Still Having Fun Gutsy Winner of $100,000 Miracle Wood
Still Having Fun Gutsy Winner of $100,000 Miracle Wood
Afleet Willy Rolls to Fourth Stakes Win in $100,000 John B. Campbell
Miss Inclusive Goes the Distance in $100,000 Maryland Racing Media
Enchanted Ghost Cruises to Win $100,000 Wide Country
LAUREL, MD – Showing the heart to match his talent, Still Having Fun overcame a slow start from his rail post to run down stubborn longshot pacesetter Old Time Revival and emerge from a three-way photo finish with a gutsy neck triumph in the $100,000 Miracle Wood for 3-year-olds on a snowy Saturday at Laurel Park.
The 23rd running of the one-mile Miracle Wood presented by B&B Commercial Interiors was the second of four supporting stakes on an 11-race Winter Carnival program highlighted by the $300,000 Barbara Fritchie (G2) and $250,000 General George (G3).
Completing the undercard stakes were the $100,000 John B. Campbell presented by Ourisman of Clarksville and $100,000 Maryland Racing Media for older horses, and the $100,000 Wide Country presented by Fidelty First & Blackwell Real Estate for 3-year-old fillies.
The Miracle Wood was the second straight stakes victory for Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Terp Racing’s Laurel-based Still Having Fun ($4), sent off as the even-money favorite in a field of seven sophomores. It was the just the fourth career start and first beyond seven furlongs for Still Having Fun, who completed the distance in 1:37.51 over a good main track.
“He’s just taking a while to kind of figure everything out. The first couple races have been, I don’t want to say easy for him, but today he had to overcome breaking slow and the rail, and this was a tough race for him. This was his hardest race,” winning trainer and co-breeder Tim Keefe said. “He had to really run to make up that extra ground and to overcome those things.
“It’s still a process. He’s still very immature. He’s still learning. Physically he’s changing still so hopefully there’s still more to go with him,” he added. “We always knew he had [heart]. I’ve always said that you can’t teach that in a horse, the desire to want win, and he really has that. He has the ability and the desire to really want to win.”
Still Having Fun was sluggish from the gate as Old Time Revival, beaten 13 lengths by Still Having Fun in the Frank Whiteley Jr. Jan. 27, sprinted to the front to take the field through fractions of 23.41 seconds, 46.94 and 1:11.66, stalked closest by Whiteley runner-up Wentz.
Old Time Revival remained in control after straightening for home with Wentz turning up the pressure to his outside. Still Having Fun gathered stride under regular rider Feargal Lynch and steadily gained ground along the inside for their drive to the second wire.
“The whole thing about this race today was to get him to settle. Stepping up from seven furlongs, we needed to find out [about his ability to get a distance],” Lynch said. “He was a little keen down the backside but I had a great trip the whole way. I always had a lot of horse. Once you set him down he knows what to do.”
Wentz finished third by a neck, and it was 7 ¼ lengths back to stakes winner He Hate Me in fourth followed by V.I.P. Code, Dynamic Asset and Oldfashioned Club.
Keefe said the $100,000 Private Terms at 1 1/16 miles March 17 at Laurel is a possibility for Still Having Fun’s next start.
“That’s what I’m thinking, but I always like to wait a little bit. I’ll talk with Adam and Gary and Jimmy and make the decision,” he said. “We’ve purposely tried to keep him here. It’s much easier, obviously, when you can walk right out of your stall. I think he got everything he needed to get out of a race today. I don’t see the sense in having to ship him somewhere to do what he can do right here. I’m thinking that’s probably going to be our philosophy moving forward, but I’ll talk to the guys and see what they want to do.”
Afleet Willy Rolls to Fourth Stakes Win in $100,000 John B. Campbell
BB Horses’ Afleet Willy won his fourth stakes in five starts in the $100,000 John B. Campbell Stakes, notching a front-running victory as the 1-5 favorite.
Trained by Claudio Gonzalez, the 5-year-old gelding went right to the lead under Jomar Torres but was pressured by Zanotti, the 2-1 second choice ridden by Jorge Vargas Jr., around the first turn and along the backstretch. The son of Wilburn shook away from his challenger on the turn into the homestretch and drew off to score by 2 ½ lengths.
“The second favorite took it too him from the start, but my horse is a very good horse and it didn’t bother him,” Gonzalez said.
Zannotti held second, 1 ¾ lengths ahead of Dattt Melody. Bodhisattva finished fourth and Monongahela trailed the field.
Afleet Willy ran 1 1/8 miles over a good track in 1:50.58 to follow up a five-length score in the Jan. 27 Native Dancer Stakes at Laurel.
“He’s a nice horse. He’s easy to ride, this horse,” Torres said. “The plan was to go to the lead. The other horse put pressure on him but Willy is a nice horse. When I asked him at the quarter pole, he picked it up again.”
Afleet Willy captured the Governor’s Day Handicap at Delaware Park, the Richard Small and the Native Dancer at Laurel Park while successfully negotiating two turns. The son of Wilburn’s only loss since September came Jan. 8 in the one-turn Dave’s Friend, a six-furlong sprint in which his chances were virtually dashed by being squeezed back at the start and forced to race extremely wide before fading to eighth.
“This is the best horse I’ve ever trained,” Gonzalez said.
Afleet Willy, who has finished in the money in 21 of 27 career races, was claimed for $25,000 out of a victory in a maiden race Dec. 27, 2015. The Kentucky-bred gelding has gone on to win 11 races, including four stakes, for Gonzalez and BB Horses.
Miss Inclusive Goes the Distance in $100,000 Maryland Racing Media
Miss Inclusive registered a front-running victory in the $100,000 Maryland Racing Media Stakes on the Winter Carnival program.
Joshtylane Farm and Main Line Racing Stable’s 5-year-old daughter of Include ran 1 1/16 miles over a muddy track in 1:44.89 under winter-spring meet-leading jockey Jorge Vargas Jr.
“This one goes to [Dr.] Patty Hogan, who’s performed numerous throat surgeries on this filly. She’s had a lot of problems with her throat,” trainer John Servis said. “She [Dr. Hogan] got her back.”
Miss Inclusive, the 7-2 favorite, prevailed over second-place finisher Line of Best Fit, the 6-5 favorite ridden by Kevin Gomez. In the Navy Now finished third, another 2 ½ lengths back.
Enchanted Ghost Cruises to Win $100,000 Wide Country
Mens Grille Racing’s Enchanted Ghost swept to the lead on the far turn and pulled clear through the stretch to a 3 ¼-length victory in the $100,000 Wide Country.
The sophomore daughter of Hall of Famer Ghostzapper was content to sit behind leaders Aggregator and Last True Love through a quarter-mile in 23.87 seconds and a half in 47.93, ranging up to take over at the top of the lane and finishing up in 1:25.49 over a muddy main track.
It was the third win from four starts for Enchanted Ghost ($5.80), the 9-5 betting favorite who finished third by 1 ¾ lengths to multiple stakes winner Limited View in the six-furlong Marshua Stakes Jan. 27 at Laurel, one length behind runner-up Last True Love.
“I think the distance is going to help her a lot. I look forward to later in the year on the grass and going long. She’s got some grass pedigree on her mother’s side,” winning trainer Hamilton Smith said. “I always knew she liked the snow, so I was glad to see it today. She ran just the way we hoped she would. She sat off the pace and made one run to come get them. She did it pretty impressively.”
