Micro Star Set to Make Stakes Debut in $100,000 Private Terms
Youngest of Five Seeking Breakthrough in $75,000 Not For Love

BALTIMORE – Still seeking a replacement for Come Dancing, his former stable star that won five graded-stakes including the 2019 Ballerina (G1) and more than $1.2 million in purse earnings, trainer Carlos Martin hopes to have found one in Diamond Collector.

To that end, New York-based Martin has brought Blue Devil Racing Stable’s respective daughter and granddaughter of champions Blame and Bernardini to Laurel Park for her stakes debut in Saturday’s $100,000 Beyond the Wire.

The one-mile Beyond the Wire for 3-year-old fillies is a steppingstone to the April 16 Weber City Miss, which offers the winner an automatic berth into the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) May 20 at historic Pimlico Race Course.

“We were a little bit behind the Busher here in New York. We wanted to break her maiden first,” Martin said. “Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately, we’ll see how it turns out – the [allowance] race didn’t fill in New York so now we’re going to take a shot. The stakes is definitely an interesting spot.

“Maryland’s not a far trip for us. It’s a nice, easy trip, great track, great people. I’ve always had a lot of luck in Maryland,” he added. “Maryland has always been good to me so when [the owner] said to me, ‘Where’s the next option,’ I said, ‘Well, there’s a mile race at Laurel.’”

Martin was 21 years old and in his first year as a trainer when he won the 1990 Pimlico Oaks with Stacie’s Toy. In 2003, he returned to capture the Black-Eyed Susan with Roar Emotion.

Diamond Collector enters the Beyond the Wire off a front-running 4 ½-length maiden special weight triumph sprinting seven furlongs Feb. 6 at Aqueduct. The Beyond the Wire’s timing and distance helped convince the connections to take their budding star on the road.

“We didn’t want to cut her back to six furlongs in the Cicada. As much as we want to stay at home and support New York, we just thought it would be better to try and go farther and keep going in that direction,” Martin said. “She seems like she’s improved from race to race to race and hopefully when we get her stretched out, she’ll even be more effective. She doesn’t have a quick, quick turn of foot but she’s just got a real steady way about her and she’s bred to run long. We’re optimistic that with maturity and time that she’ll be a mile and an eighth, mile and a quarter-type filly that can maybe do both surfaces.”

Blue Devil’s Marc Holliday was elected chairman of NYRA’s Board of Directors in December. He paid $320,000 for Diamond Collector out of Keeneland’s September 2020 yearling sale, shortly after retiring Come Dancing following her fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1).

“He put me on a mission to hopefully find the next Come Dancing. I don’t know if we have a Grade 1 winner on our hands, but we loved her as a yearling and we love Blame and the Claiborne [Farm] pedigree,” Martin said. “The second dam [Macoumba] was a [French] Grade 1 winner. We were looking for a filly that would hopefully be a nice, two-turn dirt filly and I think this filly looks like she’s on her way.”

Diamond Collector is second choice on the morning line at 9-2 behind even-money favorite Luna Belle and will break from Post 4 under Victor Carrasco. Martin also has Lady Milagro entered in Saturday’s Cicada at Aqueduct.

“Hopefully it will be a great Saturday for us,” Martin said. “I want to be down there to see Diamond Collector and spend some time with her. It should be an interesting day. It’s not a big field, but I think we definitely deserve an opportunity to run in a race like this right now.”

Micro Star Set to Make Stakes Debut in $100,000 Private Terms

The Private Terms at about 1 1/16 miles is the next step in Maryland’s series of stakes for 3-year-olds, preceded by the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid and one-mile Miracle Wood and followed by the $125,000 Federico Tesio April 16.

For the seventh straight year, the 1 1/8-mile Tesio will serve as a ‘Win and In’ qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the $1.5 million Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, May 21 at historic Pimlico Race Course.

Only Eagle in Love, a debut winner Feb. 5 at Aqueduct in his lone start, has raced fewer times than Micro Star heading into the Private Terms. Micro Star has the benefit of running over his home track, based at Laurel with trainer Hugh McMahon.

“I’m hopeful, but I think there’s still more to come from him because he’s inexperienced and he’s green,” McMahon said. “I saw a little something in that last race in spite of his greenness and inexperience. At this stage of the game, early on this year, it’s probably better to take a shot now rather than later. I’m hoping that he’s improved off that last race, and he only needs to improve a few points to be competitive.”

Florida-bred Micro Star, a gelded son of Grade 3 winner Ocean Knight, didn’t debut until early December at Penn National. Back at Laurel, he rolled to a front-running 7 ¼-length waiver maiden claiming triumph going a mile Jan. 16, then pressed the pace between horses and wound up fourth to stakes winner and Private Terms rival Shake Em Loose in a one-mile optional claiming allowance Feb. 27.

“I think they reach their zenith in their 4-year-old year. This is the year of development, but when they get to that fourth year they’re grown, they’re developed and they’re experienced, and you get to see what you have, really,” McMahon said. “He’s still a baby. There’s still nurturing to do on our part.”

Listed at 15-1 on the morning line, Micro Star will break from Post 6 in a field of eight under Jean Alvelo, his fourth different rider. Entering Friday’s return to live racing, Alvelo is tied for second in Laurel’s winter meet standings with 23 wins, 11 behind Jevian Toledo.

“We made a decision just because he’s riding well. He rides like a professional. When you’re winning that many races and you’re riding that many horses on a weekly basis, you’re race sharp,” McMahon, an ex-jockey, said. “You sharpen just by racing regularly, which he is, plus there’s a confidence, too, when you’re winning races. That’s’ nice to bring to the table. The previous rider[s] didn’t do anything wrong, we’re just taking a bit of a shot here and trying to get the best we can.”

McMahon will also send out Larry Rabold’s Youngest of Five in the $75,000 Not For Love, a six-furlong sprint for Maryland-bred/sired 4-year-olds and up. The gelded 6-year-old son of 2010 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Super Saver has placed in three consecutive stakes.

“He comes out of his races pretty tired, because he lays it all out there. But he recovers well,” McMahon said. “He’s just coming into fruition, I think. He’s been campaigning and graduating and I think he’s arrived. This is the best he’s going to be.”

Youngest of Five was beaten a neck when second to Whereshetoldmetogo in the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial and came up a head short when third behind Threes Over Deuces in the Dave’s Friend to end 2021. He opened 2022 running second in the Jan. 29 Fire Plug to Grade 3 winner Wondrwherecraigis, who is running in the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) March 26 at Meydan.

“He needs to be in contention. The ability to see daylight inspires him. His effort against Wondrwherecraigis was significant. I think if it’s lined up he has a chance to win, but we need things to go our way,” McMahon said. “A couple of starts ago he didn’t get a good break and he had to overcome it and he still ran a good race. I think if he gets a good break, the chances are we’ll get a position we desire and be set up.”