G3-Placed Really Good, Battle of Normandy Among Names
28 Nominated to $100,000 Searching for 3-Year-Old Fillies

BALTIMORE – Paradise Farms, David Staudacher and Jason Ash’s Really Good, come-from-behind winner of last month’s Kent, fellow graded-stakes placed Battle of Normandy and stakes winners Ari Gold and Scoobie Quando top 33 horses nominated to the $100,000 Bald Eagle Derby to be run Sunday, Aug. 13 at Laurel Park.

The fifth running of the 1 3/16-mile Bald Eagle Derby for 3-year-olds shares top billing on a program with the 13th renewal of the $100,000 Searching for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles, both scheduled for the turf.

Really Good, trained by Mike Maker, was a debut winner going 1 1/16 miles last summer at Saratoga before running third in the one-mile Kentucky Downs Juvenile and 1 1/16-mile Bourbon (G2) at Keeneland, capping his year in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1).

The Hard Spun colt returned this year in April at Keeneland and emerged from tight quarters to run second in the 1 1/8-mile Hawthorne Derby June 25, his third start off the layoff. In his most recent start, Really Good raced near the back of the pack before rallying on the inside to capture the 1 3/8-mile Kent July 15 at Delaware Park.

Maker also nominated Watters Edge’s Worthington, winless in five starts this year but third in the Jan. 7 Dania Beach at Gulfstream and June 21 Canterbury Derby at Canterbury Park, both contested at one mile on the grass; Jordan Wycoff’s Suerte, a turf allowance winner in April at Tampa Bay Downs; and Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher’s Thethrillofvictory, who graduated in a 1 1/16-mile maiden claimer June 3 at Belmont Park.

West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing’s Battle of Normandy similarly won his unveiling last August at Saratoga, where he was beaten a neck when second in the 1 1/16-mile With Anticipation (G3) by Boppy O, recent winner of the Jersey Girl at Monmouth Park. Fifth at odds of 48-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, he has run second as the favorite in both his races this year, the most recent an open 1 1/8-mile allowance May 19 at historic Pimlico Race Course for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, winner of the inaugural 2018 Bald Eagle Derby with millionaire Channel Cat, has three nominees to the Bald Eagle Derby led by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ Ari Gold, popular winner of the 7 ½-furlong Pulpit last December at Gulfstream Park to cap his juvenile season. Ari Gold has raced just once since that victory, finishing sixth in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance July 20 at Saratoga against older horses.

Andrew Warren and Rania Warren’s Scoobie Quando went unraced at 2 and launched his career Jan. 7 with a neck victory in the 6 ½-furlong Turfway Park Preview. Two starts later, he returned to the all-weather surface to finish second behind 2022 Laurel Futurity winner Congruent in the John Battaglia Memorial. His last two starts have come on the Churchill Downs turf, where he was most recently a troubled fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Audubon June 3.

Also prominent among nominees are A Western Yarn, Circling the Drain, Mendelssohns March and Ironsides, all stakes-placed on grass or all-weather surfaces; and Riccio and Time to Cruise, both multiple stakes-placed on dirt. Time to Cruise has yet to race on turf but Ricco has made each of his last two starts on the grass, both facing his elders, and been third and second in restricted allowance company.

The Searching drew 28 nominees including Walmac Farm, Gainesway Stable and Haras d’Etreham’s Speirling Beag, a Group 3 winner in her native Ireland last fall. The chestnut has made one North American start, finishing sixth by less than three lengths in the 1 ¼-mile Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) July 8 at Belmont Park.

Speirling Beag is one of four nominees from trainer Graham Motion, who won a division of the Searching with Confessional in 2000 at Laurel and won again with Blame Debbie in 2021 at Pimlico. Al Shaqab Racing’s Essaouira exits an off-the-turf allowance win June 22 at Delaware; Bridlewood Farm and Madaket Stables’ English-bred No Show Sammy Jo was a last out maiden special weight winner going one mile June 24 at Belmont; and Amy Moore’s Stellar Lady has yet to try turf and is twice stakes-placed on dirt, most recently in the July 8 Iowa Oaks (G3).

Arnold Davidov’s Captain Courtney was an eight-length maiden special weight winner sprinting 7 ½ furlongs on the Parx turf May 30, her grass debut. She has since run twice on the all-weather surface at Presque Isle Downs, winning both races by 17 combined lengths beating both older horses in a one-mile allowance and fellow sophomore fillies in the 6 ½-furlong Malvern Rose July 17.

Nominees also include March 11 Allen Black Cat LaCombe Memorila winner Girl Named Charlie; After Eight, third by a length in the 5 ½-furlong Stormy Blues June 18 on the Laurel turf, fellow stakes-placed Beautifulnavigator; and Opus Forty Two, second in her only two turf tries but winner of the Jan. 14 Gasparilla and third in the July 1 Delaware Oaks (G3), both on dirt.

Entries will be taken and post positions drawn for both the Bald Eagle Derby and Searching on Monday, Aug. 7.