Taketheodds, Russell Road Win at Charles Town
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Robert Manfuso's homebred Taketheodds, with Mike Smith aboard, ran down front-running Flattering Bea at the wire to capture the $150,000 Sugar Maple Stakes Presented by CANTER Mid-Atlantic at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races April 18 .
The Sugar Maple, for fillies and mares at seven furlongs, was one of several stakes on the Saturday afternoon Charles Town Classic (gr. II) program at the West Virginia track.
Taketheodds, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Street Sense out of the Unbridled mare Belterra, won for the fourth time in 13 starts. She finished a neck in front of Flattering Bea, who won last year's Sugar Maple; the latter had five lengths on third-place finisher Nesso.
Taketheodds, trained by Ian Wilkes, paid $9.60 win as the third choice.
"I told Mike, 'She has got three-eighths (of a mile) in her, so when she kicks in, she'll give you three-eighths,' " Manfuso said. "We always thought she was a nice filly, so I'm glad she got it done."
Taketheodds had last raced at Tampa Bay Downs, where she finished behind Nesso.
In other action, Mark Russell's $1.9 million earner Russell Road began his 9-year-old season in style with a sharp wire-to-wire victory in the $50,000 Confucius Say Stakes, a West Virginia-bred event for 3-year-olds and up at seven furlongs .
With Jose Montano in the saddle, the James W. Casey-trained Russell Road gunned to the front in the six-horse field and set fractions of :23.06 for the opening quarter-mile, :46.49 for the half-mile, and 1:10.65 for six furlongs. Russell Road won by 4 1/2 lengths over favored Lucy's Bob Boy in 1:23.96 on a fast track and paid $5.60 to win as the second choice.
Russell Road, bred by Robert Lloyd, won for the 29th time in 54 starts. It was his 24th win in 41 starts at Charles Town. Owner Russell last year said the Wheaton gelding would return to race in 2015 only if he showed he could still compete at a high level locally.
"If you looked at his works, it's astonishing," Russell said. "He seemed like the same old Russell Road, so we figured we'd try him again this year. We couldn't be more pleased. This year he'll probably have an abbreviated schedule—he is 9—and we'll play it by ear."
Russell said the pattern of giving the gelding off in the winter has kept him fresh.
"It's a key for any horse, but especially him," Russell said. "You just have to give him some time off in the winter, and he has thrived."
In the $100,000 Robert Hilton Memorial Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs, Control Stake took over heading into the second turn and pulled away to win by 4 1/2 lengths over One More Time in 1:24.28, with Charitable Annuity third .
Control Stake, owned by Klaravich Stable and William Lawrence, paid $4 to win in his first start since Jan. 10, when he won the Big Drama Stakes at Delta Downs Racetrack & Casino for trainer Tom Amoss. It was the third consecutive victory in the Hilton Memorial for Amoss.