LRL: Hollywood Import, Peach Tie surprise at stakes * The Racing Biz

LRL: Hollywood Import, Peach Tie surprise in the stakes

So there he was on Saturday, breaking sharply out of the outside stall under Mychel Sanchez, leading by two lengths after the first quarter-mile, and controlling things throughout en route to a 1 ¾ length victory.

And the last will be first.

“It just shows you: What do I know?” joked winning trainer Gary Capuano.

He knows one thing: winning with two-year-olds. Hollywood Import’s win was Capuano’s twenty-third of the year with a juvenile, and he has been winning at a 39% clip with babies this year.

“It’s crazy,” Capuano said of his success with two-year-olds. “It’s just the end of a big year. It’s one of those things where it’s just hard to do. It’s been fun and it’s been a great year.”

Hollywood Import had rallied nicely to win his debut by six furlongs. He then finished a credible, if well-beaten, second in the James F. Lewis, III Stakes behind Balboa, who returned to a close third in the Grade 2 Remsen.

But last time, with a mileage allowance, he made little impact and finished fourth. That has changed enormously today.

“From the outside, he just broke sharp,” Capuano said. “Mychel [Sanchez] said he felt comfortable. And he said, ‘I wasn’t going to take him back at that time.’

That turned out to be the right move. The opener was a modest 23.48 seconds, and Hollywood Import extended his lead to 2 ½ lengths after half a mile in 47.28 seconds. Hollywood Import led by four lengths with a furlong to go, and it was all over except the shouting.

The running time for seven furlongs on a fast main track was 1:27.06. Another Capuano trainee, 6-5 favorite Probably Dreaming, was second under Carlos Lopez. Red Zone Runner finished third.

Hollywood Import paid $21.20 as the longest of the three Capuano trainees and the second longest overall. The exacta paid $25.80 for a one dollar bet.

One race earlier, the $100,000 Gin Talking for two-year-old fillies had been reduced to just three runners. Two of them – Just Philtored and Slewperstitus – had run one-two three times before, in that order, including earlier this month at the Maryland Juvenile Filly.

The third, Peach Tie, had made four previous starts at four different tracks with four different drivers. But the Preservationist filly, trained by Brittany Russell for the Estate of Brereton Jones, went 3-for-3 on dirt and earned a stakes, which came on the synthetic plate at Presque Isle.

Under jockey Sheldon Russell, Peach Tie pushed Just Philtored’s early pace, taking command to close to quarter pole and pulling away to win by eight lengths in 1:27.30, with Just Philtored holding off Slewperstitus by half a length for second.

Peach Tie paid $6.60 as the longest shot on the board.

“We always liked her,” Brittany Russell said of Peach Tie, who improved to 4-for-5 in her career. “Our filly was fresh; she hadn’t run since the second week of November, so I think the timing was really good. Maybe all the stars aligned, but I always liked her.”

Russell will end the season as Maryland’s top coach, and the Gin Talking was her 15th^e stocks in Maryland this year. No other trainer has won more than six.

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