Corvus aimed at Maryland Million off Sunday score

Corvus. Photo by The Racing Biz.

From a Maryland Jockey Club release

Wayne Harrison, Bob Manfuso and Katie Voss’ 3-year-old gelding Corvus may have earned himself a return trip to the Oct. 22 Maryland Million following his front-running victory in Sunday’s featured ninth race at Laurel Park.

The bay son of Dance With Ravens, who debuted last fall with a victory in the six-furlong Maryland Million Nursery on dirt, was making his second straight grass start in the $42,000 allowance for 3-year-olds and up.

Under jockey Jevian Toledo, Corvus ($8.60) ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.42 over a firm All Along Turf Course. He had won two back in a seven-furlong entry-level allowance on dirt Aug. 20.  In his last start prior to this, he was fourth by 1 ¾ lengths following an inside trip Sept. 9 going 1 1/16 miles in his turf debut, both at Laurel.

“He ran really well last time and got in a little bit of trouble. I thought he should have been second. It was the luck of the race,” said Voss, who also trains Corvus. “We’re just trying to get him to relax. He sat off the pace last time, but nobody wanted the lead today. He’s a fast horse, so 24 and 49 [seconds] is going easy for him. He had plenty left in the stretch.

“He came out of the last race really good,” she added. “This was a little quick back but there really wasn’t any other option for him that wasn’t too close to Maryland Million. If he comes out of this good we’d like to try that if it doesn’t come up too tough. If he’s good, we’ll go.”