Big Earn eyes first stakes victory

LAUREL, MD—Kenneth Ramsey’s Whenigettoheaven seeks a third consecutive victory in Laurel Park’s $100,000 Ben’s Cat Stakes for 3-year-olds and up, the co-featured event on Saturday’s “Summerfest” program. The $100,000 Jameela Stakes for fillies and mares is also on the card.

Both the Ben’s Cat and Jameela Stakes are restricted to Maryland- and Virginia-bred or -sired performers and are run at six furlongs on the Fort Marcy Turf Course. They are part of a series of races featuring Maryland-bred or -sired runners. Along with special Maryland Million bonuses for Maryland-sired horses, Laurel Park is offering Maryland Million “Win, and You’re In” spots for the first time to any eligible horse that wins any of those races.

Trained by Kenneth Ramsey’s grandson, Nolan Ramsey, Whenigettoheaven followed his 2025 Ben’s Cat triumph with a win in a restricted handicap at Colonial Downs on August 30. He then finished a close second in the Maryland Million Turf Sprint on October 11.

After finishing eighth in Gulfstream’s Janus Stakes on a course Nolan Ramsey feels Whenigettoheaven doesn’t enjoy, the 7-year-old Street Magician gelding rallied to third in Laurel’s King T. Leatherbury Stakes on April 18.

“It really impressed me,” Nolan Ramsey said about the King T. Leatherbury effort. “We were looking at the King Leatherbury as more of a prep than anything. [He had] the far outside post, and I thought [the race] drew up a pretty tough field. He really surprised me. [In his] first off the layoff, the post did us absolutely no favors, and we got a bit of traffic trouble. I thought he needed a race or two to shake the rust off a little bit. That was probably one of his better performances.”

Ramsey said he went back and forth about whether to wheel Whenigettoheaven back in the listed Jim McKay Turf Sprint at Laurel on Preakness Saturday, but ultimately decided to enter him for a slightly softer spot. When an allowance race at Laurel last month was washed off the turf, Whenigettoheaven scratched.

“Ideally, I would have liked him to have another race before this one, but he’s been training great,” Ramsey said. “He seems to be right where I want him. I just hope to have him wound up tight enough.”

Yedsit Hazlewood rides Whenigettoheaven, the 3-2 favorite on the morning line, as set by Ed DeRosa of Horse Racing Nation.

Elizabeth Merryman and Marc Detampel’s Witty races in the Ben’s Cat for the first time since he captured the 2023 edition. Also a 7-year-old gelding, Witty has $947,882 in earnings and enters this year’s Ben’s Cat after winning an off-turf allowance race here on May 29.

“I was really sad they came off the grass today, but he wanted to run so badly,” trainer Merryman said in the winner’s circle. “He's obviously a nice dirt horse. The one thing he hates about dirt is having it in his face. Barbosa did a nice job letting him drift to the outside and keeping him out of the dirt.”

Witty has overcome significant adversity in his career. One reason Witty resents kickback is that he almost lost his eye while racing on dirt at Parx as a 3-year-old. After finishing third in Colonial’s Da Hoss Stakes on September 6, the son of Great Notion went to the sidelines for the rest of 2025.

“He wrenched his ankle last fall, and we decided to give him a longer winter break because we’d be pressing to get back for anything last fall,” Merryman said. “So we just checked him out for the whole winter. He was at my house, turned out with a bunch of other horses, living the life. He’s a sweetheart on the farm.”

Witty is listed at 9-5 on the morning line and will be ridden by Jeiron Barbosa.

Gracie Mae Stables and Great Lake Stables’ Had to Have Him finished third in last year’s Ben’s Cat, 1 1/4 lengths behind Whenigettoheaven. After that race, he completed his 2025 campaign with a flourish, placing a close second behind Witty in Colonial’s Van Clief Stakes before sweeping to victory in both the Laurel Dash and the Maryland Million Turf Sprint.

Trained by John Salzman Jr., Had to Have Him has raced twice this year, finishing off the board in both the King T. Leatherbury and the Jim McKay Turf Sprint. Jevian Toledo rides at 5-2 on the morning line.

Winning the Ben’s Cat would be “dreams coming true,” according to Anthony “TJ” Aguirre Jr., the trainer of Little Man Farm’s Tidewater.

Tidewater, who finished second, beaten by a neck, in the 2024 Ben’s Cat, is like a member of the Aguirre family.

“He gives me everything he's got in every race, no matter what,” Aguirre said. “He's the sweetest-natured horse I have. I can get my 2-year-old son to walk him around the barn. When my son was born, [Tidewater] was licking the bottom of his foot. When he retires, he will have a forever home. My wife wants to make him her show pony. He's the perfect little horse.”

Tidewater, like Had to Have Him, has raced twice this year. Last month, he finished eighth in the Jim McKay Turf Sprint.

“As a Maryland-bred competing against some of the best horses in the country in that turf sprint, he gave a valiant effort,” Aguirre said. “He should be ready to rock and roll.”

Ridden by Jean Briceno, Tidewater is 8-1 on the line.

Hillwood Stable’s Brightshininglight and Black & Blue Stable’s Thataway also entered the Ben’s Cat. Bonuccelli Racing’s Wickeddivine runs only if the race is moved to the main track.

The Ben’s Cat Stakes is named for the four-time Maryland-bred Horse of the Year. Ben’s Cat, a homebred trained by the late Hall of Fame trainer King T. Leatherbury, won 32 of 63 starts and earned $2,643,782.

*Big Earn eyes first stakes victory

Big Earn has four legs, two ears, and a tail.

She has only one eye, but a big heart.

Big Earn, a homebred mare owned by Helen Marshall, looks for her first stakes victory in the Jameela.

“It was a stall accident,” Marshall said about the unfortunate incident that cost Big Earn her left eye. “It happened at Pimlico. One morning, she became upset when a horse walked by and reared up, and her head went through the ceiling.”

The accident occurred in 2023, shortly after Big Earn finished third in the Maryland Juvenile Filly Stakes, and forced her to miss more than a year of racing.

After eight unsuccessful races for two trainers, Marshall transferred Big Earn to Michael Trombetta’s shedrow, where the team focused on developing Big Earn into a turf sprinter.

She won her first three starts for Trombetta and prepared for the Jameela with a victory in a restricted allowance race on May 31.

“She's a racehorse,” said Tana Aubrey, Trombetta’s trusted assistant, in the winner’s circle that day. “She gives it her all every time she runs. She's a beautiful, kind mare. She's a pleasure to train and to have in the barn.”

Big Earn, listed at 6-1 on DeRosa’s morning line, will be ridden by Jorge Ruiz.

Mopo, who carries the silks of Maury Povich’s Mopo Racing, defeated Big Earn in a restricted allowance on May 2 and then finished a close second in an open first-level allowance at 5 ½ furlongs on June 5.

Phil Capuano trains the 4-year-old Great Notion filly. Forest Boyce rides at 5-2 on the morning line.

“Last time out, speed was very favorable, and we just couldn’t run down the horse on the front end,” Capuano said. “I think the extra sixteenth of a mile is not going to hurt her, based on how she’s run her last two races. This just looks like the right spot. Hopefully, we can get a good trip.”

Capuano isn’t overly concerned about the relatively short turnaround since Mopo’s last race.

“We took her off Lasix [last year],” Capuano said. “She was having a lot of heat strokes. For a horse like her, she bounced back from the race really well. She’s been pretty keen and sharp in training over the last few days.”

Mopo usually runs with a hood on.

“A lot of those Great Notions are pretty hot-tempered,” Capuano explained. “It was meant to take the edge off.”

Trainer Hugh McMahon and SAB Stables bring two strong contenders into the race.

Boujee Bubblez has won three of her last four starts, including her seasonal debut in an open second-level allowance race on May 16.

“I was [proud] of that effort because she was coming off morning fitness, and she was running against horses that were race-fit,” McMahon said. “To do what she did was very rewarding.”

McMahon believed that Boujee Bubblez matured after she was switched to turf.

“We like to discover before the turf season, with a breeze on the turf, despite pedigree,” McMahon said. “Most horses can run on grass until proven otherwise. She did an outstanding breeze, and we thought it would be foolish not to run on the turf. Once on the turf, she began to engage with competition and understand what it means to be competitive. I see a bigger, stronger horse. She’s just developed physically.”

Malbu Hooch, second in the 2024 Maryland Million Lassie, was claimed by McMahon and SAB for $62,500 on February 7, 2025. The Bourbon Courage mare missed more than a year of racing before making her turf debut in Laurel’s The Very One Stakes against open company on May 15, finishing last of eight.

“We had to get her back to good health,” McMahon said, crediting SAB for its patience. “At the beginning of the turf season, she breezed with Boujee Bubblez, who was the measurement, to see how she’d fare. She beat her in the breeze.”

When the allowance options didn’t fill, McMahon entered The Very One.

“It was not ideal, but it was the only option,” he said. “She got hindered in the stretch. That’s a very respectable race off a layoff against that kind of company.”

McMahon admitted that jockey Yedsit Hazlewood chose Boujee Bubblez over Malibu Hooch, who is ridden by Mychel Sanchez.

DeRosa tabbed Boujee Bubblez as the 9-5 morning line favorite. Malibu Hooch is listed at 15-1.

Three Diamonds Farm’s Sporting Lady, Richard Blue Jr. and Ann Merryman’s Gift of Gab, and Jean Mahoney’s Gold Digging Broad also entered. Conquerthosewecan runs Main Track Only.

The Jameela Stakes is named for the superstar mare who became the first Maryland-bred to earn more than $1 million. Jameela won 27 of 58 starts, including 17 stakes races, and was named Maryland-bred Horse of the Year twice. She is the dam of Hall of Famer Gulch.