Grand Slams for Great Notion, Sheldon Russell on MD Million Day

Great Notion, Maryland's annual leading sire by earnings since 2018, showcased the prowess of his progeny on the 35th Jim McKay Maryland Million program at Laurel Park Saturday by accounting for four of the eight winners of stakes carded for the offspring of stallions standing in Maryland. The grand slam marks the 11th consecutive year that Great Notion has sired at least one winner on Maryland Million day.

Not to be outdone, jockey Sheldon Russell blasted home a quartet of winners as well, three of them in stakes. He captured top honors in the afternoon's feature with a nervy, forwardly placed 3 1/4-length victory aboard the 6-1 Monday Morning Qb (Imagining) in the $150,000 Classic S.

Laurel's second-leading rider in both wins and earnings at the current meet also rallied from last to nail the $100,000 Turf S. by a length with 15-1 Pretty Good Year (Great Notion). And Russell seemed like he was just along for the front-running ride about the day's most impressive winner, the $100,000 Distaff H.'s 1-2 favorite, Hello Beautiful (Golden Lad), an 11 1/4-length victress trained by the jockey's wife, Brittany Russell.

Owner/breeders came out on top in three Million divisions Oct. 24. But none championed the cause for smaller outfits better than Great Notion's final winner of the day, Karan's Notion, who wired the $100,000 Sprint H. field by a length at 16-1 for owner/breeder/trainer Nancy Heil and jockey Yomar Ortiz.

“I don't believe it's real yet. I've been training 50-some years, but I've never had a [Maryland Million] eligible horse,” said Heil, who entered the day with two wins from just 15 starters in 2020. “When he was a baby, he had these long legs, like spider legs, and we said, 'I think he's going to be the one.'

“Never give up,” Heil added emphatically.

Monday Morning Qb apparently took Heil's advice to heart in the nine-furlong Classic. Earlier this season, the Cash is King and LC Racing color bearer held his own in open-company races behind deeper-end-of-the-pool sophomores like Happy Saver (Super Saver), Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic) and Max Player (Honor Code), all of whom went on to either win or hit the board in Grade I stakes.

After an 11th-place turf try in a stakes on the GI Preakness S. undercard, trainer Butch Reid Jr. refocused on the Maryland Million's calling-card race for Monday Morning Qb, and the large-framed colt ended up being the only 3-year-old in the Classic.

“We'll digest this one a little bit. I'm hoping we can find one more 3-year-old race before the end of the year, but they're going to be difficult to find,” Reid said. “I've taken some stalls at Palm Meadows this winter so he'll probably end up down there with us.”

This year the Turf was elongated from a mile to nine furlongs, and Pretty Good Year, who was third in the 2019 edition, showed he appreciated the added real estate by uncorking a wide-and-driving tailgate move under Russell to earn the win for Lead Off Stable, whose principal, Bobby Goodyear, is the racing manager for the 4-year-old gelding's breeder, The Elkstone Group.

Beyond the play-on-words naming that ties together owner and horse, Pretty Good Year also happens to be Goodyear's only campaigner.

“Distance has always been his thing,” trainer Kelly Rubley said. “We keep hitting these one-turn miles here and he hits the board and he picks up checks, but the longer the better for him. At the three-eighths pole, I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, we have a lot of horse.'”

A return to her home court after a last-place stakes foray to Ellis Park and a Grade II stakes sixth at Saratoga Race Course was the turnaround spark that ignited Hello Beautiful's dazzling romp in the Distaff H. over seven furlongs.

Owned in partnership by Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables, all of the 3-year-old filly's five wins have now come over the Laurel main track–by a gaudy aggregate of 40 1/2 lengths.

Brittany Russell said that last year's champion Maryland-bred juvenile filly is not only special in her own right, but that Hello Beautiful's sparkling career arc has enabled her training business to grow in Maryland by attracting the attention of new owners who have entrusted Russell with fresh stock.

“It's huge. It's very emotional. She's been a big part of my career. I have clients and horses in the barn because of her,” Brittany Russell said.

In the Maryland Million's pair of six-furlong juvenile stakes, the male division produced the flashier winner from a visual perspective. But the filly division produced the faster clocking.

In the $100,000 Maryland Million Nursery, trainer Dale Capuano saddled the one-two finishers.

Owned in partnership by with Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser, Kenny Had a Notion (Great Notion) ran his lifetime record to 3-for-4 with an inside stalking bid during which he first had to be ridden with restraint by jockey Jorge Ruiz to avoid running up into a tight pocket at the rail. But when given his head and clear passage, “Kenny” slipped deftly through at the fence, spurted clear, and left a number of legit chasers sputtering in his five-length wake.

Stablemate Alwaysinahurry rounded out the Great Notion-sired and Capuano-trained exacta.

“They're both nice,” Capuano said. “Kenny is getting better and so is Alwaysinahurry. [Kenny] showed more speed than I thought he would. He was on the bit very early and the rider had to just get a seam and lucky the rail opened up and he got through.”

In the $100,000 Maryland Million Lassie, Miss Nondescript (Mossler) stalked from fourth in a strung-out field, advanced at will on far turn, then responded to deep-stretch urging from Trevor McCarthy in a long outside drive to prevail by a hard-fought neck.

Now 2-for-2 for owner/breeder Barak Farm, Miss Nondescript followed up her pace-pressing Monmouth Park maiden victory by showing a new dimension in rating from farther back.

Her victory represented the first stakes winner for freshman sire Mosler, who was a GSP turf sprint and middle-distance specialist. Although primarily based in New York for trainer Bill Mott, one of Mosler's two stakes wins occurred over the Laurel grass course at six furlongs in the 2016 Laurel Dash.

The final clocking in the Lassie (1:10.13) bested the same-distance time produced three races later in the Nursery (1:10.55).

This year marked the return of the $100,000 Turf Sprint H. to the Maryland Million program following a seven-year absence. It had been won in each of its final three years by the late Maryland fan favorite Ben's Cat.

Fiya (Friesan Fire), who began his career last November as a $25,000 maiden-claimer but was purchased for $400,000 at the Wanamaker's July online sale after a 98-Beyer win that was .25 seconds off the Laurel turf course record for 5 1/2 furlongs, got pounded to 1-10 odds for the grass dash over the same distance on Saturday. He delivered with a 2 1/4-length tally that lifted his 2020 record to 4-for-4. Tom Albertrani trains for owner Robert Masiello. It was one of three wins on the day for jockey Trevor McCarthy.

Vivian Rall's homebred Epic Idea (Great Notion), a two-time winner sprinting on the turf, successfully stretched out to 1 1/8 miles to win by three-quarters of a length, garnering her first career stakes win in the $100,000 Maryland Million Ladies S. The 5-1 wire-to-wire victress was ridden by McCarthy and trained by Ann Merryman.