FASCINATIN’ RHYTHM MAKES IT TWO STRAIGHT WITH GEISHA STAKES WIN
LAUREL, MD. 09-11-10---Buckingham Farm’s Fascinatin’ Rhythm separated from the pack with three furlongs to go and galloped to victory in the $50,000 Geisha Stakes for Maryland-bred fillies and mares on opening day of the fall meeting at Laurel Park.
Confidently handled by apprentice Forest Boyce for trainer Dickie Small, the daughter of More Than Ready was winning her second straight stakes at Laurel. She captured the Jameela Stakes over the turf in mid-August. Blind Date, who was second choice in the wagering, rallied to take second, a length behind the winner. Post time favorite Love’s Blush finished third.
“We didn’t necessarily want to be all the way out there but nobody was going so we went with what we had,” Boyce said. “I figured I had to sit up there and wait as long as I could and then make my run.”
This was also the first stakes winner for Boyce, who topped the jockey standings during the Laurel summer meeting last month. A graduate of Garrison Forest School and the Maryland Institute College of Art, she galloped horses for Small before making her professional debut last summer. Small compared the 25-year-old to Rosie Napravnik, currently one of the top female riders in country.
“They worked for me at the same time and both were naturally talented,” Small said. “Both grew up around horses and by the time they were teenagers and came to the racetrack they already knew about horses. Forest has an unbelievable feel for a horse and she’ll have no trouble being successful when she loses the bug.”
Fascinatin’ Rhythm, who completed the one mile distance in 1:37.14 and paid $8.60, began her career with three wins in her first five starts and finished third in the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie Handicap in Feb. 2009 but went 20 months in-between trips to the winners’ circle before winning the Jameela.
“What happens a lot is that horses often are flat during their 4-year-old seasons,” added Small. “That is what happened to her. She ran well in the Fritchie when she just turned four then the water got deep because she was out of conditions and running against older fillies and mares. The races are strong but if you can keep them healthy eventually they catch back up.”
Small indicated the 5-year-old mare, who is now six-of-23 lifetime with 15 in the money finishes, would next start in the All Brandy Stakes on the turf at Laurel on Nov. 6.
A PAIR OF POTENTIAL MARYLAND MILLION STARTERS SCORE
Twenty-five of the 82 runners on Saturday’s 10-race card are Maryland Million eligible and two prepped for next month’s $1,050,000 event with victories. The 25th running of the Jim McKay Maryland Million, an 11-race stakes program for Maryland sired horses, will be held at Laurel Park on Oct. 2.
In the Juice, who was fifth in the 2009 Classic rallied down the stretch to defeat Jack On the Rocks, Cave’s Valley and Regal Solo in the seventh race a $36,000 allowance test on the dirt at seven-furlongs. The son of Rock Slide, who paid $15.40, has won two straight and finished on the board five straight times.
The other potential Maryland Million winner on the program was Gin’s Sour Gin, who rallied to win a starter allowance on the turf under Sheldon Russell, who had three winners on opening day. The son of Go For Gin paid $15 in the 1 1/8 mile score.
Nineteen Maryland Million eligible runners are scheduled to run Wednesday afternoon at the central Maryland track.
CARULLI’S MORNING LINE IS PERFECT
Maryland Jockey Club handicapper and racing analyst Frank Carulli correctly predicted the favorite in all 10 races on opening day of the fall meet. Now in his ninth year as the oddsmaker at Laurel and Pimlico Race Course, Carulli’s morning line selections have been the actual betting choice at a 69.4% rate (510-of-735) this year.
-mjc-
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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