Hello Beautiful Catches Eye in Barbara Fritchie Stakes

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Photo: Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club
Hello Beautiful wins the What A Summer Stakes at Laurel Park

With few remaining gaps on Hello Beautiful's resume, trainer Brittany Russell will seek to achieve a significant milestone for both herself and her stable star when they go up against seven rivals in the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie Stakes (G3) Feb. 13 at Laurel Park.

The 69th running of the Fritchie for older fillies and mares and the 45th edition of the $250,000 General George Stakes (G3) for males highlight a Saturday program of six stakes worth $900,000. Both graded races are contested at seven furlongs.

A graded win would fill an important blank on an otherwise stellar ledger for Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables, and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful, a Maryland-bred daughter of Golden Lad  who is unbeaten in seven starts on the Laurel main track.

"For my first graded win to be Hello Beautiful would just be perfect. She's just done so much for us and we've had so much fun with her," Russell said. "She deserves it. She's good at Laurel. We don't know how good she is outside of Laurel, but it would just mean so much for all of us."

The speedy Hello Beautiful is also 3-for-four at seven furlongs, including wins in the Maryland Million Nursery Stakes and Safely Kept Stakes last fall to cap her sophomore campaign. In her only previous graded attempt, she ran sixth in the Prioress Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course, one of two races in which she was off the board when shipped outside Maryland.

The opposition is headed Five Hellions Farm's Dontletsweetfoolya and Barry Schwartz's homebred filly Sharp Starr, both stakes winners.

"It would be special to be able to come back and win a race like this, especially with a filly like her," trainer Horacio DePaz said of Sharp Starr, winner of the Go For Wand Handicap (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack last fall. "We developed her as a 2-year-old and she's kind of taken us to Saratoga and stuff and competed very well in New York. It's nice when you can develop one like this."

The General George follows the Barbara Fritchie as the eighth race, a sprint that drew numerous runners from the Fire Plug Stakes at Laurel Jan. 16, though not the winner, Wendell Fong.

Share the Ride, runner-up in the Fire Plug and subsequently third in the Jan. 30 Toboggan Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct, makes his third start of 2021. 

Miguel Penaloza trains the 6-year-old Candy Ride  gelding for owner Silvino Ramirez.

Stakes winners Laki, Lebda, and Majestic Dunhillare his principal adversaries.

R A Hill Stable's Majestic Dunhill returns to the northeast from Florida, where he was 10th in the Mr. Prospector Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park Dec. 19. The George Weaver trainee won the Bold Ruler Handicap (G3) over Share the Ride at Belmont Park last fall.


Entries: Runhappy Barbara Fritchie S. (G3)

Laurel Park, Saturday, February 13, 2021, Race 7

  • Grade III
  • 7f
  • Dirt
  • $250,000
  • 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
  • 3:23 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Sharp Starr (NY) Alex Cintron 120 Horacio DePaz 3/1
2 2Club Car (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Victor R. Carrasco 120 Ben Colebrook 6/1
3 3Dontletsweetfoolya (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Jevian Toledo 120 Lacey Gaudet 7/2
4 4Estilo Talentoso (KY) Alexander Crispin 120 Juan Arriagada 10/1
5 5Suggestive Honor (ARG) Jorge Ruiz 120 Marco P. Salazar 50/1
6 6Hibiscus Punch (KY) Horacio Karamanos 120 Justin J. Nixon 12/1
7 7Needs Supervision (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Feargal Lynch 120 Jeremiah O'Dwyer 12/1
8 8Hello Beautiful (MD) Sheldon Russell 120 Brittany T. Russell 8/5


Entries: General George S. (G3)

Laurel Park, Saturday, February 13, 2021, Race 8

  • Grade III
  • 7f
  • Dirt
  • $250,000
  • 4 yo's & up
  • 3:53 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Laki (MD) Horacio Karamanos 122 Damon R. Dilodovico 9/2
2 2Funny Guy (NY) Sheldon Russell 120 John P. Terranova II 9/5
3 3Lebda (KY) Alex Cintron 120 Claudio A. Gonzalez 8/1
4 4Majestic Dunhill (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Feargal Lynch 120 George Weaver 10/1
5 5Fortunate Friends (FL) Jevian Toledo 120 Shaun C. Morrow 20/1
6 6Share the Ride (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Victor R. Carrasco 120 Miguel Penaloza 3/1
7 7Informative (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Roimes Chirinos 120 Uriah St. Lewis 30/1
8 8Arthur's Hope (NY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Alcibiades C. Cortez 120 Marco P. Salazar 20/1
9 9Chilly in Charge (PA) J. D. Acosta 120 Miguel Vera 12/1
10 10Tattooed (MD) Angel Cruz 120 Timothy L. Keefe 15/1