Consistent Just Jack Set for Maryland Million

If there's one thing horsemen value in a horse more than any other its honesty; everybody's looking for a dead honest runner.    

Trainer Hamilton "Ham" Smith has just such a horse with Just Jack, a consistent 3-year-old homebred for Dr. Michael Harrison, who will be facing the stiffest test of his young career Saturday when he faces older rivals in the $150,000 Million Classic at 1 1/8 miles Oct. 22 at Laurel Park.

The race will be Just Jack's first try going nine furlongs but as Smith explained from Laurel this week Just Jack is, well, ... just Jack. New challenges don't seem to bother the Great Notion   gelding.

"He's one of those horses that just goes out and takes care of business." said veteran horseman Smith. "It doesn't matter whether it's in the morning training or when we bring him over to race, he's just always prepared to do what you ask of him. In the morning if we just want a maintenance work, he'll take it easy and just go along at a steady clip. And when we want him to get serious, he's ready; he senses it's time to get down to business."

Just Jack overcame bobbling at the break to leave the maiden ranks at first asking this spring at Pimlico Race Course and Smith said the determination Just Jack showed to get back into that six-furlong sprint after his early troubles gave a hint of the horse's competitive spirit.

"A lot of young horses making their first start will lose their focus and get rattled if they don't break good but Jack just regrouped and got into the race by the time they got into the turn." Smith said. "You never know if a race like that is a fluke or a real indicator of a horse's personality but in Jack's case he's gone on to show that kind of determination and competitiveness you want in a horse."

As mentioned before, Just Jack will face older rivals but that factor shouldn't be a big problem since he's been racing with his elders in his past six starts. He ran five straight times on turf, winning two and finishing second in two others and was second in the Mister Diz Stakes going six furlongs on the grass at Laurel in a race that saw Mid-Atlantic turf legend Ben's Cat finish third.

Just Jack's connections moved their charge back to the main track for a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming route. The race was supposed to tell Smith and Dr. Harrison if they should run Just Jack in the Classic or opt for the $150,000 Maryland Million Turf at a mile over Laurel's turf course.

\Well Just Jack did what he usually does. Despite racing over a muddy surface and around two turns on dirt for the first time he posted a solid length and a half victory, the fourth of his career.

"The way he handled everything that day and considering he was able to hold the lead through that long stretch run (the race was run with the auxiliary finish line which is a sixteenth of a mile longer than normal) convinced us he was ready for the Classic. He's done everything we've asked of him and when he's been beat, it hasn't been his fault most of the time," Smith said. "We know he'll give us all he's got and you can't ask for more than that."

Just Jack's family is an interesting one beginning with his dam, Mark Me Special. Just Jack's owner, veterinarian Michael Harrison, owner of Willowdale Farm in Butler, Md., says Mark Me Special's owner had an unpaid balance for work done with his horses and Harrison agreed to take Mark Me Special as payment.

"She had only won one race (from 35 starts) during her career but had raced with some tough company and could have been managed better while she was racing. I liked her attitude so we decided to breed her," Harrison said. "Jim Lewis, an owner-breeder who passed away several years ago, had a good sense for potential in sires and he advised me to look at Great Notion (Elusive Quality  —Evening Primrose, by Dayjur). I took his advice and her first foal by him was Talk Show Host."

Talk Show Host has won 6 of 25 starts for earnings of $311,000 and scored his biggest win when he took the 2014 Maryland Million Turf by beating Ben's Cat in the closing strides of that mile test. Talk Show Host is currently taking time off and is expected to return next year.

Next was Slick William, also by Great Notion, who Harrison lost through a claim earlier this year. He has earned $72,000 with a win, two seconds and five thirds from 15 starts. Harrison pointed out that both Slick William and Just Jack had throat issues. In Slick William's case the surgery was not fully successful but in Just Jack's case it was. "You have no guarantees with throat surgeries," Harrison said. "One time we were fortunate things worked out, in the other case it didn't.

"He's (Just Jack) done everything we've asked of him and in the cases where he's been beaten, the fault wasn't his," Harrison said. "He's versatile, he shows up for every dance and gives you us a chance to win. You can't ask for more than that in a horse."