Oldies But Goodies Has Plenty Left in Ben’s Cat  

LAUREL, MD – Mens Grille Racing’s Ghoul’s Night Out, a 19-1 longshot trained by Hamilton Smith and ridden by Jorge Vargas Jr., drove past A Great Time in deep stretch to win the $75,000 Jameela by a neck.

Ghoul’s Night Out, a 5-year-old mare by Ghostzapper, returned $40 after covering the 5 ½ furlong course in 1:02.65. It was her first victory on the turf in three attempts.

“She ran twice on the grass and handled herself pretty well both times,” Smith said. “It was a tough race, no doubt, but she came into the race real good and I expected her to run good. I didn’t think she’d win it, but I thought she’d run well.”

While Magician’squestion and Elevated Vision posted fractions of :22.16 and :45.27, Vargas rated Ghoul’s Night Out in fourth directly behind A Great Time, who drove past the pacesetters down the stretch to take the lead under jockey Trevor McCarthy. Despite a game effort by A Great Time, Ghoul’s Night Out managed to get up in the final yards for the victory.

“This filly always try for me,” Vargas said. “Today was a little bit of a step up because we had some fillies running in open stakes. But she was traveling so good. When I ducked her out she just went for it.”

Fear No Evil, the 1-2 favorite and facing Maryland-breds for the first time since last May after racing in six consecutive open stakes, rallied to finish third.

Buff’s in Love, Something Magical and Monte Crista were scratched from the Jameela.

Oldies But Goodies Has Plenty Left in Ben’s Cat             

Some 30 minutes after watching his A Great Time get beat by Ghoul’s Night Out in the Jameela, breeder and owner R. Larry Johnson found his way to winner’s circle when another homebred Oldies But Goodies won the $75,000 Ben’s Cat by 1 ½ lengths over favored Dirty. Love You Much checked in third.

Oldies But Goodies, a 4-year-old gelded son of MacLean’s Music, covered the 5 ½ furlong course in 1:01.84.

Trained by Mike Trombetta and ridden by Alex Cintron, Oldies But Goodies went to the front and set fractions of :22.76 and :45.02 before holding Dirty off the final sixteenth of a mile.

A winner of five of 14 starts, Oldies But Goodies entered the Ben’s Cat off a fifth-place finish in the Karl Boyes Memorial at Presque Isle after finishing second in an allowance optional claimer in June. The gelding also placed fourth in the Jim McKay Turf Sprint.

“I got a really soft pace in the beginning and it gave me a lot of confidence with him because the last couple races he was pretty hard-paced,” Cintron said. “Today…he finished up really good.”

“He ran super,” Johnson said. “Mike did a good job. Alex rode him beautifully, slowed it down a bit. It takes a little of the sting of just getting beat in the previous race. That second wire has gotten me so many times. At the sixteenth pole I’m thinking, ‘Where the hell is the wire?’ But Alex had horse.”

Ben’s Cat is named after Maryland’s four-time Horse of the Year trained by Hall of Fame conditioner King Leatherbury.