Geralds A Keeper and Cloggs For Real captured their respective $13,699 first-round Maryland Sire Stakes events for three-year-old colts and geldings on Sunday (June 30) at Ocean Downs, giving owner Kelsey Wagner and trainer John Wagner a stakes double.
In the trotting split, Trae Porter secured the pocket with Geralds A Keeper behind early pacesetter War Pony. After stalking splits of :28.4, :59.2 and 1:29.3, Geralds A Keeper hooked three-wide on the far turn around his stablemate K J Dash, who made a protracted first-over bid up the backstretch, and edged away to win by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:59.4. K J Dash held second over War Pony.
Geralds A Keeper, a gelded son of Lockkeeper-Brilliance Hanover with four career wins and $74,170 in the bank, paid $4.60 to win as the 6-5 favourite.
The pacing split saw Cloggs For Real bounce back from a fifth-place finish in the spring Maryland Sire Stakes final at Rosecroft Raceway. Corey Braden bypassed the three-hole on the first turn with the Rusty's For Real-Clearly Foxy gelding, electing instead to push forward and clear Firecrackergraham after a :28.3 quarter. From there, Cloggs For Real opened daylight on the field immediately and rolled through middle splits of :57.2 and 1:26.1 en route to a 1:55.2 win. Tony Babe rallied for second over Petes For Real.
Cloggs For Real improved his career record to five wins in 14 starts, and he has earned $67,740. He paid $10.40 to win as the 4-1 third choice.
The $16,438 Open 1 Handicap Pace saw On The Cards drill a front-end 1:52.4 score over Business Director and Nuttin But Finesse. Tony Morgan drove the 30-time winner, a nine-year-old Bettor's Delight gelding, for trainer Willard Reynolds and owner Mark Howard.
Racing at Ocean Downs resumes Tuesday (July 2) with the first of 11 races due off at 7:05 p.m. Maryland Sire Stakes action continues Wednesday (July 3), with a pair of first-round events for three-year-old fillies scheduled as non-wagering races prior to the card.
(Ocean Downs Racing Publicity)