Thundering Roars in Japan Racing Association Turf Cup
Trommer Takes De Francis Dash Day Handicapping Challenge

By Vinnie Perrone

LAUREL, MD--Four talented horses traveled 200 miles or more to try the $125,000 Alma North Stakes at Laurel Park, but none could approach the filly that walked from her backyard.

Maida, a racy 4-year-old filly stabled at Laurel, sauntered over from Brittany Russell's barn and then tore through the Alma North with tremendous urgency. She popped to the lead from the outside post, thwarted all five chasers and drained the drama from the 6 1/2-furlong affair, finishing 10 1/2 lengths ahead of runner-up Grammy Girl and 14 lengths before third-place Benedetta.

The runaway bore gravitas given the fillies and mares she trounced: Grammy Girl (2-1), trained by Saffie Joseph, had arrived from New York off two straight graded stakes scores; Bam's Bliss Kiss (9-2), from the Jorge Abreu barn, had won six straight, and New York stablemate Jody's Pride (5-1) had a Grade 2 victory on her ledger. Traversing a fast track, each of them saw Maida's black tail pull farther and farther ahead.

"She's been training really well; I had a lot of confidence in her today," said Russell, whose husband Sheldon rode the filly. "We always thought she was a very good horse."

The evidence supported it. After a nondescript debut in the Pimlico mud on Black-Eyed Susan Day, Maida added blinkers and capped a three-race winning streak by dominating the $100,000 Weather Vane Stakes at Laurel last September. After she finished sixth in the Grade 2 Raven's Run at Keeneland a month later, she got the winter off and resumed training this spring.

"Yeah, the blinkers have helped," Brittany said. "Also, she's walking out of her own stall [to race]. This is home. She's good on this track."

To be precise, three starts, three victories.

Favored at 3-2 for her first start in eight months, Maida blasted through quarter-mile fractions of 21.72 seconds, 45.76 and 1:11.72, stopped the clock in 1:18.44 and boosted her six-race earnings to $198,150 for breeder Harry Papaleo's Goodfellas LLC. The bay filly has an inverted white triangle on her face that tapers to a stripe and a certain pedigree that gave Russell boundless hope from the outset.

Before she became Maryland's preeminent trainer, Russell trained graded stakes winner Eve Giselle for Tim Ritchey. In 2021, Papaleo sent Eve Giselle to the stallion Improbable, and Russell was thrilled to receive the resulting filly.

"When this filly showed up, she stood out right away," Russell said. "It's pretty cool."

Six fillies and mares pursued the Alma North following the withdrawals of Trouble in Love, Onyx Ten and Hold Your Breath.

Russell said she'll keep Maida sprinting and aim for a graded stakes beyond the filly's home track.

The race's namesake, 1971 Maryland-bred Horse of the Year Alma North, won the Grade 1 Matchmaker at Atlantic City in 1973 and retired late the next year with stakes victories at nine tracks and 55 on-the-board finishes from 78 starts.

*JRA Turf Cup Witnesses a Thundering Display

A threatening rainstorm never overtook Laurel Park this muggy afternoon, but Thundering did.

A Maryland-bred enigma owned and bred by Canadian Jal Dastur and based in New Jersey, Thundering set the pace under talented apprentice Yedsit Hazelwood and proceeded to win the $125,000 Japan Racing Association Turf Cup by a length and half over fast-closing Thundering Display, who got second by a nose over spunky 8-year-old What Say Thee. Crisper, age 7, finished fourth.

Thundering, a 4-year-old bay gelding with three white socks and a knack for close defeats, prospered from a sound plan well executed. Trainer Derek Ryan deemed the eight-horse lineup thin on speed and instructed Hazelwood to urge Thundering out of the gate. Jockey and horse obliged.

On a firm turf course, Thundering took the lead first time past the grandstand at 9-2 and held it through manageable fractions even as Nelson Avenue (6-1) and favored A Bourbon for Toby (9-5) encroached along the backstretch and into the far turn. With Hazelwood urging Thundering, A Bourbon for Toby briefly drew even outside under Forest Boyce but soon tired of the chase.

Truly Quality, meantime, trailed into the homestretch at 5-2 and didn't immediately honor jockey Sheldon Russell's cue to advance. The graded stakes winner from Jonathan Thomas's Kentucky stable finally rallied between horses in midstretch but posed no threat to Thundering, who managed 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.21.

Thundering earned $75,000 with his third victory in 16 tries. His earnings, $236,418, could have been sweetened had he not been nosed out of first in Delaware Park's Kent Stakes and beaten by a half-length in Woodbine's Toronto Cup.

Trainer Ryan has saddled few horses at Laurel Park in a 30-year career, but he steered Thundering to Maryland after a prospective race at Monmouth Park didn't fill and another at the imminent Colonial Downs meet drew too many.

"This was plan two," he said.

Another wrinkle: Ryan removed the blinkers Thundering wore when he broke his maiden at 2 in Woodbine's Display Stakes and almost all his other starts.

"I like 'em as natural as possible," said Ryan, whose Jersey-bred sprint sensation Book'em Danno wears no blinkers.

Maryland-bred Thundering, by Mosler from the Street Cry mare Keep Right, was foaled at Country Life Farm in Belair. (Accordingly, Country Life principal Josh Pons made his way to the winner's circle.) Thundering had raced in Canada, Delaware, New York, Florida and New Jersey but never Maryland.

Ryan said he has Thundering's 2-year-old half-brother, Loyal Prince (by Cairo Prince), close to a debut in Florida.

Relationships defined the moment, the Japan Racing Association Turf Cup promoting a cooperative spirit between the Maryland Jockey Club and the JRA.

*Evan Trommer Wins Handicapping Challenge

Evan Trommer finished first among 133 horseplayers today in the De Francis Dash Day Handicapping Challenge, a $5,775 score that also earned him a seat in the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series this fall.

Trommer, a 61-year-old retired distribution CEO from Sarasota, Fla., played two entries through Xpressbet and advanced late on one of them to take the lead before Laurel's 11th-race finale. He uncharacteristically chose to wager nothing, he said, which probably won him the tournament.

"That was the best decision I made all day," he said.

An accomplished tournament player, Trommer said he used "a stalking trip" in the De Francis challenge. He lagged until Laurel's ninth race, when he nailed the Thundering-Truly Quality exacta that returned $37.40 for $2 and followed that with a $45 exacta play in the $175,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash. The $13.60 payoff, Hymn over Celtic Contender, gave him the lead entering the Laurel finale, a turf sprint for $16,000 maiden claimers.

Trommer didn't like the favorites in the eight-horse field but couldn't find a viable alternative. So he sat it out. My Captain won the race at 10-1, and none of Trommer's pursuers played the 6-7-9 result in a manner to pass him.

The $33,250 prize pool included $11,250 in cash payouts for the top five finishers and seats, travel, and lodging for either the 2026 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge at Keeneland or the 2027 National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas for the top three finishers.

The one-day tournament allowed handicappers to wager at Laurel Park or online through Xpressbet, TVG/4NJBETS and HPI. Participants paid $500 to enter and received a $250 bankroll for win, place, show, exacta and daily double wagers on all races at Laurel Park and select races at Monmouth Park. Entrants had to play at least five Laurel Park races and wager at least $50 bet per race.