Atlantis Queen Rules Nellie Morse Stakes
By Vinnie Perrone
LAUREL, MD–It took more than a quarter-mile, but Passage East eventually outran her shadow today at Laurel Park.
In a spirited showdown that spanned the homestretch and thrilled the air, Passage East raced alongside favored Takethemoneyhoney from the far turn to the wire in the $200,000 Barbara Fritchie Stakes. For some 5/16ths of a mile the outcome teetered until Passage East pushed ahead two strides before the end to take the $120,000 winner’s share by a nose.
Takethemoneyhoney earned $40,000 the hard way in another gallant effort. The 5-year-old Pennsylvania-based mare has finished first or second in nine career starts but couldn’t thwart Passage East, whose continued growth has proclaimed Hugh McMahon a horse-training visionary.
McMahon claimed the Audible filly for $30,000 in December 2024, with these results: 12 starts, eight wins, three seconds, a third, and $470,893 in purses for owner Larry Rabold. With steady improvement came her first true stakes test, which she passed in thrilling fashion against a bona fide dynamo.
Since its 1952 debut, the seven-furlong Fritchie has produced few such fiery finishes. Three withdrawals left a field of five but did nothing to dull its luster.
Dry Powder, a $525,000 yearling with prize winnings of nearly $460,000 in seven starts for trainer Chad Summers, set a wicked pace at 2-1 odds as Takethemoneyhoney (3-10) clung to her right flank. From the outside post, Passage East (5-1) comfortably tracked the front-runners under Sheldon Russell.
By the time Takethemoneyhoney pushed slightly ahead of Dry Powder midway through the far turn, Passage East ranged up three-wide, the battle joined. For the final 20 seconds in brilliant sunshine, the Fritchie outcome turned to fog.
Under equal weight, Passage East and Takethemoneyhoney matched strides from midstretch as if synchronized before Passage East inched ahead at the very last, covering seven furlongs in 1:24.00 and returning $12.40 for a $2 win mutuel.
On a fast track, third-place Dry Powder finished 6 1/4 lengths later, followed by Juba’s Parade and Bold Enoree.
Jockey Russell said he postponed a vacation to ride Laurel’s Saturday card for reasons clearly involving Passage East following their victory four weeks ago in the $100,000 What a Summer overnight handicap.
“She impressed me last time,” Russell said. “Today she impressed me even more.”
After Ruiz spoke with trainer Michael Moore, he praised Takethemoneyhoney’s flair and moxie.
“My filly responded again, but the rail’s a little deep,” he said. “I tried hard, but it’s okay. I’m happy with the second.”
After the two jockeys had ridden with vigor, Russell acknowledged a positional advantage. “She was in a good spot on the outside,” he said of Passage East, “and the outside horses always get braver.”
Calling Passage East a nervous shipper, trainer McMahon has contented to race the dark bay filly at home. In six starts at Laurel Park, Passage East has three wins, three seconds and earnings of $239,000.
*Atlantis Queen Rules Nellie Morse Stakes
Poker zealot Jon Madden anted $1,000 today at Laurel Park and took the $60,000 jackpot when Atlantis Queen reigned in the Nellie Morse Stakes.
The 4-year-old chestnut filly became a stakes winner by rallying to the fore early in the stretch and finishing with gusto, 4 1/4 lengths before Sultry Lass. Pacesetter Late Nite Call held third by a neck over favored Complexity Jane and fifth-place Doctor Abbie.
Atlantis Queen’s emphatic score extended a magical run for owner Madden, trainer Gary Capuano and apprentice jockey Yedsit Hazlewood. Capuano and Hazlewood have managed the improbable, teaming to win nearly 45 percent of their starts since 2024 ended. Atlantis Queen provided Madden’s third victory in six tries this year and continued his months-long surge; another of his runners, Hollywood Import, took Laurel’s Spectacular Bid Stakes 10 days earlier.
“We’re on a roll,” Madden said. “Gary’s been unbelievable.”
Since May 24, 2025, Madden’s Pocket 3’s Racing LLC has gotten 13 wins and 8 seconds from 31 starters, substantiating the yearling-focused philosophy he and Capuano have used the last few years.
To wit: Threes Over Deuces, a $30,000 purchase, won $810,627 and two stakes; Shackqueenking ($20,000), $434,645 and 2 stakes. Two others in training now follow their lead: Hollywood Import ($50,000) has won $176,200 and two stakes, and Work Hard ($77,000) has made $178,468. With her third victory in 16 starts, Atlantis Queen, a $30,000 yearling, grew her purse haul to $158,755.
Madden hailed Capuano’s horse-buying prowess, saying, “He’s been teaching me. He sees something he likes, I trust him.”
Atlantis Queen’s breakthrough proved a matter of length. “She’s been training . . . like gangbusters,” Madden said, “but on the track, she wasn’t tearing it up.”
Which left Capuano to improvise. For Atlantis Queen’s 11th start, he gave her more distance, and the filly celebrated the change. She won a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Laurel mid-November and managed the two-turn, $100,000 Nellie Morse with aplomb.
Madden has three kids and a taste for poker, he said, “so Pocket 3’s was a nice, natural name.” Hazlewood’s silks bore a spade, heart, club and diamond on the sleeve, and Atlantis Queen returned the $1,000 start and entry fee 60-fold.
She did it with patience and fortitude against seven other fillies and mares, breaking a bit sluggishly from post 6 and lagging well off the backstretch rail as 6-5 favorite Complexity Jane pressed Late Nite Call through moderate fractions. The roundabout tack notwithstanding, Atlantis Queen kept advancing through the far turn.
As Complexity Jane moved to a slender lead approaching the lane, Atlantis Queen came to call. She hooked the leaders three-wide at the head of the stretch and, after several strides alongside, pulled away without a bother.
A New York-bred by Mitole from the Haynesfield mare No Hayne No Gayne, Atlantis Queen finished the 8 1/2 furlongs in 1:46.32 and returned $11.80 as second betting choice.
Capuano considered his prolonged winning binge as something between implausible and serendipitous. At 62, he said, he’d like to trace the footsteps of his horse-training brother, Dale, who retired at the end of 2022. But certain individuals — specifically, his 15 horses stabled at Laurel and 11 at Delaware Park — keep reminding him it’s not yet time.
Last year, his 38th as trainer, Capuano set personal bests with $2.7 million in purses, a 32.2 win percentage and a gawdy $14,975 per starter. His runners won 10 stakes. Six-plus weeks of 2026 have yielded similar returns.
“We’ve got a bunch of nice horses, and they’re still runnin’ good, trainin’ good,” Capuano said. “You gotta ride the wave. You never know when it turns.”
