MY MAIN STARR CAPTURES DAHLIA STAKES
LAUREL, MD. 04-10-10---Gary Capuano and Paul Fowler’s My Main Starr upped her success rate to two-for-two on the turf when she surged to victory in the $70,000 Dahlia Stakes, the closing day feature at Laurel Park.
Sent to post at 3-1 under Horacio Karamanos, the daughter of Deputy Commander took much of the mile-and-one-sixteenth distance to get underway and did not hit full stride until she collared front runner Fareena and third place finisher Sales Tax in deep stretch to win by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:42.12.
Co-owner Capuano also trains My Main Starr, who had most recently finished third in the Maryland Racing Media Stakes. She paid $8.60 and topped an $89.40 exacta and a $339 triple.
“My filly ran in the middle of the race, a little bit back,” said Karamanos, “When I asked her, I put her clear and she switched leads and responded.”
The 5-year-old mare won her maiden voyage on the grass here last October at odds of 30-1.
“The plan was to send her to Gulfstream Park with my brother Dale but he ended up not getting stalls so we stayed here and had her run on the dirt until turf season,” said Capuano. “It was an honest enough pace. It looked like she was running easy. She was last or next to last but she wasn’t too far back and when she started picking them up I was confident she would finish. She is a consistent runner and we’ll have lots of options for her.”
My Main Starr is seven-of-28 lifetime with 19 on the board finishes for earnings of $240,907.
E ROD & GROVE CAPTURE WINTER MEET TITLES
The 15-week Laurel Park winter meeting ended today with Erick Rodriguez and Chris Grove winning individual titles. The 51-day stand began at the central Maryland track on Jan. 1. Seven live cards were cancelled due to inclement weather.
Grove won his first training title, coming from behind in the final week of the meet to edge Scott Lake 27-25, who has won 12 of the last 16 training titles at Laurel and Pimlico Race Course. Grove began the final week two wins behind Lake, but the Frederick native moved into a first place tie with a two-win day Wednesday afternoon, took the lead Thursday with a score and then won another race Friday. Both conditioners had a pair of victories on today’s closing card.
The 40-year-old won five stakes races during the stand, including the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie and General George Handicaps on Feb. 15 with Sweet Goodbye and Greenspring respectively and topped all conditioners with $653,480 in earnings.
“The best part is that I am not a claiming trainer so we did this by winning stakes and allowance races,” said Grove, who won six races from 12 starters this week. “This is for the entire barn from the exercise riders to the grooms and hot walkers. About three weeks ago I told them we had a shot at winning this and they all wanted it.”
Rodriguez topped the rider standings with 55 first place finishes, 20 more than Harry Vega. A top ten rider in Maryland since 2003, Rodriguez had 15 multiple win days during the meet and won at a 24.7% rate. The 30-year-old also took the 2009 fall stand and has won 108 races at Laurel since last September.
“I am really happy,” Rodriguez said. ”I have been riding good horses for top trainers and now expect to win.”
Ben Mondello and Adam Russo won the owner standings, finishing first 11 times, two more than PTK LLC.
Live racing shifts to historic Pimlico Race Course on Saturday, April 17 for the six-week spring meet, headlined by the 135th running of the Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel of racing’s Triple Crown, on May 15. First post for opening day is 1:10 p.m.
Opening day at Old Hilltop will feature a ceremony honoring former Pimlico general manager Chick Lang, who passed away last month, the $70,000 Henry Clark Stakes and a “halftime” concert in-between the fifth and sixth races featuring country music star Steve Azar.
-mjc-
PHOTO CREDIT-Jim McCue, Maryland Jockey Club
Mike Gathagan
Vice President-Communications
Maryland Jockey Club
410-578-4461 (Pimlico)
301-470-5461 (Laurel Park)
240-876-7403 (Mobile)
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