Everybody starts somewhere. For Phil Bartz, his introduction to Thoroughbred racing came with a trip to the Adirondacks -- and Saratoga Race Course -- from his family's home in Buffalo, N.Y."By the time I went to kindergarten I could read," Bartz said. His teacher asked how he was able to read so well, and Bartz shot back with a, "Well, how are you going to handicap if you don't know how to read?"
Somebody would call social services today, but the early lessons cultivated an interest and -- when betting on horses proved to be a losing proposition -- Bartz and his wife Leeann dipped their toes into racehorse ownership and are still making memories off the first horse they owned. A great-grandson of the initial Crystal Park Stables runner Quick Shift, Brilliant Ice dominated the $153,000 Maryland Million Classic at Laurel Park Oct. 12.
Headliner on a 12-race card on the 39th running of the state-sired day, the Classic showcased the roots of Maryland's racing industry as all eight stakes winners raced for their breeders. Offspring of eight Maryland stallions posted wins on the day, topped by doubles from Uncle Lino and Great Notion and a record-extending 38th victory for Not For Love, who died in 2016.
Nobody worked harder than Brilliant Ice, who charged through the stretch to take the lead from favorite Mosler Time and drew off to score by 51⁄4 lengths for Crystal Park -- the Bartzes plus partners Eileen and Steve Rosenthal -- trainer Annette Eubanks and jockey Jeiron Barbosa. Sent off as the 5-1 third choice in a field of 11, the 5-year-old gelding collected his fifth lifetime win (first in a stakes) and earned $82,500 to push his career mark to $314,990 in 26 starts. The winner stopped the clock in 1:50.19 for 11⁄8 miles.
Brilliant Ice needed seven starts to graduate the maiden ranks Dec. 30, 2022. The dark bay won once last year, while placing second three times and third twice. His 2024 has been busy, but productive, with wins in February and July and back-to-back seconds coming into the Classic.
The road was even longer for the Bartzes. They claimed Quick Shift from breeder Oliver Goldsmith for $8,500 in December 1991. Trained by Gary Capuano, she won in January 1992 and got claimed away in March.
It was not a happy time in the Bartz household.
"My daughter and wife were so upset that I called the racing office and asked them who claimed her," Phil Bartz said. Informed that Eubanks was the new trainer, he asked for her telephone number and made a second call.
Leeann and Phil Bartz are all smiles after the Maryland Million Classic win with homebred Brilliant Ice
“Are we dreaming?
Did this happen?
Did that really just happen?
It’s been such a wonderful ride.
It really has.”
– Owner/breeder Leeann Bartz,
after Brilliant Ice won the Classic
"Can we come visit her? Can we just come visit her?" Bartz asked. "I won't claim her back or anything. I've got my daughter and my wife, they're crying all the time."
Eubanks agreed, the Bartz family visited the barn often, but Quick Shift got claimed again and passed through several trainers before being claimed back for $8,500 two days before Christmas 1993. The new owner? Crystal Park Stables.
"It was the best Christmas present ever," Phil Bartz said. "Annette had them put a wreath around her neck and a big bow. When I took Leeann out there to see her, she was in a state of shock because we hadn't had her for almost two years."
The daughter of Double Zeus and the Tequillo mare Aunt Jean ran eight more times without winning and was retired. She made 81 starts, won 16 races, placed in 38 others -- one season she raced 28 times, finishing top-three in 22 -- and earned $150,834. As a broodmare, she produced four winners from five foals to race. Daughter Crystal Ice (by Horatius) produced one foal, Little Ice Patch (by Housebuster), who won four times and in turn produced multiple winners Ice On the Severn and Carolina Ice. Her third foal to race, Brilliant Ice, has outdone them all. The son of Great Notion delivered first Maryland Million wins to Crystal Park and Eubanks.
"Are we dreaming? Did this happen? Did that really just happen?" Leeann Bartz asked herself and anyone else in the winner's circle afterward. "It's been such a wonderful ride. It really has."
Quick Shift lived to age 33 and spent her last several years as a companion to retired graded stakes winner Learned Jake on Eubanks' farm in Lothian -- a reward for a racing/broodmare career and plenty more.
"We had a bond, she and I," said Leeann Bartz. "It's almost like we knew what each other were thinking. I know that sounds silly. If you don't love horses, you don't understand it. But if you do, you do."
Eubanks, 80, missed the race while recovering from knee-replacement surgery but wasn't far from anyone's thoughts.
"We will talk to her shortly," said Phil Bartz. "I was hoping she could make it out today, but she couldn't. We love her to bits. She's the best. If anybody deserves this, it's her. Not us.
Family Business
Fred and Mary Agnes Lewis enjoyed Maryland Million Day. They would have loved this version as two of their homebreds posted victories -- 3-year-old Celtic Contender in the $101,000 Sprint and 6-year-old Hunter Joe in the $50,000 turf starter handicap. The half-brothers are the last two horses campaigned by Lewis Family Racing Stable after Mary Agnes (2020) and Fred (2022) passed away at 92 and 95, respectively.
Their children Ted, Jeff and Mike Lewis and Joan Lewis Kennedy plus Joan's son Nick carry on the family tradition now and reveled in the double.
"It's amazing," said Jeff Lewis. "My dad and my mom would be incredibly happy right now. They loved days like this, a big day for Maryland racing. To be at the track like this and win two races is just unbelievable."
Fred Lewis was a veterinarian, first in Williamsport, Pa., and later in Howard County, Md., caring for small animals and horses for decades until a few months before he died. As an owner and breeder, he won a Maryland Million starter handicap with Who Stole My Sock in 2016 and campaigned stakes winners Katie's Love and her daughter Celtic Katie. They're the first two dams of the 2024 Maryland Million winners. A $60,000 yearling purchase in 2003, Katie's Love won five races and earned $248,500. Celtic Katie won four races and produced Hunter Joe in 2018. The Palace Malice gelding came into Maryland Million Day with six wins and made it seven by stalking the pace, building a 3-length lead in the stretch and hanging on by 1¾ lengths over The Last Scip for trainer Hammy Smith and Jaime Rodriguez.
Three races later, 3-year-old Celtic Contender took his turn with a half-length score over even-money favorite Band Camp in the Sprint. Arden'sluckytobe and longshot Freeze the Fire set early fractions of :22.19 and :44.77. Just behind them, Celtic Contender and Victor Carrasco went after Freeze the Fire in the stretch, took command and fought off the Eubanks-trained Band Camp to prevail in 1:09.87 for 6 furlongs. The win gave Smith 10 Maryland Million training wins, tied for third all-time.
Unraced at 2, Celtic Contender broke his maiden by 101⁄2 lengths in February, finished a well-beaten seventh in the Federico Tesio Stakes and won a first-level allowance at Laurel in June. The son of Irish War Cry crossed the wire first in the Star de Naskra Stakes June 29, but was placed third for interfering with a rival. Beaten a half-length in the Concern Stakes July 28, the chestnut prepped for the Maryland Million with a 7-furlong allowance win Sept. 21. The Sprint victory gave him four wins and a bankroll to $169,805 -- all while carrying on a legacy as part of the final crop bred by Fred Lewis.
While welcomed, the success won't necessarily fuel an expansion of Lewis Family Racing. Those days are nearly over.
"We're down to just these two horses now," said Ted Lewis. "We sold the mares and just kept these two going. I'm sure Hammy is going to try to talk us into buying a couple more now after a day like this. It's incredible to see them both win."
Turf Striker
Off an allowance win at Monmouth Park, Starstruck Notion looked like a player in the 2023 Turf and did everything but win while chasing repeat winner Wicked Prankster home late and settling for second.
A year later, the 4-year-old son of Great Notion again entered the $125,000 race off a victory at Monmouth and met seven rivals. Wicked Prankster didn't try for a third Turf score, but the group included hard hitters Sky's Not Falling, Crabs N Beer, Sports Editor, Street Copper and Riccio. Favorite Sky's Not Falling took over from Sports Editor and Goodbye Note in the stretch, built a quick lead and looked home free as Starstruck Notion unwound a late rally.
Too late, it appeared. The New Jersey-bred carved into the deficit, but the finish line looked just as menacing as the rivals crossed together after 1:47.84 for 11⁄8 miles. It took awhile, but the photo finish went Starstruck Notion's way by a nose. Even winning jockey Forest Boyce wasn't sure.
"I had it pretty measured . . . but I had a moment there where I was like, 'Is he going to get there . . .' " she said. "I thought I had it, then halfway through the stretch I was like, 'We might not have this.' Then he kicked in and we got there. I think he was taking a deep breath at that moment."
Trained by Pat McBurney for owner/breeder Ken Garcia, Starstruck Notion won for the sixth time in 15 starts, becoming a stakes winner and pushing his career bankroll to $331,557. It was the dark bay gelding's first win away from Monmouth Park. Garcia bred Starstruck Notion's dam Star On Broadway, who won once for McBurney in 2008. Her only other foal to race, Star Flare, won twice.
Garcia raised Starstruck Notion on his farm in New Jersey, and compared him to a child.
"He thought we were his parents, because the barn was right there and he kept trying to get to the house," Garcia said. "He wanted to be with us. I love the horses, love doing this."
McBurney paid credit to Starstruck Notion's guts in the stretch.
"He was just always a good-trying colt," said the trainer, a former assistant to New Jersey legend John Forbes whose early days in racing were in the John Tammaro Jr. barn at Bowie. "He was getting a bit heavy on his front end is why we gelded him, but it wasn't because of his attitude or anything. He was always a good guy. I think that cross with Great Notion works. What a sire, right? He gets a hickory-hickory hard trying horse."
Girl Power
Bosserati is an open book when it comes to racing strategy, or the lack of it. The 4-year-old filly runs in turf sprints, goes as fast as she can for as long as she can, and tries to see out the trip.
The plan doesn't always work, as evidenced by six consecutive defeats before taking on nine male rivals in the $102,000 Turf Sprint. Three times she finished third, twice by a neck, but that's as close as she got to victory since a score in Laurel's Stormy Blues Stakes in June 2023.
After a third at Colonial Downs Aug. 31, trainer Brittany Russell looked for a three-other-than allowance spot for Joel Politi's homebred daughter of Holy Boss but the condition book didn't cooperate.
"She's had a couple of beats this year, and we've had to throw her in some spots," trainer Brittany Russell said. "It just always feels like you're not going into the spot you wanted. But look, she's a stakes winner, and she's a turf sprinter, so you've just got to go with those opportunities sometimes."
She made the most of it, streaking to the front from post nine, building a lead through fractions of :21.82 and :44.63, passing 5 furlongs in :56.10 and screaming for the finish line over the final sixteenth. Great Idea made a run, but came up a neck short after 1:02.04. Had to Have Him took third while favorite Witty wound up eighth after getting pinched at the start and forced wide at the top of the stretch.
Like a bettor, Russell leaned through the final yards alongside another trainer.
"I was in the paddock going crazy," she said. "I was with Anthony Farrior, and I'm like, 'I don't know if you're good luck or bad luck.' It turns out, yeah, I might watch a few more races with him. Hang on . . . hang on . . . right."
Bosserati hung on, winning for the fifth time in 17 starts and pushing her career earnings to $270,260. Jockey Sheldon Russell, the trainer's husband, credited the filly's early speed and more.
"I've said to a few people, she's the fastest horse I've been on out of the gate," he said. "The first jump, she's lightning fast. There was other speed in there. I was surprised she was out there by herself. She goes fast, but she's doing it the right way, you know what I mean? She's not being rank. It was :21, :44 but it's not :21, :44, head and head with something else."
The battle came at the end.
"I won't say what I was telling her, but I was screaming for the wire, because I honestly felt like she deserved to win today," the jockey said. "She's gone against the boys, she's done all the dirty work, she deserved that. I was really happy, man. That was cool for Brittany, the team and Joel."
Politi claimed Bosserati's dam, Candy Striper, for $50,000 in November 2017. She made one start for him, finishing third for $25,000 in January 2018, and became a broodmare. Politi owns 40 percent of Anchor and Hope Farm stallion Holy Boss so, naturally, Candy Striper has produced five foals by the stallion -- three winners.
“When we come down here,
I don’t want to be embarrassed, man.
I worked down here for 20 years.
I can’t come down and be embarrassed. I’ve got to think in my mind, ‘Do I at least have a shot?’ ”
– Trainer Bernie Houghton,
who won the Distaff with Foxy Junior
Home Run
When just seven Maryland-sired horses turned up for the $125,000 Ladies, the 11⁄8-mile turf race looked like a choice spot for Active. The 3-year-old Gun Runner filly, bred in Maryland by Larry Johnson, cost $200,000 as a yearling, finished first or second in her previous four starts and cast a big shadow. By race day, she had company as Dark Hollow Farm's 5-year-old Maryland-bred Bodemeister mare Circle Home drew into the race after a late scratch.
Circle Home rallied from 151⁄2 lengths behind early to score by a neck over 2023 race winner Precious Avary after 1:48.10. The runner-up did her part, building a big lead, carrying it into the stretch and digging in late to no avail. The New Jersey-bred daughter of Divining Rod was 41⁄2 lengths clear of Next Episode in third as Active settled for fifth.
Circle Home may not be Maryland-sired, but her roots run deep. Dark Hollow's David and JoAnn Hayden claimed the bay mare's third dam Safely Home at Bowie in 1980 and she rewarded them by producing eight winners. Hall of Famer and champion Safely Kept led the way, but the squad included Grade 2 winner and $554,731-earner Partner's Hero, 31-race winner Safe On Second and 10-race winner Stand Up Double.
"We're going back 30 years with that family; look up Safely Home, it's got to be 30 years [it's actually more than 40]," said David Hayden. "We were just getting in the game and Ron Alfano said he had this filly we should think about claiming."
Once Alfano explained how claiming worked, the Haydens put up $11,500 and owned a racehorse. Safely Home started once, was injured and became a broodmare after the Haydens asked, "What's a broodmare?"
Born two years before her famous sister Safely Kept, Safe At the Plate won six times for Dark Hollow, was seven-times stakes-placed, and joined the broodmare band. Her 2005 foal, Safe Journey, won three races and also went to the breeding shed. The daughter of Flatter's foals include stakes winners O Dionysus and Joy.
Their sister Circle Home arrived in 2019. She needed eight starts to break through the maiden ranks, but has put together a solid 2024 with two wins, two seconds and a third in eight starts for trainer Miguel Vera.
Cheering for her requires patience.
"She definitely has her style of running, which might give you a heart attack," said Dark Hollow farm manager John Foster after living through the Ladies. "You figure that's her, and here she comes. If she gets a, I don't want to say good ride, but if she gets a good ride or the right set-up she's pretty tough."
That last adjective has been a part of her life since the early days.
"She was the dominant girl in the field," Foster said. "When they were still with the colts, she was dominant. Then when we split them up, she was the dominant filly and was always tough. Not bad, just you've got to do it her way or not do it. It's been great watching her."
Heavy Hitter
Bernie Houghton laughed when informed that Foxy Junior's win in the $101,000 Distaff was going to force the statisticians to look up his lifetime winning percentage in Maryland Million races.
"When we come down here, I don't want to be embarrassed, man," the Penn National-based trainer said. "I worked down here for 20 years. I can't come down and be embarrassed. I've got to think in my mind, 'Do I at least have a shot?' "
The Maryland Jockey Club horse identifier for the better part of those two decades, Houghton wins at 17-percent clip lifetime. On Maryland Million Day, he bats .500 with six wins from a dozen starts. Since 2012, he's an even gaudier 6-for-10.
Motivated by potential embarrassment or not, Houghton doesn't send them to Laurel in October unless they're ready. Foxy Junior joined Classy Coco (2012 and 2014), Crabcakes (2017, 2018) and Ournationonparade (2019) on Houghton's list of winners. Owned and bred by Dianne Stern, the daughter of 2008 Maryland Million Classic winner Cuba gave Houghton his fourth Distaff win.
Foxy Junior and regular jockey Jomar Torres waited just off the pace of Talk to the Judge through a first quarter in :23.10 and a half in :45.70 before striking in the stretch, getting past favorite Spencerian and holding off runner-up Sheilahs Warcloud by three-quarters of a length in 1:23.86 for 7 furlongs. The dark bay 4-year-old won for the fifth time in six starts this year, continuing an improvement Houghton noticed as soon as she went back to work after a winter break.
"No, I've got to be honest, I just wasn't sure," he said about expecting the step forward after her 3-year-old season. "We gave her the time off, and . . . I knew she could run in the morning, and she won some races at Penn National, but she came back a lot better than I expected."
Foxy Junior won her 2024 debut by 111⁄2 lengths at Penn National May 2, and added two more victories there before trying stakes company in the Princess of Sylmar for Pennsylvania-breds at Presque Isle Downs July 29. Beaten 2 lengths when fourth, she went to Parx Racing Sept. 21 and pulled a mild upset in the Plum Pretty Stakes for state-breds.
Houghton gave some credit to Torres, aboard for all six starts in 2024.
"He had a GoPro on last time at Parx, and he let me listen to it," said Houghton, a steeplechase jockey in the 1980s. "He never says a word. He's so quiet. It's not like when I used to ride. He's so quiet. And I think that's what she likes. He just sits there, he puts her in a good position, and she does the rest."
For Stern and her husband Ralph, the win continued a long relationship with racing. They campaigned Foxy Junior's granddam Hanalei Bay, a $7,500 claim who placed in four stakes. Her daughter by Flatter, Foxy Drummer, won three times and produced Foxy Junior in 2020.
"This is wonderful," Dianne said of a Maryland Million win, "something I've dreamed about." The Westminster, Md., residents teamed up with Houghton and his mother Betsy several years ago and have enjoyed the relationship -- including a winner's circle phone call from Betsy after the Distaff.
"This guy, as far as we're concerned, should be the only person that should be training horses -- he can have all of them," said Ralph Stern of Bernie. "He takes care of horses and he treats them right and he has them ready. If it's a decent horse and he can get something out of them, this is the guy that can do it."
Four weeks after the Maryland Million win, Houghton and Foxy Junior did it again -- making off with the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes at Laurel. That win gave her nine victories from 19 starts, and $332,669 earned.
Mr. Clubman to You
The day's senior citizen, 10-year-old Clubman, became a Maryland Million Day winner on his sixth try. Now racing for owner/trainer Joanne Shankle, the son of Not For Love rallied from last of 11 after a quarter-mile to win the finale -- a 7-furlong starter handicap -- by a neck over Paco the Taco Man.
“I just love this horse. He loves it.
He loves his job. He’s good.
He’s easy. I get on him every day.
We had him a long time ago and he’s the same as he was, acts like he’s young. I want to retire him, but maybe
a couple more starts.”
– Owner/trainer Joanne Shankle,
about 10-year-old starter winner Clubman
The victory came after three tries in the Classic (2017, 2018, 2019) and two more in starters (2022, 2023). Third twice in those, Clubman earned his breakthrough with a gutsy stretch run for Ismerio Villalobos, much to the delight of Shankle.
"This horse is so cool," she said after giving him a hug. "He's got a good personality. I just love this horse. He loves it. He loves his job. He's good. He's easy. I get on him every day. We had him a long time ago and he's the same as he was, acts like he's young. I want to retire him, but maybe a couple more starts."
Bred by Tom and Chris Bowman and their daughters Quin Bowman and Becky Davis out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Otherwise Perfect, Maryland's 2023 Broodmare of the Year, Clubman sold for $75,000 as a 2-year-old in 2016. Unraced as a juvenile, he won five of 16 starts in 2017 and has made at least seven starts every year since. He won six races last year, but rode a seven-start losing streak into the Maryland Million. The victory was his 19th (two stakes) in 84 lifetime starts and pushed his career earnings to $729,847.
Juvenile Success
Charlie Parker summed up his Thoroughbred strategy in two simple sentences.
"The ones we can sell for a modest profit, we sell. The others, we race."
And win races with.
For the second time in five runnings, Parker won the $100,000 Lassie with a homebred. Miss Nondescript did it in 2020, and Shkhara Fire handled the task this time around. Owned and bred by Parker's Barak Farm and Dean Barber's Dino's Thoroughbreds, the 2-year-old filly spotted the field several lengths at the start but erased a 101⁄4-length deficit in a hurry. Last of 12 after a quarter-mile in :22.01, she advanced to eighth after a half-mile, rallied seven wide off the turn and reeled in Malibu Hooch late to score by a neck after 6 furlongs in 1:11.24. Angel Cruz rode the winner, a daughter of Friesan Fire and the Langfuhr mare Rysy, for trainer Jose Corrales. Safe Trust, racing for Barak and Corrales, finished third while stablemate Rapido Rosa finished 10th.
"It's unbelievable, what can you say?" Parker said. "We had three in there and we've had six 2-year-old winners this year. This filly is really blooming, and it means more to me because it's my best friend in a partnership with me."
Parker and Barber passed credit to farm manager Joe Dodgen and the team in Kentucky, and Corrales.
"None of it's possible without our people back home, and Jose too; he's the man behind the scenes," said Parker, a barn designer/builder based in Kentucky. "They take good care of these horses. Dean and I just have the fun."
Gina and Jerry Robb's No Guts No Glory Farm homebred Do It for Michael sped to victory in the day's first stakes, the $100,000 Nursery for 2-year-olds. Trained by Jerry, the son of Uncle Lino and the Great Notion mare Gracie's Hero fought off Re Markably to win by a neck in 1:10.57 for 6 furlongs. Xavier Perez rode the winner, the first homebred Maryland Million winner for No Guts No Glory and a half-brother to stakes winner Mama G's Wish and additional winners Courageous Grace, Cocktail Dreaming and Irish Hero.
"All his siblings were high-end allowance horses and won a couple Delaware-certified races," Jerry Robb said. "I think he's the best of all of them. He's been doing everything right.
