Jack's in the Deck in Maryland Sprint Upset

Jack's in the Deck and jockey Forest Boyce won a stretch duel with 3-5 favorite Ben's Cat for a game nose victory in the $100,000 Maryland Million Sprint at Laurel Park Oct. 17.



Jack's in the Deck tracked the early pace of longshot Shirakuma until taking over after a half-mile was completed in :46.03 and held a brief lead in upper stretch before being engaged by Ben's Cat, who had angled three-wide nearing the quarter pole. Under left-hand encouragement, Jack's in the Deck drifted out late but dug in just to hold off his challenger, stopping the timer in 1:10.74 for six furlongs over a fast track.



Jack's in the Deck paid $13.60, $4.20, and $2.80, with Ben's Cat, who shouldered 122 pounds to the winner's 114, returned $2.40 and $2.10. D C Dancer was worth $2.60 for show. Tricky Lion, at 77-1 the longest shot in the eight-horse field, stumbled when in tight near the quarter pole and unseated rider Yomar Ortiz.

The winner, a 6-year-old son of Love of Money, races for owners M. E. Jones and Robin M. Graham, who also trains the gelding bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman. The Sprint was the third stakes triumph for Jack's in the Deck, who has won five of 21 starts and earned $338,514. As a 2-year-old in 2011, he won the Futurity Stakes (gr. II) at Belmont Park and finished third in that year's Sanford (gr. II) at Saratoga Race Course.



"This horse (Ben's Cat) has beaten me so many times, so it feels good to be on the other side," Boyce said.

"We knew he had the ability. He broke his maiden in the Belmont Futurity, but he's had some health issues, including a bad right ankle," Graham said. "We're so happy."

Ben's Cat, making his sixth start in the Maryland Millions, had captured the Turf Sprint three times before finishing second in the Turf the past two years. Saturday marked his first start on dirt in nearly a year. The defeat was the second in a row for Ben's Cat, a winner of 30 races in 52 starts

"He looked like he was going to win at the eighth pole," said King Leatherbury, the Hall of Fame trainer who also bred and owns Ben's Cat. "Then (Jack's in the Deck) came up with the super race. They fought it out and they bested us."

In the $150,000 Maryland Million Classic, the featured race on the Jim McKay Maryland Million card restricted to horses sired by accredited Maryland stallions, Sinatra Thoroughbred Racing and Breeding's Admirals War Chest withstood a late rush from Bullheaded Boy for a neck victory in the 1 1/8-mile race.



Sent to post at 9-2, Admirals War Chest was the recipient of a well-judged ride by Taylor Hole, as he showed the way around the first turn and along the backstretch while storing enough energy to withstand a late run by 3-1 second choice Bullheaded Boy by a neck in the 1 1/8-mile main track event.

 

The 4-year-old gelding by Elusive Charlie is trained by Corby Calazzo and was bred by Dr. Stephen Sinatra.



"It's awesome. I bred the horse. I own the sire," Sinatra said. "We were going to sell (the sire), but we took him out of the Keeneland (November) sale. I'm very happy with the horse."



Phlash Phelps won the $125,000 John Deere Maryland Million Turf at a mile, digging in down the stretch to put away Roadhog. The win was the fourth straight for Phlash Phelps, the son of Great Notion, and the first for Victor Carrasco since returning from a six-week layoff due to a broken hand.



Phlah Phelps, the 9-5 favorite in a field of 10, ran the mile on turf in 1:35.35. He was bred by Carol A. Kaye, is owned by Hillwood Stables LLC, and is trained by Rodney Jenkins.