(from Lone Star Park report)
Popular 8-year-old gelding Maysville Slew became a millionaire when he rallied from far back to win Saturday's $200,000 Dallas Turf Cup at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas.Maysville Slew, owned and trained by 59-year-old C.R. Trout of Hammon, Okla., trailed swift pacesetters Waupaca and Star Over the Bay by about 15 lengths at the half-mile marker. But the old veteran closed with a rush to nail Southern California invader Star Over the Bay by a neck at the wire.In doing so, Maysville Slew earned $120,000 for the win and pushed his bankroll to $1,007,609. He has won 16 of 64 races in a seven-year career that began Aug. 21, 1998 at Arapahoe Park in Colorado."This old horse means so much to me and my family for what he's done for us through the years and he's just a very good buddy," said a proud Trout as he fought back tears. "We couldn't have done it without God, and we couldn't have done it without my grooms. It gets emotional. I just can't tell you. I'm about to be 60 years old and this is the best horse I ever had."Maysville Slew, under jockey Cliff Berry, ran 1 1/8 miles on a firm turf course in 1:49.89. He paid $45.20, $15 and $7.40 as the second longest-priced horse in the field of seven older horses.Star Over the Bay, ridden by Jon Court, sat just behind Waupaca as the leader clicked off fractions of :24.02 for the first quarter-mile, :47.70 for the half and 1:11.72 for three-quarters of a mile. Positioned well off the rail throughout, the Mike Mitchell-trained Star Over the Bay looked like a winner at the head of the stretch after fending off a rally by 4-5 favorite Warleigh. But after sitting comfortably behind the frontrunners, Berry asked Maysville Slew for his reliable late kick and the Kentucky-bred unleashed a rally like a horse half his age."I just let the horse set his own pace," Berry said. "He'd run 64 times so he knew what to do. When he's right, he runs, and that's what he did today. At the three-eighths pole he took off and he meant to win. This horse a lot of time wants to stay on his left lead and wants to lay in a little bit but he comes running pretty good." Star Over the Bay finished 1 ½ lengths ahead of longshot A to the Z, who rallied for third. Warleigh finished fourth, followed by Agrivating General, Waupaca and Kentucky invader Della Francesca.Although he won the $100,000 Essex Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Oaklawn Park in 2000, the Dallas Turf Cup was Maysville Slew's most lucrative of 10 career stakes wins. Prior to the Dallas Turf Cup, Maysville Slew ran a credible fifth in the Lone Star Park Handicap(gr. III) finishing just 3 ¾ lengths behind front-running winner Yessirgeneralsir. A year ago, Maysville Slew finished in a dead-heat for second in the Lone Star Park Handicap with eventual Breeders' Cup Sprint runner-up Bluesthestandard."This horse was training so good and if we ever had a shot to [reach $1 million in earnings], we thought today was our day because there was so much speed in the race," said Trout. "He always has had the heart, he just wasn't blessed with much speed. He just has to have a pace set up for him. Today they quickened on the front end and he was able to come and catch them."For now, Maysville Slew will return to Trout's Oklahoma farm for a well-deserved break. "We were going to take him home and turn him out for a while," Trout said. "We'll take him home and give him two or three weeks off, just to freshen him. We've run him pretty hard the past few months."(Chart, Equibase)