Projected Surges to Baltimore/Washington Turf Cup Win

After a few runner-up finishes this spring and summer, Juddmonte Farms homebred Projected found his way to the winner's circle Sept. 30, when he took the Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup Stakes (G2T) at Laurel Park. 

The Chad Brown trainee and jockey Nik Juarez stalked in third behind longshot Xmas Sky, who had opened up by 10 lengths after a half-mile in :46.21. Projected then began to cut into Xmas Sky's lead going into the far turn and surged home in the stretch to hit the wire first. Stablemate Catapult finished 1 1/4 lengths behind in second, with Ring Weekend a nose back in third. The final time was 1:34.25 for a mile over the firm turf. 

"I just saw (Xmas Sky) go to the front, and it looked to me that it was a really fast horse and really hard to take back, so I was just letting the speed go on and keep my trip patient," Juarez said. "When it was time to run, Projected really just kicked on. They just told me to ride the way I'm comfortable and try to save ground and take the shortest way home, and we did just that."

Off as the favorite, Projected returned $4.40, $2.60, and $2.10 across the board. The 5-year-old gelded son of Showcasing improved his earnings to $422,001 with six wins and seven seconds from 18 starts. 

"Both horses ran a huge race," said assistant trainer Dermot Magner. "Both riders ran a very intelligent race. One had to win and one had to be second. We thought there would be a lot of speed, so both riders broke and sat behind. Nik rode a very clever race. The horse will get a lot of confidence from the win. Fast fractions would obviously suit him pretty well and he finished strong."

Brown picked up another graded stakes win at Laurel Saturday with Rymska's victory in the $150,000 Commonwealth Oaks presented by the Virginia Equine Alliance and the Virginia HBPA (G3T).

The 3-year-old French-bred daughter of Le Harve (IRE) was bumped leaving the gate, raced in ninth early on, and circled four-wide in the far turn before running down Taperge and I'm Betty G. Rymska and jockey Feargal Lynch finished the 1 1/8-mile event in a final time of 1:46.94. Taperge finished second by three-quarters of a length with I'm Betty G another half-length back. 

Bred by Eric Feurtet, she began her career in Europe and won a stakes race in France before coming to the U.S. last fall. Her last race was a win in the Feb. 4 Sweetest Chant Stakes (G3T) at Gulfstream Park.

Owned by Sheep Pond Partners, Alain Jathiere, Tom Coleman, and Norton Herrick, Rymska has four wins from seven starts with earnings of $269,394.

In the Commonwealth Derby presented by the Virginia Equine Alliance and the Virginia HBPA (G3T), Skeedattle Associates' Just Howard edged favorite Voodoo Song at the wire by three-quarters of a length. 

The win was the fourth consecutive victory for the Graham Motion-trained son of English Channel, who most recently won two turf stakes at Laurel. 

Under jockey Lynch, Just Howard raced in third near the rail before moving in the two path in the stretch and drew clear in the final strides. The final time was 1:45.81 for the 1 1/8-mile event.

Bred by Howard Bender in Maryland, the colt has a record of 4-2-1 from nine starts with earnings of $266,520.