MJC at Laurel: Band Camp Marching Toward Maryland Million Sprint

By David Joseph —-

Band Camp Marching Toward Maryland Million Sprint

LAUREL, MD – Maryland-bred gelding Band Camp, one of the winningest horses in the country this year based at Laurel Park with trainer Annette Eubanks, is being pointed to make his next start in the $100,000 Maryland Million Sprint Oct. 12.

Co-bred and owned by the 80-year-old Eubanks and her son Dan Eubanks’ Rising Sun Racing Stables Inc., the 4-year-old Band Camp will head into ‘Maryland’s Day at the Races’ off a runner-up finish behind Search Engine in a one-mile, second-level optional claiming allowance Sept. 22 at Laurel.

The two horses hooked up at the top of the stretch and dueled all the way to the wire with Search Engine holding off a determined Band Camp by a neck, with another 16 ½ lengths back to Goodbye Note in third. It was the first loss since mid-April for Band Camp, who is 7-for-10 on the year.

“Turning for home I thought we had him. I thought we’d go by that horse but he had a lot left in the tank, too,” Dan Eubanks said. “I didn’t realize because I was focused on them, but when I looked at the chart and watched the replay I was like, ‘Where are the other horses?’ It took that horse’s best effort to beat him.”

Only two horses have won more races in the U.S. this year than Band Camp: Tennessee Moon, who is 9-for-13 racing in Louisiana, Nebraska, Wyoming, Texas and Colorado; and fellow Mid-Atlantic-based Spikezone (8-for-11) from the barn of Maryland’s leading trainer, Jamie Ness.

After going unraced at 2 and winless in his first three starts at 3, Band Camp went seven months between races until making his return just before Christmas. He won back-to-back starts in February and March and put together five straight wins from April 12 to Aug. 24. Each of his last five races have come under jockey J.G. Torrealba.

“We put them where they can win. That’s always been my game plan, put them where they can win. We’ve been able to do that with him, going through the conditions,” Eubanks said. “He ended up breaking his maiden for [$12,500] and then we stepped him up and he won that. All of sudden he started really clicking and throwing 90 Beyer speed figures.

“We got a gift with a couple extra conditions because we got that [non-winners of three races lifetime] and the Maryland-bred allowance, then we had two starts in basically a 430,000 claiming horse starting for $20,000, which is honestly a tougher race than an allowance. We managed to win that a couple times in a row and use those conditions up,” he added. “The amazing thing is how he’s developed, from where he was as a 3-year-old and then coming back and watching him. He’s filled out, he’s grown up and he’s thriving.”

Neither Eubanks nor his mother have ever won a Maryland Million race. Their most recent starters saw Six Pack Sara run eighth for Rising Sun in the 2022 Distaff Starter Handicap and Annette Eubanks-trained Stormy Mama finish fifth in the same race in 2018.

The Sprint for 3-year-olds and up is contested at six furlongs, a distance where Band Camp owns three wins and a second from five starts. He has a record of 12-6-2-0 over Laurel’s main track.

“We’re definitely pointing for the Sprint. It would be awesome [to win]. We’ve had some horses for the starter races that we’ve put in there but have never even got in the money,” Dan Eubanks said. “He’s eligible for the starter … but when you have a horse that I think is good enough to win a $100,000 race, that’s what you’ve got to go for.”

The 39th Jim McKay Maryland Million Day will feature eight stakes and four starter stakes worth $1.08 million anchored by the $150,000 Classic for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles. The ground-breaking program debuted in 1986 to celebrate stallions standing in the state and inspired copycat programs throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Pre-entry deadline for the Maryland Million is Sunday, Sept. 29.

Rain Moves Saturday’s Three Turf Stakes to Main Track

Remnants from Hurricane Helene brought steady rain to the Mid-Atlantic region and forced Laurel Park to move its scheduled weekend turf races to the main track, including each of Saturday’s three $100,000 stakes.

The Japan Turf Cup for 3-year-olds and up, originally scheduled for 1 ½ miles, will be contested at 1 ¼ miles. The Laurel Futurity for 2-year-olds and Selima for 2-year-old fillies, each scheduled for 1 1/16 miles, will be run at one mile.

Saturday’s 10-race program gets under way at 12:25 p.m. The Selima goes off as Race 6 (2:54 p.m.), while the Japan Turf Cup is in Race 8 (3:54 p.m.) and Laurel Futurity in Race 9 (4:24 p.m.).

Notes: Jockey Jorge Ruiz notched back-to-back wins Friday aboard Goodafternoonoscar ($8.40) in Race 4 and Navani ($12.40) in Race 5, completing his hat track with Cinder Block ($5.20) in Race 7 … Narrow Leaf Farm’s multiple stakes-winning 3-year-old Maryland-bred Miss Harriett ($5.80), facing older horses for the first time, powered to a front-running victory in Friday’s featured Race 9, a third-level optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up. The winning time for six furlongs was 1:11.13 over a sloppy and sealed main track.

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