Sharing, Happy Saver, more: The week in social media

Sharing. Photo Maryland Jockey Club.

Maryland sire Force the Pass has been sold to Saudi Arabian connections, undefeated colt Happy Saver may have punched his ticket for the Preakness Stakes, and Maryland-bred filly Sharing scored big during the Kentucky Oaks undercard last week.

Here is the 411 on what racing fans in the Mid-Atlantic region have been buzzing about on social media this past week:

Sharing takes the Edgewood

A Maryland-bred filly represented the Mid-Atlantic region in Louisville on May 4 by scoring big in the Grade 2 Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Downs during the undercard of the Kentucky Oaks.

Sharing, a chestnut daughter by Speightstown out of Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Shared Account, tracked the early pace of the one-mile turf event, before seizing control of the lead near the three-sixteenths pole. Sharing fended off all challengers past the eighth pole and kicked home to win by 1 ¼ lengths, stopping the clock in a final time of 1:36.87 over good turf. Hendy Woods and Lucky Betty completed the trifecta.

A winner of five races from seven starts, Sharing owns three previous stakes wins to go along with her Edgewood score, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), Selima Stakes at Laurel Park, and the Tepin Stakes. Prior to her win in the Edgewood Stakes, Sharing was a game second in the Grade 1 Coronation Stakes at the legendary Royal Ascot.

Bred by Sagamore Farm, Sharing is owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, who purchased the filly for $350,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York Select Yearling Sale back in 2018, and Gainesway Stable. The chestnut filly is trained by Graham Motion and is regularly ridden by jockey Manuel Franco. To date, Sharing has collected earnings of $1,038,751.

Happy Saver a Preakness possible

Happy Saver, a chestnut son of 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, remained undefeated in Monday’s Federico Tesio Stakes, earning an automatic entry into the October 3 Preakness Stakes along the way.

Happy Saver stalked the pace of the 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park before sweeping to a 1 ½-length victory in the stretch over Monday Morning Qb and Big City Bob, who rolled up to claim second and third, respectively. With jockey Trevor McCarthy in the irons, Happy Saver stopped the clock in a sharp final time of 1:49.15 for the $100,000 event, making it the fastest running of the race at that distance since Marciano won the race in 2001 in a final time of 1:49 flat.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, who also conditioned the colt’s sire, Happy Saver made his debut in June of this year. The colt has made every start a winning once since breaking his maiden on his first attempt. Will he enter the Preakness? Pletcher says possibly, but it won’t be cheap. Happy Saver was not nominated to the Triple Crown, and his owners would have to supplement him in for $25,000.

Bred and owned by Wertheimer and Frere, Happy Saver has banked current earnings of $135,900.

Force the Pass, we hardly knew ya!

Force the Pass, a Grade 1 winning millionaire son of Speightstown, has been sold to connections in Saudi Arabia where the young stallion will now carry on his stud career. First entering stud in 2020, Force the Pass stood at Anchor & Hope Farm in Port Deposit, Md.

Originally Acquired by T.K. Kuegler’s Wasabi Ventures Stallions, LLC, there were no initial plans of selling Force the Pass, who was first obtained by the venture with plans of trying to make him a top Mid-Atlantic sire. However, Kuegler said the Saudi offer was too good an opportunity for the connections to turn down.

During his time on the track, Force the Pass was triumphant in five of his twenty-one starts, including scores in Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes and the Grade 3 Penn Mile Stakes. Force the Pass retired from the track with $1,359,114 in earnings.

Force the Pass stood for a fee of $4,000 for his first and only season of stud at Anchor & Hope Farm this year. During his time as a Maryland sire, Force the Pass covered 57 mares. His first foals will hit the ground in 2021.

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