EDITED LAUREL PARK PRESS RELEASE
LAUREL, MD— Florida-bred Taj Mahal, an impressive debut winner on Feb. 6, steps up into stakes company for Saturday’s $100,000 Miracle Wood for 3-year-olds over a one-turn mile for breeder Vegso Racing Stable.
Owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Bashor Racing, Determined Stables, Golconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan’s, Taj Mahal, a $525,000 yearling purchase, recorded several workouts at Los Alamitos while trained by Bob Baffert, before being transferred to Brittany Russell’s stable last fall.
“He’s been a bit of a project since he came over,” Russell said after the debut victory. “I’m happy [the owners] were so patient because I think he’s worthwhile. I think he just hadn’t progressed. When I got him, he had one little thing we had to take a little bit of time with, and he got over it pretty quickly.”
Taj Mahal, who had kept morning company with the quality older stakes horse Prince of Jericho, didn’t break the best in the six-furlong maiden special weight, but swept past the field on the turn with an eye-catching turn of foot.
“I wasn’t expecting him to break like that,” she said. “It’s funny because he breaks pretty well in the morning. I saw a little immaturity in how he was acting today. He was good, but [jockey Sheldon Russell told me] he learned something today.”
Taj Mahal is the least experienced runner in the Miracle Wood.
“It’s definitely not a move for me to run one back this quickly off a maiden run,” Brittany Russell said Wednesday morning. “I haven’t had a chance to breeze him, but he’s been training right along. He came out of the race great. He came by me this morning with his head between his legs, bucking and playing. He’s obviously happy, and his energy is good. They were bred to be stakes horses, so I’m trying to step up and see what he’s made of.”
Brittany Russell also entered Balboa in the Miracle Wood, but said the colt will scratch out.
After finishing an excellent second in his career debut, Bird and Grady’s Close the Gate dominated a $50,000 maiden claimer at Laurel on Jan. 10.
Making his stakes debut 25 days later in the Spectacular Bid, the gelded son of Engage briefly took the lead in the homestretch before finishing second, three-quarters of a length behind Hollywood Import.
“He ran good,” trainer John Salzman, Jr., said after unsaddling Close the Gate following the Spectacular Bid. “He just caught a horse with a little more seasoning than we did. I don’t know how fit my horse was. I guess he got a little tired. There was no speed in the race, and [Hollywood Import] got away with a little easier lead than I would have liked. But it all worked out.”
Balboa’s scratch leaves Eagle Up Stables, London Reid Thoroughbreds, and Non-Stop Stable’s Let’s Go Lando as the only two-time winner entering the Spectacular Bid.
The Maryland-bred gelding by Game Winner captured his last start, a first-level allowance race over sloppy going, by six lengths, posting a career-high 79 Beyer speed Figure.
“I gelded him [last summer], and he’s been more mature and has really come around,” said trainer Gary Capuano. “We thought a lot of him early on. He’s been wanting to stretch out. Just a steady kind of horse.”
Lyno Maraspin’s Higher Sense earned a stakes-placing two starts back, finishing a well-beaten second in the Future Stars Stakes at Parx. In his seasonal debut at Laurel on February 4, the Higher Power colt wired six others by nine lengths in a maiden special weight over one mile.
Multiple stakes-placed G Q Worthy and recent maiden winner No More Calls complete the field.
The Miracle Wood is named after the Maryland-bred winner of $498,090 who placed fifth in the 1986 Preakness Stakes. The Miracle Wood shares top billing on the nine-race program alongside the $100,000 Wide Country Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs.
The first post time is 12:00 pm, and there are two “Value Pick 5” wagers, each with a low 12% takeout rate.
Tammy A. Gantt contributed to this story.
Return to the February 20 issue of Wire to Wire
