furlong optional claiming allowance last out Sept. 13 at Delaware, also finishing second in the Xtra Heat Stakes March 31 at Aqueduct and fourth by 1 ½ lengths in the Timonium Distaff Aug. 25.
Flying Pheasant Farm’s Timonium Distaff runner-up Munificent was claimed out of her debut last fall and owns four wins, three seconds and a third in nine subsequent starts for trainer Mary Eppler. Her wins have come over firm turf as well as fast, good and muddy main tracks.
“She’s pretty versatile,” Eppler said. “I claimed her out of her first start and she’s done well every single time. She’s a naturally fast horse. I think she’s getting better and better every time. I don’t think the seven-eighths of a mile will hurt her.”
Also entered are Cee Bee Gee Bee, second in the 2016 Maryland Million Distaff as well as the Eleven North Handicap last out Aug. 25 at Monmouth Park; Barley Jack, So Innocent, Squan’s Kingdom and Tweeting.
