Classic Joke Seeking Return to Form in $125K Federico Tesio

BALTIMORE – Lewis Family Racing Stable’s Hunter Joe sat off a fast early pace set by Psychedelic Shack and outkicked a pair of determined foes on his inside to register a thrilling neck victory in the first grass race of the season Friday.

Ridden by Jaime Rodriguez for trainer Hamilton Smith, Hunter Joe ($11.80) edged 17-1 longshot Noah Chance in the starter optional claimer for 3-year-olds and up in a time of 1:01.59 over a firm All Along turf course layout. It was another nose back to Destin’s Mission in third.

“I love it. I could not wait to be on it,” Rodriguez said. “It feels pretty good right now, I think better than ever. My horse, he handled it pretty good and gave me a huge run in the end. He never gave up.”

Hunter Joe sat seventh as Psychedelic Shack ran the opening quarter-mile in 21.58 seconds and a half in 43.95 pressed by Phantom Smoke. Rodriguez swung Hunter Joe four wide leaving the far turn and closed steadily down the center of the track to edge clear in deep stretch and hold on for his sixth career win and third in six tries on the turf.

“I thought that we were going to have a lot of pace, and I didn’t want to be too far back or too close. I wanted to sit right in the middle and when I wanted to go, he was ready,” Rodriguez said. “He was striding out awesome. The way you feel the turf, it’s so smooth and everything. It’s beautiful.”

Doctor Jeff, the 6-5 favorite trained by Brittany Russell and ridden by her husband, Sheldon Russell, took a two-length lead into the stretch as five furlongs went in 55.61 seconds. They wound up fourth, beaten 2 ¼ lengths, and was claimed for $30,000 by trainer Kieron Magee.

Laurel’s 142-foot wide course allows for six different layouts based on the position of the portable rail, each named for some of racing’s finest champions – All Along (hedge), Bowl Game (17 feet), Kelso (35 feet), Dahlia (52 feet), Exceller (70 feet) and Fort Marcy (87 feet).

“It looks great. Laurel is sort of known for having one of the best grass courses,” Sheldon Russell said. “We can sort of flip-flop the races so we’re not just using one part of the racetrack. Time-wise, it was probably a little fast but I’m sure as the weeks go on it’ll be perfect. It’s up and running, it’s in great condition and I know the horses will appreciate it.”

Rodriguez also won the second turf race of the day on Country Roads’ 5-year-old Maryland-bred gelding Sports Editor ($9.20) in Race 5, an open 1 1/8-mile allowance for 3-year-olds or up. The winning time was 1:47.92 on the Dahlia.

“I was telling my agent, ‘I can’t wait for the turf to be here,’” Rodriguez said.

Four races are scheduled for the grass on Saturday’s 11-race program, including a trio of $100,000 stakes – the Dahlia for fillies and mares and Henry S. Clark, each going one mile on the All Along, and the King T. Leatherbury sprinting five furlongs on the Dahlia course. All three races are for horses 3 and older.

Classic Joke Seeking Return to Form in $125,000 Federico Tesio

LBR Racing Stable, Sterling Road Stables and Rashid’s Thoroughbred Racing’s Classic Joke, who ended and began his two racing seasons with front-running victories, looks to rediscover his winning form in Saturday’s $125,000 Federico Tesio at Laurel Park.

For the ninth straight year, the 1 1/8-mile Tesio is a ‘Win and In’ qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated 3-year-olds to the 149th Preakness Stakes (G1), Midde Jewel of the Triple Crown, to be run May 18 at historic Pimlico Race Course.

Classic Joke, based at Laurel with trainer Richard Sillaman, debuted last summer on the Laurel turf, finishing a troubled fourth, and graduated by 2 ¼ lengths two starts later in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Pimlico to cap his juvenile campaign.

The gray or roan son of Practical Joke spent the winter with Sillaman’s string at Tampa Bay Downs, where he set blazing fractions and held on for a three-quarter-length optional claiming allowance triumph March 8.

Classic Joke wheels back in the Tesio just two weeks after running ninth of 10 from Post 3 in the seven-furlong Bay Shore at Aqueduct, his stakes debut,under jockey Daniel Centeno, who is also Sillaman’s son-in-law.

“Danny wrapped up on him. He didn’t persist with him when he couldn’t get a hold of the ground. He was struggling a little bit,” Sillaman said. “That, and the post position killed him and the speed on the outside pushed him. We were trying to take back a little bit but he couldn’t get him back. It was not a good race, so we’ll try again. He’s doing fine.”

Sillaman has been pleased with Classic Joke’s progression from 2 to 3, going nearly six months between starts before his comeback last month. He was purchased last spring for $60,000 during Fasig-Tipton’s Midlantic 2-year-olds in training auction that follows the Preakness at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.

“The winter went as well as we could have anticipated,” Sillaman said. “He’s a really, really nice horse. We just waited and took him down there to train him. We didn’t want to have to interrupt his training over the winter. I’ve been down there the last three years, and it’s a great surface to train a horse on.”

Among the horses Classic Joke beat in his maiden triumph were runner-up Regalo, who came back to win his next two starts, and Inveigled, who has run second by a neck to Copper Tax in a pair of Laurel stakes, most recently the 1 1/16-mile Private Terms March 23. In Tampa Classic Joke beat Catalytic, who came back to run second in the Florida Derby (G1) and is being pointed to the Kentucky Derby (G1).

Both Copper Tax and Inveigled return in the Tesio, which will mark the two-turn debut for Classic Joke, one of nine Triple Crown-nominated horses entered. Centeno returns to ride from Post 5.

“Every time he’s run he’s run against good horses; every single race. You can’t avoid them at this level,” Sillaman said. “I think he can get the distance. Danny assured me he can get him to relax, and that’s the main thing. The post position is a little better this time, so we’re going to try and lay off the pace a little bit if we can and try and get there. It’s a big ask, but this time of year you have to ask them.”