Maiden Flat: Bay B, Thomas Garner up, finishes strongly for the win. / Doug Gehlsen photo
Sunday, May 1, 2022, dawned cool and overcast at Glenwood Park, Middleburg, VA―a fine racing day as far as the horses were concerned. With sanctioned racing gearing up and attracting the more experienced performers, of the seven races carded at the Middleburg Hunt Point-to-Point, five were for Maidens and/or young riders.
Maiden Flat, the second race of the day, was a wire-to-wire win for Bay B, under jockey Thomas Garner. Trained by Niall Saville, Bay B took the lead and only widened it in the stretch to win by five lengths in the seven-horse field.
The dark bay mare is by Bodemeister, who, after winning the Arkansaw Derby, placed second to I’ll Have Another in both the 2012 Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. Bodemeister sired Always Dreaming, winner of the 2017 Kentucky Derby.,
There was a second division of this race with another field of seven that was also won by the same trainer-jockey team of Seville and Garner. However, Bay B had the best time of both divisions.
Maiden Timber: Overdrawn, Dylan McDonagh up, capitalizes on opportunities and is the winner. / Doug Gehlsen photo3
The third race, the first over fences, was the Maiden Timber. Overdrawn, ridden by Dylan McDonagh and trained by James Piper, was the eventual winner by thirty-two lengths. After the leader, Mr. Fine Threads (no relation), went off course, he was followed initially by Overdrawn and the second-placed Night Sounds. Those two jockeys realized the mistake and got back on course to finish.
Maiden Hurdle: PleaseCallMeBack, Parker Hendricks up, the winner. / Doug Gehlsen photo
Maiden Hurdles was the next race. Just two horses of the three-horse field finished, as another leader, Real Story (winner of the Novice Rider Flat Race at Blue Ridge a couple of weeks earlier) went off course and was disqualified. PleaseCallMeBack with Parker Hendriks aboard took over the lead and won handily by two-and-a-half lengths. PleaeCallMeBack is trained by Keri Brion. For Hendriks, it was his second win this day and his fifth win for the week.
Restricted Maiden Hurdle: Golazo, Colin Smith up, avoids trouble and finished first. / Doug Gehlsen photo
The Fifth Race, Restricted Maiden Hurdle, was similarly shuffled when Hey Teacher refused the third hurdle. Gundy took the lead but fell three fences from the finish. That left Golazo, with Colin Smith up, and Ahnaf, ridden by Barry John Foley in a match race to the finish. Golazo had the lead and held it, winning easily by five lengths. Golazo is trained by Alicia Murphy and owned by Stephany Harper. This was the first of two winning rides for jockey Colin Smith.
Open Timber: Be Counted, Colin Smith up and winning again, poses with (l-r) owners Sarah and Peter Peter Jay and trainer Todd Wyatt. / Doug Gehlsen photo
In the sixth race, Open Timber for the Middleburg Bowl, trainer Todd Wyatt put Colin Smith up on Be Counted. The pair went to the lead early and held it most of the way throughout. Lonely Weekend, ridden by Thomas Garner and also trained by Todd Wyatt, shadowed the leader, both horses jumping the final fence abreast and battling down the stretch for the lead. At the finish, it was Be Counted by a nose. Third was Profiteer, Paul Cawley up, that pair having won the Novice Timber race at Blue Ridge a couple of weeks earlier.
Be Counted is an eight-year-old bay gelding out of an Irish mare by Sadler’s Wells. The stallion was an American-bred champion that also won major races in Ireland and Britain, was the 1984 champion miler in France, the leading sire in Britain, Ireland, and France in the 1990s, and the leading broodmare sire in all four nations in the 2000s.
Open Flat: In Effect (#4), Gerard Galligan up, charges from behind, edging Eagerly, Paul Cawley up, by a nose at the finish. / Doug Gehlsen photo
The final race of the day was the Open Flat. Eagerly, Paul Cawley up, and Circus, Barry John Foley up―both horse trained by Elizabeth Voss―quickly set the pace. In the stretch run, In Effect, ridden by Gerard Galligan, rallied with a charge that got his nose in front of Eagerly at the finish for the win. That was the second win of the day for owner-trainer Neil Morris, national leading trainer in 2021.
The brown four-year-old colt is a maternal grandson of Quiet American, sire of Real Quiet, 1998 winner of the Kentucky Deby and the Preakness, losing the Belmont by a nose to Victory Gallop. That was the closest any horse had come to winning the Triple Crown since Affirmed twenty years earlier.
Click for complete results―all horses, all races.
Posted May 22, 2022