Mid-Atlantic Three Stars: April 6
Super Garner, here winning March 3, won again at Charles Town last week. Photo: Coady Photography.
Plenty of racing action took place throughout the Mid-Atlantic this past week.
Here’s a look at the “three stars” of each track:
LAUREL PARK
- Racing at Laurel Park was canceled this past week, due to the ongoing EHV-1 situation.
CHARLES TOWN RACES
- FIRST STAR: SUPER GARNER. This West Virginia-bred gelding won his fourth in a row on Friday night, going gate-to-wire in a West Virginia-bred allowance optional claiming race. Arnaldo Bocachica put him on the lead early, and he kept on going despite some early pace pressure. He’s found his best stride in his 7-year-old season, with a quarter of his almost $200,000 in career earnings coming this year. He’s owned by KCMH Racing LLC and Dunham Thoroughbreds and trained by Bernard Dunham.
- SECOND STAR: ANTONIO LOPEZ. Lopez had five winners over the racing week at Charles Town, including wins in three of the first four races on Wednesday night. He took race 1 on heavy favorite Happy Bee, for owner/trainer Jeff Allen, race 3 on Windsors For It, for owner/trainer Lela Hanagan, and the 4th race on Southern Saviour, trained by Edward Schottroffe. Lopez has 18 wins on the meet, good for eighth place in the standings.
- THIRD STAR: DONTMESAWITHME. He picked up his first win of the year in Thursday night’s feature race, a n/w2x allowance optional claiming race. Darius Thorpe kept him close to the pace, and drew alongside early leader Fu Man Sue as they turned for home. In the last sixteenth, Dontmesawithme pulled clear for a one-length win, covering seven furlongs over a good track in 1:26.93. He’s owned by Stephen and Debbie Jackson and trained by Flint Stites.
PARX RACING
- FIRST STAR: RUBEN SILVERA. Silvera was impressive on Tuesday’s card, winning five races on the 11-race program. Three of those wins came on horses trained by Jamie Ness. They teamed up in race 1 on Kid d’Oro, race 3 on Forloveofcountry, and the 10th race on Wentz. Silvera also won race 4 aboard Twirling Dervish, trained by Louis Linder Jr, and the 5th race on Hey Jabber Jaw, for trainer Michael Catalano Jr. Silvera won nine races over the course of the week, and leads the way in the current Parx standings.
- SECOND STAR: DEAL DRIVEN. Wednesday’s feature, an open allowance race around two turns, went to this hard-knocking gelding in his first win of the year. Sent off at 7/2 in the five-horse field, he rated two-wide early, then moved four-wide on the turn. In the stretch, he held a two-length lead, and although Alwaysmining made a good rally late, Deal Driven held on for a half-length victory. The final time was 1:42.28 for a mile and 70 yards over a sloppy track. He’s owned by Charles Lo and Troy Johnson, trained by Robert Mosco, and ridden by Roberto Rosado.
- THIRD STAR: WENTZ. One of Silvera and Ness’s winners on Tuesday, Wentz won a n/w2x allowance optional claiming race over his stablemate, Flat Out Beautiful, by 3/4 of a length. Silvera rated his mount off the pace in the early stages, then moved three-wide entering the stretch and drew clear late. Although Flat Out Beautiful surged late, Wentz had enough to hold on for the win. That marked Wentz’s first win since April 2019, which came in an allowance race at Keeneland. Morris Kernan Jr and Jagger Inc are the winning owners.
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