In a driving effort, Greatbullsoffire dominated a field of eight juveniles when he took the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Futurity by six lengths lengths Dec. 10 at Laurel Park. Video: Maryland Juvenile Futurity
The son of Bullsbay settled in third in the seven-furlong test as In Arrears took the early lead and set fractions of :23.44 and :46.93 through a half mile. Greatbullsoffire, under jockey Alex Cintron, went three wide in the turn and took control entering the stretch, pulling away from the field to stop the clock in 1:22.85 for owner Kathleen Willier and trainer Hamilton Smith.
Bonus Points finished second by 1 3/4 lengths in a late surge, with frontrunner In Arrears in third.
"He's a pretty nice colt. He ran the best race of his life today, that's for sure," Smith said. "The way he took off down the lane made us feel pretty good. We might be able to get him to go a little further. He ran awfully huge."
The colt has not finished worse than third in his five starts, which includes two other stakes victories, the Strike Your Colors Stakes Aug. 4 at Delaware Park and the Maryland Million Nursery Stakes Oct. 22 at Laurel.
Bred by Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds in Maryland, the colt was purchased for $50,000 by Willier at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic eastern fall yearling sale.
In the other juvenile stakes on Laurel's card, Buckingham Farm's homebred Crabcakes remains undefeated as she skipped home in the seven furlong $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship for trainer Bernie Houghton. Video: Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship S.
The Maryland-bred daughter of Great Notion , who was sent off as the 2-1 favorite, stalked the pace, went three wide around the turn but drove by Fear No Evil in the stretch. Under urging from jockey Angel Rodriguez, Crabcakes finished strong to win by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:23.95. Lucky in Malibu got up for second, with Fear No Evil one length back in third.
In the filly's other start, she scored by five lengths in a Dec. 3 maiden special weight at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course.
“I’ve liked her the whole time," Houghton said. "We actually had her (at Laurel) one time when they canceled because of the wind and we had to go home. I basically stuck her in that (Dec. 3 maiden) race just to kind of get one underneath her, but I’ve always liked her.”
Earlier in the day Mr. & Mrs. Samuel H. Rogers Jr.’s homebred Lovable Lady pulled an upset in her $100,000 Willa On the Move Stakes victory, defeating odds-on favorite and grade III winner Hot City Girl in the process. Video: Willa On the Move S.
Under jockey Horacio Karamanos, the 5-year-old daughter of Not For Love opened up in the stretch to win the six furlong test for fillies and mares by 4 1/2 lengths for trainer Mary Eppler.
Trainer Hamilton Smith got another win on the day's car when Dr. Michael J. Harrison's homebred Just Jack took the six-furlong Howard M. Bender Memorial Stakes in a late surge. The 3-year-old son of Great Notion picked up his first stakes win with the 2 1/4-length score.
