Hibiscus Punch, Share the Ride Win Grade 3s at Laurel
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Photo: Jim Duley/Maryland Jockey Club
Hibiscus Punch wins the Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park
On an afternoon in which favorites and second favorites won most of the six stakes at Laurel Park during its Winter Sprintfest program Feb. 20, Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson's homebred Hibiscus Punch paid off for longshot backers in the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie Stakes (G3).
The 41-1 outsider ignited the toteboard with a 2 1/2-length triumph in the seven-furlong race, and followed by a trio of other large-priced runners, keyed a series of sizable exotics payoffs. Hibiscus Punch paid $85.60 for a $2 win wager.
Originally scheduled for Feb. 13, the Winter Sprintfest card was pushed back a week after winter storms passed through the Mid-Atlantic region, and Hibiscus Punch didn't seem to mind. It gave her over a month's rest since her previous race, a three-length first-level allowance score Jan. 17 at Laurel going six furlongs.
Neither the extra distance in the seven-furlong Barbara Fritchie, nor the tougher company, lessened her effectiveness. She rated in third as favorites Dontletsweetfoolya and Hello Beautiful raced close together with splits of :22.75 and :45.51, and went after them leaving the turn.
She blew past the leading duo soon after hitting the stretch and opening up a three-length advantage with a furlong to go, remained clear of the race's closers. Estilo Talentoso, an 18-1 shot, rallied wide for second, 3 1/2 lengths in front of 12-1 Club Car, who was a half-length in front of 34-1 Needs Supervision in fourth.
Hello Beautiful, the 2-5 favorite, ran fifth, and 3-1 Dontletsweetfoolya was seventh in the field of eight.
Winning jockey Horacio Karamanos, aboard Hibiscus Punch for three of four races since she joined the Maryland barn of trainer Justin Nixon, earned his third career Barbara Fritchie victory following Lady Sabelia in 2015 and High Ridge Road in 2017.
"I felt like I can win this race because I talked to Justin Nixon when I breezed her last time. She breezed really easy and I told him this filly is good," Karamanos said. "Last time when we won, I said, 'She's got them,' so I felt very confident. When I sat behind them and I asked her, she came running.
"I see the speed going, the two fillies to beat in front of me. I sat right behind them," he added. "I had plenty of horse. In the middle of the turn, at the quarter pole, my filly went on her own."
The lightly-raced 6-year-old daughter of Into Mischief was timed in 1:23.16 for the distance. She earned $150,000 to advance her earnings to $246,561 with three wins, two seconds, and two thirds from eight starts. Before joining Nixon, she raced on Woodbine's synthetic track for trainer Kelly Callaghan.
"We'll have to talk with Mr. Seltzer and Beverly (about what's next) and whatever they decide, we're thrilled," Nixon said. "They're so patient and they're such great people to train for. Really it was their doing, this filly."
Bred in Kentucky by her owners, Hibiscus Punch is the first stakes winner from her dam, the Machiavellian mare Bellini Sunrise. All eight of the dam's foals to race are winners, a group that also includes the stakes-placed Into the Sunrise, also by Into Mischief. The dam also has a pair of unraced foals, a Kantharos 2-year-old filly named Flirtini, and an unnamed Goldencents yearling colt. She was reported bred to Omaha Beach for 2021.
Video: Runhappy Barbara Fritchie S. (G3)
Share the Ride Shares the Headlines With General George Victory
Running in the $250,000 General George Stakes (G3) a race after the Barbara Fritchie, Share the Ride may also have appreciated the extra recovery time he received from the postponement of the Winter Sprintfest.
Coming off a third-place finish in the Toboggan Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack Jan. 30, he wheeled back on relatively short rest to defeat Tattooed by two lengths in the General George.
Pressing the pace inside under Victor Carrasco, he shook off pacesetter Arthur's Hope in the stretch and though Tattooed rallied smartly late, not even he would challenge the winner. After pushing splits of :23.20 and :46.13, Share the Ride finished seven furlongs in 1:22.85. He paid $10.80.
Share the Ride wins the General George Stakes at Laurel Park
"I just sat patient and waited and when we got near to the quarter pole and said, 'Go,' he responded well and we got the 'W,'" Carrasco said.
The Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey of 2013 and a winner of 1,051 races, Carrasco notched his first graded stakes-winning ride in the General George.
"First of all, I want to say thanks to the trainer and the owner. I can’t even explain,” Carrasco said. "I've been through so much in my career (that) when I passed the wire, I could not believe it. But thank God we’re here and thanks to Share the Ride, we got it done."
Laki and Lebda ran evenly to be third and fourth, respectively, while Funny Guy, the 2-1 favorite, finished last in the field of nine.
Miguel Penaloza trains Share the Ride, a 6-year-old son of Candy Ride , for owner Silvino Ramirez. A three-time stakes winner, twice at the graded level, he has now won nine races from 23 starts and $557,860. $388,000 of his earnings have come since Ramirez claimed him for $16,000 in July at Monmouth Park.
"Everything came out like the plan we made. We’re really happy," Ramirez said. "He's a fast horse. He likes to run in front. He was a little behind last time. He didn't like it so much, so this time we were in front. That's the way he likes it."
Share the Ride previously raced for Colts Neck Stables, who purchased him as a 2-year-old for $175,000 from the William B. Harrigan consignment at The Gulfstream Sale, Fasig-Tipton's premier 2-year-old sale, in 2017.
Bred in Kentucky by Dixiana Farms, Share the Ride is out of the stakes-winning, grade 1-placed Graeme Hall mare Belle of the Hall. The dam has produced two winners from as many to race. She has a pair of unnamed foals, a 2-year-old colt by Curlin and a City of Light yearling filly.