Winning and more: The week in social media

by Chelsea Lowman | Dec 4, 2020 | Breaking, Business, Regionwide, Top Stories

Hello Beautiful won the Safely Kept Stakes. Photo by Jerry Dzierwinski.

Maryland-bred stakes action will take place at Laurel Park, trainer and owner John D. McKee reached a milestone at Charles Town Races, and Maryland-bred Hello Beautiful picked up her second black-type win in a row.

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

Weekend stakes action

Laurel Park remains closed to the public because of Covid-19 restrictions, but the track will still offer special days of racing that fans can watch and wager on from home.

The first event for December at Laurel Park takes place this Saturday, December 5. It is the Maryland Spectacular Day, which will feature two black-type races for two-year-olds that are Maryland-bred/Maryland-sired. The first stakes event will kick off at 3:23 p.m. EST. The Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship has attracted a field of nine fillies to compete at the distance of seven furlongs on the main track. The second stakes event is the seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile Futurity for two-year-olds and is set to commence at 3:53 p.m. EST.

In all, there will be a total of nine races taking place for Maryland Spectacular Day with a first post time of 12:25 p.m. EST.

McKee twofer

John D. McKee had a major night at Charles Town Races this past week, when he finished first and second in the Eleanor Casey Memorial Stakes with two fillies that he bred, owns, and trains.

Shutupn’kissme, a bay West Virginia-bred daughter of Fiber Sonde, took home the prize in the seven-furlong test on the main track. With jockey Wesley Ho in the irons, Shutupn’kissme briskly led the pace throughout the race and cruised home in the end as her stablemate, Theladyistrue (also by Fiber Sonde), picked up the pieces in second.

Shutupn’kissme currently has two wins and two seconds from five career starts and has banked earnings of $75,703.

While Shutupn’kissme had placed a solid second in the Rachel’s Turn Stakes and West Virginia Triple Crown Nutrition Breeders’ Classic Stakes earlier in her career, her triumph in the Eleanor Casey Memorial Stakes was her first black-type victory to date.

Hello Beautiful!

Maryland-bred Hello Beautiful won her second stakes race in a row this past weekend, when she swept to glory in the Safely Kept Stakes at Laurel Park.

With jockey Sheldon Russell in the pilot’s seat, Hello Beautiful stalked the pace before taking command in the stretch. The bay filly received urging from her rider as surrounding foes rallied to challenge, but Hello Beautiful was quick to respond. Hello Beautiful separated herself from the pack and won with authority, stopping the clock in a final time of 1:22.26 for seven furlongs.

Prior to her win in the Safely Kept Stakes, Hello Beautiful had claimed success in the Maryland Million Distaff back in October. To date, Hello Beautiful has won three of her six races in 2020, and has made it to the winner’s circle a total of six times from twelve career starts.

Bred by Hillwood Stables LLC, Hello Beautiful is owned in partnership by Madaket Stables LLC, Frassetto, Albert, Parkinson, Mark, K-Mac Stable and Magic City Stables, LLC. Hello Beautiful is conditioned by trainer Brittany Russell.

By Maryland sire Golden Lad, Hello Beautiful was a modest purchase of $6,5000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December Mixed Sale back in 2018. To date, the three-year-old filly has collected earnings of $317,110 on the track.