The Grand Circuit will return to Yonkers Raceway this evening (Monday, July 6) with the eliminations for the MGM Springfield Stakes. For many trainers across North America whose stables are heavily invested in two- and three-year-olds, the resumption of stakes racing post-coronavirus lockdowns has been a huge relief. Blake MacIntosh, who will debut a trio of two-year-old colts in the 'Springfield' eliminations, includes himself in that group.
“For two months there, I was worried. I didn’t have any money coming in and we make all of our money over the summer with the stakes races,” MacIntosh said. “I have 70-something (head) in training and I own at least a quarter of 65 of them, so it’s nerve-wracking. You’re worried about racing coming up and we’re lucky enough all the governing bodies let us start racing and to just have money coming in, cash flow coming in. I can sleep again at night.”
Originally scheduled for July 4 with a final on July 11, the MGM Springfield Stakes (formerly known as the Lawrence B. Sheppard Pace) was minimally displaced by measures to contain the coronavirus, as the eliminations and final were rescheduled to July 6 and July 13, respectively. There were 16 entries to the stakes for two-year-old pacers, which has resulted in a pair of $25,000 eliminations that will both feature full fields.
MacIntosh feels his trio is led by Major Makover (Post 3, George Brennan), who is part of a coupled entry in the first elimination. A $25,000 purchase out of the 2019 Harrisburg Sale for MacIntosh, Hutt Racing Stable, and Touchstone Farm, Major Makover shares a stallion with MacIntosh’s 2018 Meadowlands Pace winner Courtly Choice and will be the first foal to race for the Cams Card Shark mare Mako Wish.
“He’s an Art Major. With ‘Courtly’ being an Art Major, we always look at all the Art Majors,” MacIntosh said. “He was a very good looking individual. He looked very much like Courtly, I thought. He stood [well] and he’s just a nice colt.
“To drive, he does everything perfect. He does nothing wrong,” MacIntosh continued. “You can do whatever you want with him. He was really good that way. In the barn, he seems like a nice horse. He was actually right close to my office, so I saw him every day. He didn’t do anything wrong, as far as I know, and was pretty easy to handle.”
All three of MacIntosh’s entries sport a pair of qualifiers, which took place on June 12 and 20 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Although their times may not appear flashy on paper in comparison to the baby racing at venues like the Meadowlands Racetrack, MacIntosh says that is by design.
“I don’t tell the drivers anything when we qualify them. I don’t want them rolled is the whole thing, I want to make sure their last quarters are their best quarters, sit them in, try to get away third, fourth and let them pace for home is usually what I like to see,” MacIntosh said. “The second qualifier, we may let them go a little more, but up here, it’s not like the Meadowlands where they go fast qualifying. We teach them a little more the first couple times than they do down there. There’s no specific time or anything set for the horse, it’s just teaching them so they can learn.”
Major Makover finished second in his first outing, where he clocked a mile in 2:00.2 with a :29.2 final quarter. Major Makover was handled more aggressively in his second qualifier, where he left from the gate and sat the pocket before brushing to the lead upon reaching the backstretch. Major Makover opened up a four and a half-length lead under confident handling by driver James MacDonald on the final turn.
MacDonald put the whip on Major Makover’s tail straightening away and cracked the sulky shaft once with an eighth of a mile to pace. Major Makover finished with a :27 final panel and posted a 1:56 win.
“He’s (Major Makover) probably the best of the three,” MacIntosh opined. “He qualified really well last week, he was under wraps. He’s been very consistent all winter and we’ve been very happy with him. Just a nice little guy.”
Ole Joe comprises the other half of the entry in the first elimination. Ole Joe is a Roll With Joe colt that is out of the unraced Western Hanover mare Bandolera Hanover. MacIntosh and partners Hutt Racing Stable and Steve Heimbecker paid $14,000 for Ole Joe at the 2019 Goshen Yearling Sale.
“Ole Joe was a pretty cheap yearling. We had some luck with Roll With Joe in the past with Groovy Joe and a couple others,” MacIntosh said. “He’s a nice-looking little guy, wasn’t an overly striking horse, but I’ve had some luck with them in the past. He’s a nice little horse.”
Ole Joe finished third in both of his qualifiers and paced a final quarter of :28.3 on each occasion. In his first outing, he paced under the wire in 2:00.1, while he was clocked in 1:57.2 during his latest baby race. Although not charted as a break, Ole Joe was a bit steppy around the first turn in his latest outing.
“Last time qualifying, he wasn’t as good as he should have been, I felt, because training down he’s been a lot better than what he showed qualifying,” MacIntosh said. “I think he got on the big track and got lost. I think he’ll be more of a half-mile track specialist.”
Jim Marohn Jr. is scheduled to drive Ole Joe from Post 4. The coupled entry of Major Makover and Ole Joe is 9-5 on the morning line. The first elimination also includes American Courage, one of only two horses in either elimination to make a pari-mutuel start. The Fiddler’s Creek Stable homebred son of American Ideal won his debut by six lengths in 1:54.1 in a $10,400 overnight at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono Downs on June 30. Matt Kakaley is scheduled to drive the Travis Alexander trainee.
Owned by the same connections as Ole Joe, MacIntosh’s Victory Move will start as part of an entry with Erv Miller’s Carrythetorchman in the second Springfield Stakes elimination. By American Ideal, Victory Move is out of the Powerful Toy mare Ireneonthemove, who is a multiple Delaware-sired stakes winner of the mid-2000s and later a consistent open-type that earned $846,091. Ireneonthemove has produced three winners to date, including 10-time winner and $155,848 earner Carly Girl. MacIntosh and partners paid $65,000 for Victory Move at the 2019 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.
Victory Move finished second in his first qualifier, and was clocked in 1:59.2 with a :28.3 last quarter. He finished fourth in his second qualifier and was timed in 1:58.1 with a :27.3 final panel despite being charted with broken equipment.
“Training down, he was in the top set,” MacIntosh said. “His two qualifiers were as good as we expected out of him. You have to work him a little more. I think being in New York will be a lot better for him than being up here (Ontario) whereas you can get after them a little more, chase them a little more because he’s a little lazy. Other than that, he’s got a great gait to him and does everything pretty [well].
“In the qualifiers up here (Ontario), I wasn’t disappointed, but there was one time I thought he was going to blow by them and he sort of waited on them,” MacIntosh continued. “I know what talent he’s got and I think he’ll be fine. I think Matt (Kakaley) will get the best out of him this week.”
With travel restrictions in place at the US-Canada border, the trio of Major Makover, Ole Joe, and Victory Move shipped to MacIntosh’s New York stable in Middletown, which is headed by Jessica Dowse.
“We stayed on track with the two-year-olds. The only difference right now is I’m not going down to the barn down there. I train them all up here and then send them down. Usually, I’d be down every week splitting my time 50-50. This year, I won’t be down until they lift the border restrictions because when I come back I have to quarantine 14 days,” MacIntosh explained.
“Jessica Dowse will be running the stable down there full time. She sends me videos and we talk every day; she’s a great communicator and we’re able to talk throughout. That’s the only difference right now, but we’ve got them hung up the way we want them and our training track is a tight track, so when I send them down, they don’t have to change much.”
With two-year-old racing commencing across North America, MacIntosh already has four freshman winners this season, including two in Woodbine Mohawk Park overnights and two in the stallion series at Harrah’s Philadelphia. The trainer hopes his luck will continue in the Springfield Stakes.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking. You work so hard all winter, you hope everything goes well. You hope you have a couple that can make the money and do well for you,” MacIntosh said. “We’re fortunate enough to have had some luck right out of the gate with the two-year-olds. We just hope everything keeps going [well]. We have a big chunk of money out there that we have to make back. If we can win in the first couple and do well and keep going forward and get the bills paid, we’ll be happy.”
The amended Yonkers Raceway calendar will see live harness racing conducted Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights until July 17. Beginning the week of July 20, the schedule will add Saturday nights as the track returns to its normal five night per week schedule through December 19. First-race post time is at 7:05 p.m.
(SOA of NY)