Smokin Nitro Wins Second Straight in Laurel Feature Friday
Smokin Nitro Wins Second Straight in Laurel Feature Friday
Jockey McCarthy Enjoys Three-Win Day
LAUREL, MD – Michael Cox homebred Smokin Nitro, patiently brought along since his debut this spring, earned his sixth win from nine starts in his Maryland debut with a front-running upset of Friday’s feature race at Laurel Park.
Ridden by Angel Suarez for trainer Jamie Ness, Smokin Nitro ($15.60) covered 5 ½ furlongs in 1:02.84 over a Kelso turf course rated good to win by a length over Dubini, favored at 4-5 favorite in the open $55,000 entry-level allowance for 3-year-olds that drew a field of seven.
Smokin Nitro blazed through fractions of 23.30 and 45.79 seconds, pressed to his outside by 35-1 long shot Snowday, a multiple stakes winner and Grade 3-placed 8-year-old making his 41st career start. As Snowday began to drop back following five furlongs in 56.87, Dubini picked up the chase but was unable to catch the winner, who took a three-length lead into the stretch.
Friday’s win was the first on turf for Smokin Nitro, whose only other grass start saw him finish second in a second-level optional claimer Aug. 28 at Parx. The Pennsylvania-bred made his first eight starts at Parx, winning his first two starts by 13 ½ combined lengths before finishing off the board in the Danzig Stakes. Since then, the More Smoke gelding has been first or second in six straight starts, five against older horses, including back-to-back wins.
“He is a rocket. I went through all my conditions in [Pennsylvania],” Ness said. “We used our conditions, didn’t get high on him and put him in stakes or anything like that, other than the 3-year-old stake and that’s the only time he didn’t run.
“I said all along this horse as he gets older he’ll be a five-eighths turf horse, that’s what he’ll be, because he’s really fast,” he added. “He’s going to be hard to catch going five furlongs. He can still run on the dirt, but his future will be five-eighths on the turf. All I can say is he’s just a really fast horse.”
Ness indicated the $250,000 Steel Valley Sprint for 3-year-olds going six furlongs on dirt Nov. 19 at Mahoning Valley would be the next spot for Smokin Nitro.
“That was our goal the whole time. We’ve been looking for a race for him,” Ness said. “The two-other-than at Parx didn’t go, the three-other-than wasn’t in the book so here we are and it worked out good.”
In other action Friday, Gary and Mary West’s Astounding ($4.80) was a gate-to-wire winner of Race 7, a $45,000 second-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up, going 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.14 over the Kelso layout; and Mark Grier’s Gotham Gala ($5.60) was a popular winner of Race 8, a $42,000 entry-level allowance for fillies and mares 3 and older. The winning time was 1:10.62 for six furlongs over a fast main track.
Notes: Jockey Trevor McCarthy visited the winner’s circle three times Friday, aboard Salt Pond ($5) in the fifth race, Astounding ($4.80) in the seventh and Silver Dagger ($4.60) in the 10th. Ricardo Chiappe won twice, with My Muchacha ($6.40) in the sixth and Eighty Bucks ($19) in the ninth, and trainer Jamie Ness sent out both Silver Dagger and Smokin Nitro ($15.60) in the third.
Eighty Bucks marked the first career training victory for trainer Valrie Smith. It was the 25th career starter for Smith, who co-owns the 3-year-old Maryland-bred gelding with Athol Morgan.
There will be carryovers of $11,141.03 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and $2,156.05 in the $1 Super Hi-5 for Saturday’s 10-race program that begins at 12:30 p.m. Multiple tickets were sold with all six winners in Friday’s Rainbow 6, each worth $631.84.
