Golden Glint Rates a Look in Commonwealth Cup
During a quick review of the seven-horse field for Saturday’s $250,000 Commonwealth Cup (G2), Golden Glint’s name is one that might be quickly passed over, especially after directly following the more recognizable and heralded name of Mr Speaker – Grade 1 winner, millionaire and 8-5 morning-line favorite – in the past performances for the 1 1/8-mile turf event presented by the Virginia Equine Alliance at Laurel Park.
Anyone who pauses just long enough to notice the 6-year-old gelding’s connections, however, might decide to take a closer look at the son of Medaglia d’Oro. The names of trainer Mary Eppler and owner Adam Staple are hardly as newsworthy as those of Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey and the Phipps Stable, Mr Speaker’s connections, but they may well be as noteworthy when it comes to the Commonwealth Cup.
Although some will dismiss Golden Glint from consideration due to the fact that he was claimed for $40,000 out of his most recent start, others will give the Kentucky-bred gelding added attention because he was just claimed, well aware of Eppler and Staple’s solid track record in the claiming game.
Page McKenney was claimed for $16,000 out of a sixth-place finish at Penn National July 20, 2013, and the gelded son of Eavesdropper has gone on to win 11 races and five stakes, three this year, for Eppler and Staple. Now 5, Page McKenney was graded stakes-placed in three straight races this year: the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic (3rd), the Grade 3 Pimlico Special and the Grade 3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker (3rd).
Time will tell if the claim for Golden Glint will turn out to be nearly as successful as their coup with Page McKenney, but the 6-year-old gelding has already shown himself to be a fierce competitor, having finished first or second in nine of 13 starts in allowance and optional claiming races.
“He’s been very consistent,” Eppler said. “He can run on dirt or turf.”
Although Golden Glint has run primarily on dirt, he has shown talent in three starts on turf, especially in his most recent try on grass May 8 and Pimlico. He set a pressured pace and continued on to a length victory at 1 1/16 miles under Horacio Karamanos, who has been named to ride Saturday.
“I watched that race on replay,” Eppler said. “He looked good doing it.”
The Kentucky-bred gelding has run three times on dirt since his turf victory, finishing off the board in a stakes at Penn National, finishing a sharp second in an optional claimer at Laurel and running far back at Parx Racing in the race from which he was taken by Eppler and Staple.
“He'd never run at Parx and that track can be a funny track. Horses either love it or hate it, so I'm hoping he didn't like the track, because he came back good from it,” Eppler said. “He's been training great. He's a lovely horse to be around. He's a very good- looking horse.”
Great Dancer Steps Up for Grade 2 Commonwealth Derby
After finishing out of the money Aug. 2 at Monmouth Park, Matthew Schera’s Great Dancer received a pep talk of sorts from trainer James ‘Chuck’ Lawrence II.
“He should have won at Monmouth,” said Lawrence, who was frustrated by the 3-year-old colt’s third straight out-of-the-money finish since being imported from Ireland. “After that we had a little talk and I told him he'd be a gelding if he didn't start running as well as he trained in the morning. Then he won big at Saratoga.”
Following up his fifth-place finish in the Monmouth allowance, in which he was beaten by just 1¼ lengths, Great Dancer surged from last at Saratoga Aug. 23 to finally break through with a victory in an entry-level allowance.
The 3-year-old son of Lord Shanakill will need to take another step forward at Laurel Park Saturday in the $400,000 Commonwealth Derby (G2), the 1 1/8-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds that attracted Grade 1 stakes-winner Force the Pass.
“We think a lot of our horse,” Lawrence said.
Great Dancer broke his maiden in Ireland over a synthetic surface in his fourth start last November before being imported by Schera and Lawrence.
“He got sick on the flight over here last winter, so we got started with him a little late and decided on a summer campaign,” Lawrence said.
Great Dancer broke slowly in his U.S. debut at Delaware Park June 8, when he finished seventh, beaten by 2 ¾ lengths in allowance. Equipped with blinkers for the first time, the Irish-bred colt finished an even fifth in an off-the-turf allowance at Delaware July 18, before being hampered by an outside post at Monmouth Park.
Lawrence has one wish for his stretch-running trainee and jockey Horacio Karamanos in Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile turf race.
"Of course, we hope there is speed,” he said. “We're not going to take him off his game. These turf races are all up to the pace and the trip."
Talk Show Man Seeks to be Heard in $250,000 Commonwealth Cup
Michael Harrison’s Talk Show Man is scheduled to take on Grade 1 winners Mr Speaker and Up With the Birds inSaturday’s $250,000 Commonwealth Cup (G2) over the turf course he traversed last October to win the $126,000 Maryland Million Turf.
Fresh off his victory in the Maryland Million Turf, the son versatile gelding had the opportunity to finish off a successful 2014 campaign in the $100,000 Richard W. Small Stakes on the main track a month later.
Advancing between horses midway through the final turn, Talk Show Man was soundly bumped and fell near the stretch to conclude the 2014 season on a decidedly negative note. On the bright side, jockey Xavier Perez and the gelded son of Great Notion were not injured in the spill.
“He came out of that OK, physically,” said trainer Hamilton Smith, whose trainee was sent to the sidelines for four months. “We just gave him time as a mental precaution.”
Talk Show Man returned to action on the main track at Laurel on March 26 to capture an optional claiming allowance by 5 ½ lengths and came right back April 18 to show his versatility to win the $100,000 Henry Clark Stakes over the Pimlico turf course. He’s been winless in three subsequent starts, but his trainer has reasonable expectations for an improved effort in the Commonwealth Cup.
“He’s going into the race better and more fit than his last race,” said the winner of more than 1800 races, whose gelding finished a late-closing fourth in the Find Stakes at Laurel Aug. 22. “He’ll have to run a little better this time. He needs a better trip. He was in trouble last time. If he gets a clean trip, we hope he hits the board.”
Talk Show Man, who will be ridden by Julian Pimentel, has won six races, three on turf and three on dirt, and more than $300,000 in purses in his 22-race career.
Source: Maryland Jockey Club