Laurel Park News & Notes

Page McKenney Pointing to Feb. 18 Stakes Off Comeback Victory
Maryland-Based Horses Among Triple Crown Nominees
Live Racing Returns Friday with Multiple Carryovers

LAUREL, MD – While she has the date circled on her calendar for Page McKenney’s next start, trainer Mary Eppler will spend the next few weeks deciding on the race.

The 7-year-old claimer-turned-multiple stakes-winning millionaire ended a gap of nine months between starts to score a powerful and popular victory in the $75,000 Native Dancer Jan. 21 at Laurel Park.

It was the second straight year Adam Staple and Jalin Stable’s Page McKenney opened his season with a win in the Native Dancer. He followed up with his first graded victory in the General George (G3) and was a strong second in the Charles Town Classic (G2) in April, exiting the race with a minor hip issue that led to filling in a tendon and ultimately ended his campaign.

“It wasn’t just me getting Page there, it was the whole barn getting Page there,” Eppler said. “Everybody pulls and roots for Page and they all look after him, the grooms, the hot walkers, the riders. It’s just a big team effort, and Page, too. Page is the big effort.”

Eppler is pointing Page McKenney to a return in either the seven-furlong General George or the $75,000 John B. Campbell at 1 1/8 miles, a race he won in 2015. Both races for 4-year-olds and up are Feb. 18 at Laurel.

Page McKenney has sprinted only nine times in 45 career starts. The General George was his first since finishing second in a maiden claiming event March 7, 2013 at Penn National – four races later he was claimed for $16,000 and moved to Eppler. He owns three wins, three seconds and two thirds in eight lifetime tries at 1 1/8 miles; all three wins have come in Laurel stakes.

“Last year when we were going into the General George, that whole weekend it was so cold that we really couldn’t use the track much. He was so fit at that point because he wasn’t going out to the track,” Eppler said. “He was getting really high on himself. I thought, gosh, this is the first time he’s even shown that. I thought it was a good time, if I was going to sprint him, to try it then.”

Page McKenney was keyed up in the paddock before the race and overcame an early bump from late-running runner-up Bodhisattva to post a confident win that surprised his connections.

“Page McKenney continues to amaze. He had a great victory, one that I personally wasn’t expecting after this long layoff but he was certainly ready to go,” co-owner Jim Bryant said. “He was anxious and agitated in the paddock, settled down with the pony and after that seemed to be his old self out on the track. He kicked out into the three hole in the top of the stretch and it was over.

“It’s just great to have him back and he looks healthy and he seems to be his old self. I think all of us are beyond pleased,” he added. “Mary was obviously very pleased. I’m not sure but I think I saw a little tear in her eye right after the race. She’s very excited by all this. We’re hopeful that he’ll go ahead and move ahead. It seems like the old Page is back.”

Horacio Karamanos has ridden Page McKenney 22 times including 14 straight races, with 13 wins. The gelded son of Eavesdropper has finished third or better in 25 consecutive starts dating back to May 2014.

“Page McKenney is my favorite horse,” Karamanos said. “This horse is a special horse for Mary, for me, for everybody. This horse always, always tries, always is in the money. He’s really honest. This horse is really good.”

Maryland-Based Horses Among Triple Crown Nominees

M M G Stables’ Grade 3 winner El Areeb is one of 15 Maryland-based horses among 418 3-year-olds made eligible during the early nomination phase to compete in the 2017 Triple Crown races.

El Areeb, stabled at Laurel Park with trainer Cal Lynch, has won three straight races including the James F. Lewis III to cap his juvenile season and the Jerome (G3) Jan. 2 at Aqueduct in his 2017 debut.

Marathon Farms Inc.’s Maryland-bred stakes winner O Dionysus, trained by Laurel’s Gary Capuano, is also nominated. Winner of the Christopher Elser Memorial at Parx, he was second to Irish War Cry in the Marylander and the Frank Whiteley Jr. in his last two starts.

Isabelle de Tomaso homebred Irish War Cry, unbeaten in two starts, is one of four horses nominated by trainer Graham Motion, along with Painter’s Rags, impressive winner of his Dec. 26 unveiling at Laurel; Soglio, second in the Eddie Logan Stakes Dec. 30; and Benevolent Prince.

Upset by O Dionysus in the Christopher Elser Memorial, Kathleen Willier’s Greatbullsoffire is the lone nominee trained by Hamilton Smith. The Bullsbay colt has alternated wins in the Strike Your Colors, Maryland Million Nursery and Maryland Juvenile Futurity with thirds in the Elser and Laurel Futurity.

Fair Hill, Md.-based trainers Horacio DePaz, Arnaud Delacour and Francis Abbott III each have multiple nominations. DePaz’s three nominees are multiple graded stakes-placed Recruiting Ready; Shoe Loves Shoe, a three-quarter length winner of his career debut Jan. 21 at Aqueduct; and unstarted Uncle Mo colt I Can Do Anything.

Delacour nominated No Dozing, second to Mo Town in the Remsen (G2) at Aqueduct, and Union Blues, off the board in the Jan. 21 Pasco at Tampa Bay Downs in his seasonal and stakes debut. Both horses are by 2012 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Union Rags.

Abbott’s nominees are each owned by Olympic gold medal skier Bode Miller: No More Talk and the unstarted The Stranger and Tipu Run.

Live Racing Returns Friday with Multiple Carryovers

There will be carryovers in the 20-cent Rainbow 6, 50-cent Late Pick 5 and $1 Super Hi-5 when live racing returns with a nine-race program Friday.

First race post time is 12:30 p.m.

The Rainbow 6 spans Races 4-9 and will include a jackpot carryover of $6,791.53. The sequence includes the day’s feature in Race 8, a $42,000 entry-level allowance for fillies and mares 4 and older going six furlongs.

The Late Pick 5, offering an industry-low 12 percent takeout, starts in Race 5 and begins with a carryover of $4,206.44.

There will be a carryover of $433.39 in the Super Hi-5 for Friday’s opener, a 5 ½-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds.