Alwaysmining Puts Win Streak on Line in Miracle Wood

After closing 2018 with three straight clear victories, Runnymede Racing's Alwaysmining is scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut Feb. 16 in the $100,000 Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel Park.

While the one-turn mile race for 3-year-olds doesn't award Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying points, it has produced the occasional classic starter over the years.

Trained by Kelly Rubley, Alwaysmining already has experience at Laurel's one-turn mile as the son of classic-placed Stay Thirsty  drew off to a 10-length score in a mile allowance-optional claiming race there Oct. 27. After that effort, Alwaysmining closed out his juvenile season with a pair of Laurel stakes wins at seven furlongs, defeating other Maryland-breds in the Maryland Juvenile Futurity Dec. 8 and taking the listed Heft Stakes Dec. 29.

While five of the six Miracle Wood horses enter off efforts in Maryland or the Mid-Atlantic region, the race did attract shipper Gray Magician, who is based in Southern California with trainer Peter Miller. Wachtel Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Gary Barber's Gray Magician opened his season with a fourth-place finish in the Sham Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park, finishing three lengths behind winner Gunmetal Gray.

The son of Graydar  closed out 2018 with a 9 1/2-length maiden win at Del Mar in November. That effort followed a third-place finish to eventual grade 1 winner Improbable in a late September maiden race at Santa Anita.

Entries: Miracle Wood S.

Laurel Park, Saturday, February 16, 2019, Race 5

• STK
• 1m
• Dirt
• $100,000
• 3 yo
• 2:30 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Trainfourtwentyone (KY)	Anthony Salgado	118	Philip T. Aristone	12/1
2	2Alwaysmining (MD)	Daniel Centeno	122	Kelly Rubley	7/5
3	3Wendell Fong (KY)	Jorge A. Vargas, Jr.	118	Jeremiah C. Englehart	8/1
4	4Mount Travers (KY)	Horacio Karamanos	118	Linda Rice	9/2
5	5Tybalt (KY)	Kevin Gomez	118	Claudio A. Gonzalez	5/1
6	6Gray Magician (KY)	Flavien Prat	118	Peter Miller	9/2