19th Maryland Million an affair to remember
Handle rises to all-time record for 12-race card topped by Presidentialaffair’s Classic victory.

Story by Sean Clancy.
Photographs by Lydia A. Williams and Brandon Benson.

In the 2003 Maryland Million, Presidentialaffair earned a “yielded grudgingly” comment from the Daily Racing Form as he fell a nose short of upsetting defending champion Docent in the $200,000 feature.

Three-hundred-sixty-three days later (October 9), Presidentialaffair was back for another try, while Docent was on the bench. There was no yielding, but plenty of grudging, from Presidentialaffair in the CosaminDS Maryland Million Classic.

The 5-year-old gelding was sent off as favorite by the crowd of 16,339 that contributed to a Maryland Million record handle of $4,642,444.

Stewart Elliott let the son of Not For Love lope on the lead through moderate fractions while his seven rivals tried to keep pace. New York shipper Aggadan and nine-time winner Irish Colony challenged at the top of the stretch, but Presidentialaffair had plenty left to hold sway by one and three-quarters lengths for trainer Martin Ciresa.

Owned by Vincent Papandrea and Edward Ciresa (Martin’s father), Presidentialaffair pushed his career earnings to just under $500,000. A Pennsylvania-bred, Presiden-tialaffair capped off a strong season in the Maryland Mil-lion.

Based at Philadelphia Park, he won three stakes in 2004, including the Grade 3 Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park, and finished second to eventual Breeders’ Cup Classic-G1 win-ner Ghost-zapper in the Philip H. Iselin Breeders’ Cup Handicap-G3 at Monmouth.

In Presidentialaffair’s previous start before the Maryland Million, he was beaten 36 lengths by Ghostzapper in the Grade 1 Woodward. After the race, Presidentialaffair was lame from a foot abscess.

Ciresa had a month to regroup and get his horse right for another try at the Maryland Million.
“Last year was a tough beat,” Ciresa said. “The payback was good, especially after the two previous races [against Ghostzapper]. It’s always nerve-wracking with him because you never know what he’s going to do. He always gives me 100 percent, but mentally he’s just one of those horses that could do anything at any time. You have to always be on guard.

“Then we had physical problems, like all the good ones do. He had abscesses after every race.”
Ciresa has weathered a long and winding path with Presidentialaffair. The third-generation horseman picked him out as a yearling and bought him for $25,000 at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic. A cracked shin came first, then a back problem, then a falling out with the owner. Eventually, Presidentialaffair was running for another trainer and in for a claiming tag at Monmouth. Ciresa had his horse back—this time with his father as owner. Papandrea bought into the horse after he rattled off three victories and was duly set for the 2003 Maryland Million.
That’s when the nerves set in for Ciresa.

“I had sold half of him for a lot of money [to Papandrea]. He loves the game and owns a lot of quality horses,” Ciresa said. “I told him he was the real deal. Well, you can speak that all you like, but before they prove they can run with a horse like Docent, you’re nervous. And it was the most purse I ever ran for and I basically had a client on the line. Then we got beat. He was ecstatic. I was like, ‘Oh man, a nose.’ We were a little bit crushed but he proved he was worth the money.”

And he’s kept on proving it. Presidentialaffair won the Grade 3 Stuyvesant at Aqueduct in his next start. This year he’s been first or second in seven of eight starts. As a 5-year-old gelding, Presidentialaffair could defend his Maryland Million title for years—if he doesn’t have bigger plans.
“This year, I really thought he was a Breeders’ Cup horse, and then he had all his physical problems,” Ciresa said. “You watch the race in total stress mode hoping everything goes well. At the 16th pole, knowing you’re going to win, was a relief. You’re proud of him because he’s such a tough animal, he loves to win. He loves to be a race horse.”

Bred by Lori and Jeff Swats-worth’s Will Run Farm, Presidentialaffair is out of Quite Amazing, who was voted Pennsylvania’s Broodmare of the Year in 2003.
An 18-year-old daughter of Bear Hunt, Quite Amazing is also the dam of stakes winner Hunter’s Ridge and stakes-placed Wood Bear Watchin, plus five other winners.

“We purchased her off the track as a 3-year-old,” Swats-worth said. “We really liked what we saw; she’s a really good-looking mare. [Hunter’s Ridge] was her first foal to race and our first foal we bred. He ended up being a stakes winner and a track record holder. She’s done well for us.”
The Swatsworths started breeding on their 21-acre farm outside Gettysburg in 1990. They average three or four foals a year, buoyed by Quite Amazing’s progeny. She’s in foal to Brahms, has a 2-year-old by Allen’s Prospect and a yearling by Louis Quatorze.

“Presidentialaffair’s been a super horse,” Jeff Swatsworth said. “I know he has super speed, he always did here on the farm as a baby. He was a quick horse; there was no holding him back. We had to get him off our farm and on a farm with bigger paddocks. Ours are only a couple-acre paddocks and he was wearing them out.”

That wouldn’t surprise Ciresa, who couldn’t help but think about his big horse and the nation’s big horse, Ghost-zapper.

“He’s a freak, not quite like Ghostzapper is a freak, but him winning the Breeders’ Cup gave Presidentialaffair a little more credence. I ended up catching the best horse in the country twice—on purpose,” Ciresa said. “He came back and did his thing in the Maryland Million and Ghostzapper did his thing in the Breeders’ Cup.

“I’ve had a couple of nice horses but never any as good as him. He’s a race horse, every horse he sees he wants to run past. He has all those tools—you can’t train them to do that.”

The 12-race Maryland Mil-lion card started early. Too early for owner Richard Shan-non, who was scurrying from his car as the field of seven turned for home in the opener that went off at 12:39 p.m.

Drum Roll Please . . .
That’s all Shannon heard from announcer Dave Rodman. But that was plenty, as Drum Roll Please, a 4-year-old son of Deputed Testamony sent off at 13-1, won the Maryland Lottery Maryland Million Sprint Starter Handicap. It was the first stakes victory for horse and owner.
“I was late getting here so I didn’t get a chance to do a thing,” Shannon said. “I knew he was going to run good. He worked sharp last week. I was coming through the parking lot and I heard ‘Drum Roll Please.’ That was it.”

Shannon, from Atlantic City, N.J., claimed Drum Roll Please as a 2-year-old and sent him to trainer Donnovan Haughton, who also secured his first Maryland Million victory. Ridden by Richard Monterrey, Drum Roll Please was bred in Maryland by Albert and Randy Cohen.

Any time a horse gets led over for a race, it’s stressful for horse, trainer, owner, everyone. And then there is Hunca Munca—now that’s stress.

Known for flipping over in the paddock, in the gate, anywhere she feels stress, Hunca Munca came to the claustrophobic Pimlico paddock with trainer Doug Nunn worrying.
“I was very concerned about the atmosphere today,” Nunn said. “She’s mentally high-strung. This was the biggest-asked question and she stepped up and was fantastic.”
Fantastic enough to draw off and win the Baltimore Sun Maryland Million Distaff Starter Handicap by a length and a quarter under Vladimir Diaz. The race was restricted to horses who had started for a claiming price of $12,500 or less since October 11, 2003. Hunca Munca just squeezed through the entry box. Nunn ran William Cook’s 3-year-old daughter of Yarrow Brae for $12,500 once—a second at Dela-ware Park on August 8, 2004. At the time, the trainer wasn’t even thinking about the Mary-land Million.

After horse and trainer had their biggest victory, it was all the affable Irishman could think about.
“This was my biggest race of my life, there’s nothing that can top this,” Nunn said. “My twin brother [David] gets married tomorrow; this is going to be a great weekend. This tops everything, because I like a challenge and this filly has given me more than a challenge. I’ve had problems with her. My brother told me once, ‘Don’t mess with her, she’s going to hurt you.’ I said, ‘Let me take my time and work with her.’ And she’s let me work with her.”
Nunn trains 15 horses at the Overbrook Training Center near Monmouth Park.
It’s quiet. For Hunca Munca, bred by Sherman Chin in Mary-land, it’s perfect.
“She was out with the pony all night last night,” Nunn said. “That’s the only way to take the edge off her.”

The Maryland Million was designed to help strengthen the Maryland breeding program. Breed your mare to an in-state stallion and keep doing it.
No family tree epitomized this business strategy on Mary-land Million Day better than Si-lmaril’s.
Owned and bred by Stephen Quick and Chris Feif-arek, Silmaril (by Diamond) descends from Quick’s brilliant Mary-land-bred mare Kattegat’s Pride. A three-time Maryland-bred champion (1982 to ’84), Kattegat’s Pride is the granddam of Silmaril, who outran eight rivals in the mile and a sixteenth Cosequin Maryland Million Oaks for her second stakes victory and fifth career win from seven starts. The 3-year-old filly is trained by Chris Grove and was ridden by Abel Castellano.

“The hardest thing was to see if she would go long. I had six weeks from her last race, so every day, two miles. And I put two really nice mile works into her. She did it all herself,” Grove said. “This is Maryland at its best. You know the money is going to stay in the state; it shows support for the stallions here. This is Mary-land’s offering.”
For Quick, who owns St. Omer’s Farm in Harford County with his wife, Sue, it was a fulfilling moment.

“We always like to have something we own race in the Maryland Million, and this is the first win,” Quick said. “It takes a long time. Kattegat’s Pride was a foal of ’79, we ran her for five years and we kept the daughter [Kattebuck].
“She didn’t win a lot, but we kept after it and got Silmaril. And we have some other half-sisters to Silmaril; we’re looking forward to some good days.”

When the Maryland Million Turf started to come up light, the racing office started hustling. One of the calls was to trainer Ann Merryman, who had nominated Richard Blue’s Dr Detroit (by Wayne County-Ire) to the $100,000 stakes.

Merryman called Blue and said the magic words: “We’ll make six.”
The only problem was with the other five. Slew Valley, a career winner of $762,040, was invading from Canada; 2002 Turf hero La Reine’s Terms ($712,091) was back to his best form; and solid New York allowance horse Private Scandal was the final ingredient in a salty threesome—hence the short field.

Dr Detroit, zero for eight this year and beaten for a $7,500 tag in December 2003, had never heard of any of them. Under a precise ride by Mario Pino, Dr Detroit staved off Private Scandal in the closest finish of the day. The final margin was a nose, and that was hard to see in the photo. He paid $48.40 for the win.

For Blue, who owns about six mares, six race horses and one stallion (one-time Maryland Million Classic contender Root Boy), it was his first Maryland Million victory and a day he’ll never forget.
“This one, I wasn’t supposed to win. I wasn’t even supposed to be close. I figured third or fourth,” Blue said. “We nominated to the [Turf] Sprint and this race. Ann called me and said there’s only five horses entered in the distance race. I said, ‘All I got to do is beat two to get our money back.’
Then I saw who was in there and went, ‘Oh my God.’ I didn’t think there was any way we could beat that horse from Canada.”

For Merryman, who has trained for Blue for about 10 years, it was a satisfying day with a horse she always liked.

“I’m proud of him. He’s a cool horse. We always loved him; we’ve had a lot of troubles with him,” Merryman said. “I’ve got to give Richie credit, he let me run him and he picked Mario. We were just taking a shot of hitting the board. Third was very important for the black type on the catalogue page. I’m pretty stunned.”

Howard County Executive Jim Robey handed Rosalee Davison the Maryland Million crystal bowl after Hear Us Roar won the Lassie. Robey smiled and photographers were ready to click, when Davison set the trophy on the table.

Davison’s hands were shaking too hard to be holding crystal at a time like this. It had been a long time.

“We haven’t had a good one for so long, I’ve forgotten what it’s like,” she said after regaining her composure. “It’s been too long; I hope this is the good horse.”
So far, so good.

Hear Us Roar, a homebred by Lion Hearted, broke her maiden by five in a five and a half-furlong maiden special weight on August 27, and trainer Fran Campitelli did not ask her to race again until the Lassie. Down the backside, the trainer was thinking he had blown it.
“I was really confident going into this race and then at the half-mile pole, I said, ‘not today,’” Campitelli said. “The first time she ran, she laid four, five lengths back and inhaled them. Of course with winners, they were getting away from her and she’s not making that move.”
Give her time. Hear Us Roar went from sixth to third to first in the last quarter-mile to collar Partners Due late in the six-furlong stakes. Luis Garcia rode the winner.
Davison is the daughter of former Pimlico owner Ben Cohen. She and her husband, Richard, own 35 horses that (son) John Davison manages. Hear Us Roar was born and raised at Chanceland Farm, right there in Robey’s Howard County.

Everyone remembers where they were when John F. Kennedy was shot, when the 1980 USA hockey team upset the Soviet Union, and when they drank their first beer.
Benny Feliciano remembers when he heard about the Maryland Million adding a turf sprint to the program.

“John Alecci was the first one to tell me about it, and yeah, I was happy,” Feliciano said. “I said, ‘That’s intriguing.’ I knew I had a couple for it.”

Moments after the first running of the five-furlong Maryland Million Turf Sprint, Feliciano had one more thought: “I hope they keep it.”

That’s because Feliciano has a monopoly on Maryland turf sprinters. He saddled three of the 11 starters, including the first, second and sixth choices. Sent off at 9.2-1, sixth choice Namequest went to the lead, shook off Shades of Sunny, and drew off to win by two and three-quarters under Tom Turner. Owned by Taking Risks Stable, the 8-year-old gelding (a son of the late Norquestor) battled back from a bowed tendon to win two races last year and was even better heading into the Maryland Million. The victory was the fourth straight for Namequest, bred in Pennsylvania by Andrew Hobbs.

“When he’s good, you better look out,” Feliciano said. “When they came around the turn I thought Nortouch was going to get him, but then he looked like he wasn’t stopping. He’s a game horse. He’s old, but whenever a horse is on a long win streak like that, they’re dangerous. It’s weird—he runs from the front or back. I told Tommy, ‘Break him out of the gate and let Namequest tell you where he wants to run today. He’ll let you know.’”

Jay Stone, his father, Joe, and Chris Miccio make up Taking Risks Stable, a name Jay Stone came up with when he cashed a big bet (on Taking Risks), thanks to a tip from Feliciano. King Leatherbury had just claimed Taking Risks and Feliciano had watched him train; he told Stone to bet out. The horse went off at 4-1, won, and eventually became one of the greatest claims in the sport’s history. And Stone had his impetus.

“I remember saying, ‘If we ever own a horse and get started, we’re going to be ‘Taking Risks Stable,’” Stone said. “Of course Benny was going to train them.”
The stable idea was hatched in the parking lots of Laurel and Pimlico. Jay, Joe and Benny used to park cars for a living.

So, who’s the best car parker?
“It wasn’t me,” Feliciano said. “I was in trouble a lot out there. I was in the races more than I was parking cars. I knew I needed a new profession. When I first started training, I was still working in the parking lot. I’d go in and put the tack on one and come back out to the parking lot. Now I got 50 horses. And these guys were with me when I didn’t have any horses.”

In 2002, Dale Capuano bought a yearling out of Want-you-towantme from Cynthia and Charles McGinnes’s Thornmar Farm. A son of Doneraile Court, Late Night Leader won two of his first three starts, and like a lot of happy shoppers, Capuano went back to the same store.
Late Night Leader’s younger brother, a son of Allen’s Prospect, went through the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling sale in 2003, and Capu-ano went to $62,000 to secure him for Fortunate Stable (a partnership of Capuano, Costas Triantafilos and Lou Ul-man).

Already named, What’s Up Lonely made his debut at Pimlico in August and finished second. He returned a month later to finish second again at Delaware. He broke his maiden impressively at Pimlico on September 23. Impressively enough to garner favoritism over 11 rivals in the Maryland Million Nursery. The bettors were right.

What’s Up Lonely and Ryan Fogelsonger put in a sustained rally to best Monster Chaser and Late Night Lover.

Triantafilos, the owner of the Baltimore restaurant Costas Inn, and Ulman, an attorney and member of the Maryland Racing Commission, have been partnering in the horse business for two decades.

“I’ve been in it for 22 years. Oh, the highs and lows,” Triantafilos said. “You win a $5,000 or a $100,000 race, the excitement is the same, but of course the $100,000 is better.”
Triantafilos made sure What’s Up Lonely’s “mother” Cynthia McGinnes was in the celebration. McGinnes named the horse after the first “American Idol” Kelly Clarkson’s signature song.
“He was so big, he punctured the kidney of his mother and she died when he was 3 days old,” McGinnes said. “We got him a nurse mare, but she didn’t mother him. He always wandered around looking for attention. He was always a people horse.”

A big, placid-looking gelding, What’s Up Lonely strolled into the winner’s circle as if he were walking into his stall after a morning gallop.
Fogelsonger grabbed the horse’s ears and laughed at his ease.

“Because of his size, I train him lightly, nothing real fast, nothing real hard,” Capuano said. “This horse can run the last quarter in :24 and change. What 2-year-old does that? And I’m not drilling him, he’s doing it all on his own. I can’t wait to get him stretched out. I’m letting him tell me and I won’t really press him until we stretch him out, and then we’ll find out where we’re at. To have a 2-year-old that’s that laid-back, it makes it easy.”

They say timing is everything. Well, then, give Country Life Farm’s Merryland Missy a contract with Seiko. The 4-year-old filly upset the Maryland Million Distaff for Country Life’s first Maryland Million win as an owner. It came the day before Country Life hosted a party at Merryland Farm—which Josh and Mike Pons purchased in 2001—to celebrate the completed refurbishing of its training track.

Merryland Missy, now trained by Tim Ritchey, was one of the first yearlings raised at Merryland after the Ponses purchased the historic farm in Hydes, Md., to complement the family-owned Country Life Farm near Bel Air. As Merryland Missy walked into the chute leading to the winner’s circle, Josh Pons marveled at the scene.

“This will be the biggest winner’s circle you’ve ever seen,” he said, to no one in particular.
Moments later, 41 people (many wearing “The track is back” hats) huddled around Merryland Missy and jockey Stewart Elliott. She deserved it. The daughter of Country Life stallion Citidancer overcame Potomac horse fever as a yearling—the first step up the mountain for the bay filly bred by Jim Dresher’s Huckleberry Farm. Dresher still owns 25 percent of the filly.

“She’s always had a lot of heart; most horses don’t survive Potomac horse fever. This is a filly who almost died,” Pons said. “We sent her through the sale, she wasn’t at her best. We bought her [for $23,000] and formed a little partnership. We needed her for the farm we bought three years ago. Tomorrow, we’re having a ‘The Track is Back’ party at the farm. It’s incredible, you can’t script it better.”

Consistently represented by stallions (they stood leading Maryland Million stallion Allen’s Prospect until his death in September 2003), Country Life gave the day a new twist with its first victory as an owner.

“Standing the sire, you get a vicarious pleasure knowing it’s important to help the sire. But this has a more personal feel,” Pons said. “We think [partnerships] are a natural for the region. There are a lot of people aware of horse racing, but they’re also aware 100 percent of a risk is a lot of risk. So we split them up in quarters, sixths. Owning 15, 20 percent of five or six horses means they’re alive in the double no matter if they lost the first race or not.”
Consider Merryland Missy alive in the double.

What’s a Maryland-bred doing in California?
Bruce Levine and Roddy Valente asked the same thing when they saw My Poker Player in for a $50,000 tag at Del Mar on August 28. They won a five-way shake for the son of Not For Love, who was bred by George and Kim Harmening, and brought him back East.
My Poker Player deadheated for an allowance win at Belmont Park in his first start in Valente’s familiar black and white silks. With some spending money, Levine opted to send My Poker Player to Pimlico for the Maryland Million Sprint. Good move.

Ryan Fogelsonger settled behind the speed of Artillery Man, Ameri Brilliance and Crossing Point before setting sail on the chestnut gelding. My Poker Player opened up to win by one and a half lengths for his fourth career victory.

“This was a Maryland-bred, so it was a no-brainer. This is a class horse,” Levine said. “Sometimes you claim a horse and they have problems. This horse is problem-free and obviously paid for himself.”
The win topped off another entertaining (and lucrative) trip from New York to Maryland for Valente, Levine and their buddies.

“We come up with five or six people, we bet a few horses, we eat, we have a good time,” Levine said. “They treat us great here in Maryland. They roll out the red carpet, they pick us up at the airport, they treat us like gold upstairs. Out of all the race tracks, they treat us the best. I’m not saying that because I won. I’d say that if I was last. It’s a no-brainer to come here because we know we’re going to have a good time.”

A year ago, Larry Slavin and David Kassen came for the Maryland Million Ladies with the Chicago-based Hail Hillary after jockey Carlos Marquez told them about the Maryland Million program. It was unknown territory for owner, trainer and filly. Hail Hillary, a daughter of Yarrow Brae, took the turf stakes by a neck. Both owner and trainer were relieved. And booked their tickets for this year.

They came back knowing full well about the trip, and Hail Hillary did what she does best, winning the Susquehanna Bank Maryland Million Ladies for the second year in a row. A $3,500 Keeneland yearling purchase, Hail Hillary made $133,300 last year, most of it after Kassen claimed her for Slavin. She had off-season knee surgery and was fresh off a third-level allowance win at Arlington Park.

Ridden by Mario Pino, Hail Hillary overcame a stuttering trip to score over Rowdy and Love Match.

“It’s been great so far. A lot of fun,” Slavin said. “She’s just starting to come into her own. She had some physical problems, but what we’re doing is working. Maybe next year, the Maryland Million will be her retirement race.”

Kassen moves his string from Fair Grounds to Arlington Park to Churchill Downs throughout the year. Only Hail Hillary takes the detour to Maryland.
“She’s a hard-trying filly. We took a chip out of her knee and she’s come back good,” Kassen said. “She’s sweet to be around. We’ll keep racing her next year. The plans are to breed her because they’re in love with her.”
Hail Hillary was bred in Maryland by Alan S. Kline.

Five hours and 33 minutes after the gate opened for the first, 10 geldings went on their way in the finale, the mile and an eighth Maryland Million Handicap.

Favorite Paparazzi battled on the lead with Sadlers Pride, while second choice Dixie Colony and Stewart Elliott bided their time in fifth. At the head of the stretch (and after six furlongs in 1:10.98), the leaders were in retreat and Dixie Colony was on his way to his fifth victory of the year.

Trained by Ricky Hendriks, the son of Citidancer pushed his 2004 earnings to $90,890. Owned by Debra and Ken Kachel, Dixie Colony was bred by Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin III in Virginia.
Dixie Colony went through the Timonium sales ring on two different occasions. Two very different occasions. He brought $120,000 at the 2001 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling sale. Two years later, he brought $2,700 as a horse of racing age at the July sale.

“A couple of days earlier, we had a horse get claimed and Ken asked me about the horse. He looked all right,” Hendriks said. “On his form, it didn’t look too good [for this race], but we had run him at two point-to-points and he won easily. I like it when Stewart Elliott rides him. He takes him way back and makes one run with him.”