Five Stakes Worth $450,000 in Purses on St. Patrick’s Day Weekend

BALTIMORE – Newly minted Maryland-bred champions Joe and Luna Belle, both riding three-race win streaks, repeat champion Jaxon Traveler and multiple stakes winners Threes Over Deuces, Kiss the Girl and Whereshetoldmetogo are among 98 nominations to five stakes worth $450,000 in purses Saturday, March 19 at Laurel Park.

The Elkstone Group’s Joe, a Maryland homebred son of Declaration of War, tops 19 nominees to the $100,000 Private Terms. Going 1 1/16 miles, the Private Terms is next in Maryland’s series of stakes for 3-year-olds, preceded by the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid and one-mile Miracle Wood.

Next on the schedule is the $125,000 Federico Tesio April 16, a 1 1/8-mile ‘Win and In’ qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the 147th Preakness Stakes (G1) May 21 at historic Pimlico Race Course.

Trained by Michael Trombetta, Joe already passed his two-turn test with aplomb, rolling to a 2 ½-length optional claiming allowance triumph at the Private Terms distance Jan. 23. It is his lone start of the year after going 2-for-3 in 2021 including a victory in the seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile Dec. 18 to be named Maryland’s champion 2-year-old male.

Local Motive, Majestic Frontier and Heffner, the respective top three finishers from the Feb. 19 Miracle Wood, are also nominated to return in the Private Terms, as are Maximum Impact and Conclusive, who respectively ran fifth and sixth.

Also prominent among Private Terms nominees are Alottahope, second to Joe in the Maryland Juvenile; Belgrade, undefeated in two starts for trainer Graham Motion; Eagle In Love, a debut winner Feb. 3 at Aqueduct; Shake Em Loose and Last Romance, respectively 1-2 in the Dec. 26 Heft at Laurel; and Midnight Chrome, exiting a third in the Aqueduct’s Dec. 4 Remsen (G2).

The $100,000 Beyond the Wire for 3-year-old fillies going a mile proved most popular among horsemen with 24 nominations led by Luna Belle, a Maryland homebred owned by Deborah Greene and trainer Hamilton Smith. By Great Notion, Luna Belle was named Maryland’s champion 2-year-old filly after finishing in the money in five of seven starts, two of them wins, including the Maryland Juvenile Fillies.

Luna Belle took that momentum into 2022, opening her sophomore campaign with victories in the six-furlong Xtra Heat Jan. 29 and the seven-furlong Wide Country Feb. 19 by nine combined lengths. Ridden by Denis Araujo throughout her streak, she returned to the work tab with an easy half-mile in 49 seconds March 5 at Laurel.

Also nominated are Maryland Million Lassie winner Buff My Boots; Candy Light, a popular maiden winner Feb. 24 at Laurel; Click to Confirm, a half-length behind runner-up Luna Belle when third in the Nov. 13 Smart Halo; multiple stakes-placed Mama G’s Wish, riding a four-race win streak; She Is Wisky and Sandy’s Garden, respectively 2-3 in the Wide Country; and Morning Matcha, second in back-to-back stakes in New York.

The $100,000 Harrison E. Johnson Memorial for 4-year-olds and up going one mile attracted 22 nominees including the pair of Pocket 3’s Racing’s Threes Over Deuces and Shackqueenking. Threes Over Deuces is a two-time stakes winner, most recently in the Dec. 26 Dave’s Friend, and was sixth in the Feb. 19 General George (G3), a race where he ran second in 2020.

Shackqueenking won the 2020 Howard County as a 2-year-old and was third in three consecutive stakes, the Richard Small and Robert Manfuso to end 2021 and the Fire Plug to open 2022, before finishing fourth in the General George.

Other nominees include War Tocsin and 2021 Maryland Million Sprint winner Air Token, respectively second and fifth in the General George; 16-time career winner Bobby G; Borracho, a front-running allowance winner March 4 first off the claim for trainer Mike Gorham; Excellorator, unraced since being disqualified from first to second in the 2021 Tesio; Feb. 19 John B. Campbell winner Galerio and multiple stakes-placed Youngest of Five.

A pair of $75,000 stakes restricted to Maryland-bred/sired horses are also on tap – the six-furlong Not For Love for 4-year-olds and up and seven-furlong Conniver for fillies and mares 4 and older. Madaket Stables, Ten Strike Racing, Michael Kisber and BTR Racing, Inc.’s 7-year-old gelding Whereshetoldmetogo owns 13 career wins, 10 in stakes, and was second in the 2018 Gallant Bob (G3). Most recently he finished fifth as the favorite in the Dave’s Friend.

Air Token and Galerio are also among 18 Not For Love nominees along with West Point Thoroughbreds and Marvin Delfiner’s Jaxon Traveler. The 4-year-old colt, a last-out fifth to Grade 3 winner Wonderwherecraigis in the Fire Plug, was named the champion Maryland-bred of his division for a second straight year in 2021 after finishing in the top three in all nine of his starts including stakes wins in the Star de Naskra and Bachelor, a second in the Chick Lang (G3) and third in the Quick Call (G3) on turf.

Three Diamonds Farm’s Kiss the Girl, Schuylerville (G3) runner-up in her second career start, earned the first of her four stakes wins in last year’s Conniver. She went on to win the All Brandy last summer at Pimlico and has put together back-to-back wins in the Jan. 29 Geisha and Feb. 19 Nellie Morse, both at Laurel.

Fellow multiple stakes winner Artful Splatter, second in the Geisha and Nellie Morse; Cinnabunny, third in the 2020 Sugar Swirl (G3) at Gulfstream Park and Sept. 26 winner of the Flashy Lady at Remington Park in her most recent start; Fille d’Esprit, third by a length in the Barbara Fritchie (G3) Feb. 19 and her stablemate, 2021 Politely winner Princess Kokachin, are also nominated.