Peach Tie seeks fifth straight win in Beyond the Wire
LAUREL, MD—Trainer Gary Capuano entered three high-quality 3-year-olds in Saturday’s $100,000 Private Terms Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.
The Private Terms shares co-billing on the nine-race “Spring Stakes Day” card with the $100,000 Beyond the Wire Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at one mile.
Hollywood Import, owned by Pocket 3’s Racing, is the 2-1 favorite on the morning line set by Ed DeRosa of Horse Racing Nation.
Hollywood Import is preparing to stretch out around two turns for the first time after winning two stakes at seven furlongs at Laurel Park.
In his latest race, the $100,000 Spectacular Bid on February 4, Hollywood Import held off a strong stretch challenge from Close the Gate to secure a front-running victory.
“It was a game race,” Capuano said admiringly. “[Close the Gate] got his neck in front of him. It looked like we were going to be second. Once that horse got by him, he dug in and was able to prevail. He’s been solid. He runs good races. Still, the two turns, you think he’s going to be fine, but we won’t know until we run it.”
Hollywood Import used pacesetting tactics in his stakes wins, as Capuano realized the colt dislikes kickback.
“With him, it looks like he’s not a fan of the kickback,” Capuano added. “I’m thinking we’ve got to let him roll out of there and see what happens. He definitely runs better when he’s on the lead.”
All three of Capuano’s entrants completed a one-mile workout together last Saturday at Laurel Park. Let’s Go Lando and Wild Warrior ran the distance in 1:43.20. Hollywood Import finished in 1:44.80.
“I was trying to keep [Hollywood Import] in behind the others to get the kickback, and get a little education,” Capuano admitted.
Let’s Go Lando, owned by Eagle Up Stables, London Reid Thoroughbreds, and Non Stop Stable, was listed as the 5-2 second favorite on DeRosa’s line. The Maryland-bred gelding has improved significantly since being gelded and extended to longer distances.
Let’s Go Lando, a six-length winner of a first-level allowance at Laurel Park on January 10, then earned a career-best 86 Beyer Speed Figure when second, beaten by a neck, in the Miracle Wood Stakes on February 21. The winner of the Miracle Wood, undefeated Taj Mahal, is aiming for Aqueduct’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial Stakes on April 4.
“He hooked up with a nice horse, obviously,” Capuano said. “He was really game. That one-turn mile was a long duel, and those two fought it out. It looked like for a second there he might have a shot of getting by that horse, and he couldn’t quite get there. It was a huge effort, a big number, and he’s trained well since then.”
Rose Petal Stable’s Wild Warrior, listed at 5-1 on DeRosa’s line, won a first-level allowance at 1 1/16 miles on December 14, then finished fifth, beaten by 3 ¼ lengths by Hollywood Import in the Spectacular Bid.
“He’s more of a two-turn horse,” Capuano noted. “He actually did run a really good race [in the Spectacular Bid]. His form doesn’t show it, but he was inside, kind of bottled up a little bit. He didn’t get the best of trips that day, but he held on well. The two turns is really going to help him a lot. I’m expecting him to move forward pretty good. Drawing the outside with him is going to be fine. He’s got enough speed, but he’s outside, and he can track like he’s done a couple of times.”
Capuano is switching out his jockeys like he’s playing musical chairs.
The meet’s top rider, Yedsit Hazlewood, who piloted rail-drawn Let’s Go Lando in three of his last four races, will steer Wild Warrior in the Private Terms.
J. G. Torrealba led Hollywood Import to victory in the Spectacular Bid, but rides Let’s Go Lando on Saturday.
Mychel Sanchez, who partnered with Hollywood Import in the Heft, gets that mount back from post four.
“I’m keeping them all guessing,” Capuano said with a laugh. “Hazlewood likes them all, but he likes Wild Warrior and Let’s Go Lando. Let’s Go Lando ran a huge race with him last time, and he still seems to like Wild Warrior.”
Mount Peru Farm’s Code of Silence finished third behind Let’s Go Lando in that allowance race, then third behind Hollywood Import in the Spectacular Bid.
Code of Silence, the winner of the Maryland Juvenile Stakes on December 6, intentionally skipped the Miracle Wood.
“I do think that horse needs to go two turns,” Keefe said last month. “I’m not going to have him at his best going into the Private Terms, in my opinion, by running [the Spectacular Bid, the Miracle Wood, and the Private Terms] back-to-back-to-back.”
Keefe appeared optimistic about Code of Silence earlier this week on the “Maryland Racing Today” podcast, powered by The Racing Biz, and presented by The Maryland Jockey Club. Click here to enjoy the entire podcast.
“This horse came to me as a 2-year-old last year, and he’s moved forward with every step,” Keefe stated. “We’ve been very patient and slow with him, and he’s done everything we’ve asked him.”
Code of Silence tends to break slowly.
“He’s a big horse, and I don’t know if that hampers him coming out of the gate,” Keefe said. “He’s got a good mind, a good, clear mind, so it’s not anything in his brain at the gate. He just has a hard time getting out of the gate and getting himself rolling. He does have a pretty quick turn of foot towards the last quarter.”
Angel Cruz rides Code of Silence from post two. He is 5-1 on DeRosa’s morning line.
Stakes-placed performers Lundi Loot and Higher Sense round out the field.
Private Terms raced in the colors of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Janney’s Locust Hill Farm, winning 12 races, nine stakes, and earning over $1.2 million from 1987-89. His signature victory came in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial. His track record of 1:47 1/5 in winning the 1989 Never Bend Handicap at Pimlico still stands. He sired Grade 1-winning millionaires Soul of the Matter and Afternoon Deelites.
*Peach Tie seeks fifth straight win in Beyond the Wire
The Estate of Brereton C. Jones’s Peach Tie, unbeaten in five dirt starts, aims for her third straight stakes win at Laurel Park when she competes in the Beyond the Wire.
Breaking from post five under Sheldon Russell, Peach Tie will try a route for the first time after winning the Gin Talking Stakes on December 27 and the Wide Country Stakes on February 21, both at seven furlongs. She is 8-5 on DeRosa’s morning line.
“There’s something about this filly that gives me a lot of confidence,” trainer Brittany Russell said after the Wide Country. “She does whatever it takes. This filly has flown under the radar, done everything right, and shows up on race day. She’s an absolute dream to have in the barn.”
Russell said she deliberately skipped the Xtra Heat Stakes on February 4 to allow Peach Tie time to develop for races like the Wide Country and Beyond the Wire.
Law School, owned by Super C Racing and Jagger Inc., won Parx’s Future Stars Fillies Stakes by seven lengths on December 30. She then finished second, three lengths behind Peach Tie in the Wide Country, and later finished third as the favorite in Parx’s Main Line Stakes on March 3.
Both the Wide Country and Main Line races were run on wet tracks.
“She got a couple of wet, sealed tracks,” said trainer Jamie Ness. “I don’t think she cares for it. It is what it is. Not an excuse. Hopefully, we get a dry track this weekend.”
The Wide Country was just a four-horse field, but Ness wasn’t happy with Peach Tie’s trip.
“When we squeezed out of [a four-horse battle on the backstretch], she never could recover from it. [Peach Tie] is too good of a horse to spot her like that. I didn’t like the setup last time. Hopefully, with a little longer distance, we’ll be more forwardly placed than last at the half-mile pole.”
Law School wheels back 18 days after the Main Line and is listed as the 7-5 favorite on DeRosa’s line. Hazlewood retains the mount from post two.
Ness admitted he “was skeptical, but the problem is if I wait two more weeks, I’ll run in New York, where we’ll catch a little tougher horses. Or, I’ve got to wait for the next one [at Laurel], which is six weeks. She’s training well. She’s healthy, fit, sound, so we’ll take a shot.”
Team D’s Some Ride, a yearling purchased for $180,000 and trained by Tony Dutrow, is set to face winners for the first time after winning a maiden special weight race at Aqueduct over a one-turn mile. He is expected to exhibit early speed with jockey Julio Hernandez.
Conversely, Miss Fulton Gal employs closing tactics, as she did when winning a first-level allowance around two turns on Valentine’s Day for trainer Michael Gorham and owners Trott Racing Stable, Five Sisters Farm, and John Polizos.
Momaxie, third in the Wide Country behind Peach Tie and Law School, also entered, along with Somemunny to Love.
Run as the Caesar’s Wish Stakes through 2017, the Beyond the Wire was renamed to recognize the founding of an industry-wide initiative between the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Maryland Jockey Club, Maryland Horse Breeders Association, and Maryland jockeys to facilitate safe and enriching placements for retired Maryland-based racehorses.
