Special Presidents’ Day Card Features Nonstop Stakes
Claiming Crown Tiara Winner Marabea Returns in Mary Todd

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Twelve starter stakes, worth a total of $640,000 in purse money, are on the menu for the Presidents’ Day card at Gulfstream Park Monday.

The 12-race card kicks off at noon.

The $60,000 Mary Todd Stakes, which will be run as Race 7 and starts the Rainbow 6 sequence, has attracted a very salty group of older fillies and mares. Eleven were in entered in the 1 1/16-mile turf race for runners which have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less.

When Farfellow Farm’s Marabea was last seen in South Florida, the 5-year-old daughter of Archipenko overcame a difficult trip to post a neck victory in the $125,000 Claiming Crown Tiara Stakes at Gulfstream Park Dec. 3.

Trained by the Maryland-based Lacey Gaudet, Marabea was ridden in the Claiming Crown by Jose Lezcano, who has the return mount in the Mary Todd. Installed as the fourth choice at 6-1, Marabea drew Post 5.

In the 1 1/16-mile Claiming Crown, Marabea lagged behind in the early running and was forced to go five wide in the stretch, which gave her connections some anxious moments. But nonetheless, she displayed a wicked turn of foot that earned her a trip to the winner’s circle.

“She’s a very finicky filly and very opinionated and you don’t tell her what to do,” Gaudet said. “She always kind of has her head up in the air. It was very important that I got a rider when she ran in the Claiming Crown who was going to be patient with her and just be able to sit behind her if she did get in trouble or throw her head up or kind of put herself in a spot. Jose scared us and it wasn’t pretty, but it worked out.”

The Mary Todd will be Marabea’s fourth start since Kip Knelman of Farfellow Farm claimed the mare last year at Saratoga Race Course for $25,000. She won for her new connections at first asking, capturing a starter allowance at Laurel in November, her race prior to the Claiming Crown.

Because Farfellow Farm is a breeding operation Knelman wished to try the mare on the dirt in a stakes in hopes of possibly enhancing her value. With that goal in mind, Marabea ran in the Nellie Morse Stakes at Laurel last month, but the results were disappointing — she finished last and ninth.

“[The dirt] was the only reason for it,” Gaudet said. “Her breezes on the dirt were always very consistent for us and she traveled well over it, so we opted to stay home instead of shipping to find grass or [synthetic]. We thought it was a good spot for her, and the timing to try was right, and she was training great up to it. She looked absolutely fabulous in the paddock. She ran a great race until it counted. But from the quarter pole home she absolutely couldn’t get over the dirt.”

Also entered in the Mary Todd is the Dale Romans-trained Quiet Kitten, who is coming off a fourth-place finish in the La Prevoyante (G3) at Gulfstream Jan. 28. Crossed Sabres Farm’s Quiet Kitten finished second in last year’s Mary Todd, after winning the 2015 Claiming Crown Tiara. She is listed as the lukewarm 4-1 favorite and will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione.

Seeking Treasure, the 9-2 second choice in the Mary Todd, finished third behind Marabea in the Claiming Crown, beaten just a half-length. The race’s third choice at 5-1 is Royal Jewely, who exits a runner-up finish in the Wayward Lass on the dirt at Tampa Bay Downs.

Another starter stakes on Monday’s card, the $50,000 Trust Buster, also features a Claiming Crown winner, Shaft of Light. The seven-furlong Trust Buster, a dirt race for 4 year olds and up which have started for a claiming price of $12,500 or less, drew a field of seven. Shaft of Light, who won the Claiming Crown Rapid Transit by 6 3/4 lengths, is the 3-5 favorite.

The other starter stakes to be run on Monday are the $50,000 Rough and Ready; $60,000 Old Man Eloquent; $60,000 Queen Mother; $60,000 American Fabius; $60,000 Sage of Monticello; $60,000 Mrs. Presidentress; $50,000 Lady Bird Stakes; $60,000 Old Hickory; and $50,000 Little Magician.