Foot Abscess Keeps Promising Juvenile Double Crown Out of Nursery
Jockey Pimentel Seeking First Career Classic Win with Clubman
Doors Open at 10:30 A.M. for Maryland Million Day at Laurel
Maryland Loses Veteran Trainer Donald Souder at 85

LAUREL, MD – Burning Daylight Farms Inc.’s Dothat Dance, who nearly sprung an upset at odds of 35-1 last fall, will be a long shot again as the 6-year-old gelding takes another crack at the $150,000 Maryland Million Classic Saturday at Laurel Park.

The 1 1/8-mile Classic for 3-year-olds and up serves to highlight the 34th Jim McKay Maryland Million Day program that includes seven stakes and four starter stakes worth $1.02 million in purses. First-race post time is noon, with the Classic carded as Race 10.

A bay son of 1996 Preakness (G1) winner and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) runner-up Louis Quatorze, Dothat Dance drew Post 10 of 11 in the Classic and is listed at 20-1 on the morning line. Horacio Karamanos will ride.

Trainer Ferris Allen claimed Dothat Dance for $25,000 out of an optional claimer Sept. 7 at Colonial Downs, and ran him back 15 days later in a 1 ½-mile handicap over Laurel’s world-class turf course, where he finished fifth.

The Classic will be Dothat Dance’s 46th career start, 29 of which have come on grass. He was also pre-entered in the one-mile, $125,000 Maryland Million Turf, a race where he ran fifth by a half-length in a blanket finish in 2017.

“We liked the idea of putting in a claim for this horse to shoot for this race or possibly the turf. We’re happy with how he is since he’s come to us,” Allen said. “We ran him a mile and a half on the grass after we claimed him and he ran an even race.

“Last year, he ran a powerful race in the Classic and was second to Saratoga Bob,” he added. “I think the race has come up similarly this year and, although he’s a long shot on paper, we think he’s got a chance.”

Dothat Dance rallied to get within a half-length of Saratoga Bob in last year’s Classic, and will face him and third-place finisher Clubman in this year’s edition. Clubman is the 2-1 program favorite, with Saratoga Bob second at 9-2.

“The field is full of horses that have cranks in their armor,” Allen said. “There’s no horse where you go, ‘Well, this horse is really headed toward his very best race,’ but one of them is and we’re just hoping that it’s us.”

Allen has trained one previous Maryland Million winner, filly Holdontothemoment in the 1997 Distaff Starter Handicap. He will also send out Love You Much, 9-2 second choice on the morning line, in the Turf.

“We’ve spent a long time here in the state of Maryland but we never really concentrated on the Maryland-sired horses in our barn,” Allen said. “This Maryland Million is such a nice thing and there’s so many new Maryland sires coming along, our approach to that is going to continue to be a little different.”

Foot Abscess Keeps Promising Juvenile Double Crown Out of Nursery

A foot abscess will prevent promising 2-year-old Double Crown, an impressive debut winner in his only previous start, from making his stakes debut in the $100,000 Maryland Million Nursery.

Trainer Lacey Gaudet said the abscess was discovered after Double Crown, a gelded bay son of Maryland’s leading sire of 2019, Bourbon Courage, worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds Tuesday over Laurel Park’s main track.

“He had a fantastic breeze and galloped out great,” Gaudet said. “The main reason we stayed on this campaign was because we were just going to keep his confidence high. I think he really would have looked spectacular against Maryland-sired horses and gave us a confidence boost and himself, too, staying home and staying against a local field. The timing just was horrible. He was just doing fantastic.”

Double Crown, bred by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman and Rebecca Davis, was purchased privately from owner Debbie Rhodes by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing following his rallying neck triumph over pacesetter Ournationonparade in a six-furlong maiden special weight Sept. 8 at Laurel.

Reeves also purchased Bernie Houghton-trained Ournationonparade, who is the 3-1 program favorite in the six-furlong Nursery over 7-2 second choice So Street, winner of the Howard County Stakes on Laurel’s turf Sept. 28.

“We soak it, we pack it and we hope it comes to a head in a couple days. Sometimes it takes longer, but hopefully that’s not what happens and we can get him back to work and kind of assess where we go from here,” Gaudet said.

Depending on his recovery, Double Crown would be under consideration for Laurel’s remaining 2-year-old stakes, the $100,000 James F. Lewis III at six furlongs Nov. 16, $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Futurity for Maryland-bred/sired horses at seven furlongs Dec. 7, and $100,000 Heft Dec. 28, also at seven furlongs.

“There’s a great setup for Maryland-bred 2-year-olds regardless,” Gaudet said. “There’s nothing hateful about an allowance race here. He’s a Maryland-bred and he gets a Maryland-bred bonus in allowance races. That should also keep his confidence high, but maybe it will give us the time to try and stretch him out a little bit more if we want to try that.”

Gaudet did enter Bush Racing Stable’s 4-year-old gelding Sparty in Saturday’s $50,000 Maryland Million Starter Handicap going seven furlongs, where he is the first also-eligible in a field limited to 14 but the 9-2 second choice in the program.

Sparty has a record of 5-5-5 from 24 career starts and is 2-3-3 from 11 tries at Laurel. His last seven races have come at Parx, the most recent an open entry-level allowance where he ran fourth Sept. 24, after which he was acquired by Gaudet.

“He’s a nice local horse and then last year he left here and had been in Philly for a little while. He’s just now returning back to Maryland,” she said. “He had a fantastic work the other day. I think seven-eighths might be a little bit short for him, but he’s pretty sharp. He’s won seven-eighths here and he really likes this track. I’m excited to have him in the barn, regardless.”

Jockey Pimentel Seeking First Career Classic Win with Clubman

Journeyman jockey Julian Pimentel is a Maryland mainstay with more than 1,700 career victories, 13 of them coming in the Maryland Million, ranking him fifth in event history as one of only five riders with double digits in wins.

The regular rider for late Mid-Atlantic legend Ben’s Cat, on whom he won the 2010 and 2012 Maryland Million Turf Sprint, Pimentel is still seeking his first win in the $150,000 Classic. His latest chance comes Saturday aboard 2-1 program favorite Clubman.

Caonabo Stable’s Clubman, trained by Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon, will be making his third consecutive start in the 1 1/8-mile Classic, having run fourth in 2017 and third in 2018. Last year’s winner, Saratoga Bob, also returns along with runner-up Dothat Dance.

Pimentel has been aboard Clubman for four of his nine races this year, three of them wins – two at Laurel over the winter as well as a 9 ½-length romp in the Maryland Coalition Stakes Aug. 24 at Timonium. They will break from Post 4 in a field of 11, not including Maryland-bred also-eligibles Cordmaker, Top Line Growth and 2017 Classic winner Bonus Points, who need at least four scratches to draw into the race.

“I think the distance will not be a problem. He’s a really nice horse. You can place him wherever you want, wherever you feel comfortable. The main thing is to wait as long as we can with him,” Pimentel said. “He’s one of those kinds of horses where you have to get the trip.”

Earlier on the program, Pimentel will try to guide John and Cheryl Banner homebred My Sistersledge to a record-tying third consecutive victory in the $125,000 Maryland Million Ladies, joining Countus In and Mz. Zill Bear as the race’s only three-time winners.

My Sistersledge can also become only the seventh horse in Maryland Million history with three career wins, along with Countus In, Mz. Zill Bear, Ben’s Cat, Eighttofasttocatch, Docent and Hall of Famer Safely Kept.

“It would be very special for everybody – the owners the trainers and for me,” Pimentel said. “She’s a very special filly.”

My Sistersledge won the Ladies by a nose in 2017 and a neck last year. Winner of the All Brandy Stakes Aug. 17, she was ninth by less than five lengths in the All Along Stakes Sept. 28 in her final Maryland Million prep.

“Last race I didn’t have the best of trips. I was inside the whole time and couldn’t get out. She didn’t really get a chance to run,” Pimentel said. “Anything can happen. Hopefully, we won’t be too far back and we won’t be stuck in a position where we can’t make our move.”

Other mounts for Pimentel on the Maryland Million program include Tommy Shelby in the $100,000 Nursery, Cee Bee Gee Bee in the $100,000 Distaff, and My Sistersledge’s younger full brother, My Brothersledge, in the $125,000 Turf.

“We wait all year for this day, the breeders and the owners and everybody involved,” Pimentel said. “It’s a very special day.”

Doors Open at 10:30 A.M. for Maryland Million Day at Laurel

Laurel Park will open its doors at 10:30 a.m. with a special first-race post time of noon for Saturday’s 34th Jim McKay Maryland Million Day program of 12 races, including seven stakes and four starter stakes worth $1.02 million in purses.

General admission and parking are free on Maryland Million Day, with valet parking available for $7. For information on reserved seating and dining options, click here.

Between live races there will be on-track demonstrations, entertainers and trick riding along with the official Suttler Post Clydesdales of Maryland Million and non-wagering pony races, a Kids Korral on the apron with stick horses, face painting and more, and Maryland Million hat contest on the second-floor clubhouse.

Heather Cellinesi, winner of the 2019 Joe Kelly Maryland Million Unsung Hero Award, and Bobbie Lillis, winner of the MHIB Touch of Class Award, will also be recognized during the program.

Click here for more information on Maryland Million Day events.

Maryland Loses Veteran Trainer Donald Souder at 85

Long time Maryland-based trainer Donald Souder, a multiple stakes winner of 255 career races, passed away Oct. 16 at the age of 85.

Souder began training in 1979 and bankrolled $3,954,481 in lifetime purse earnings from 3,157 starters. He set career highs with 21 wins in 1997 and $429,281 in purses earned in 2004. His last starter, Wilko’s Goldeneye, ran seventh Oct. 14 during Laurel’s Columbus Day holiday program.

Maryland-bred Higher Strata, who he also owned, ranked among Souder’s best horses, winning or placing in 14 stakes during a 56-race career, including victories in the 1996 Endless Surprise, 1995 Maryland City and 1994 Mister Diz at Laurel. Souder also trained stakes-winning filly Jubilees Galore.

In addition to training, Souder was involved with restaurants, construction and the Wynn Kelly Chevrolet automobile dealership in Clarksville, Md.