Special Reserve Proves Best in Maryland Sprint

BALTIMORE, MD – Special Reserve took the lead when he straightened for home and rolled to a victory in Saturday’s $150,000 Maryland Sprint Match Series Stakes (G3) at Pimlico Race Course.

Winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.: “The horse broke great and put me in the race very quick out of there, I had a horse inside with speed. I just relaxed and tried not to fight with him too much. He came back to me, so I left him there and when I asked him, he took straight off for me to win.”

Strike Power, Frosted Grace, and Mucho completed the order.

Winning trainer Mike Maker: “I might get some stalls (in Maryland).”

“He was in at Oaklawn (for a $40,000 claiming tag on Feb. 6). We’ve got to have this horse, and we claimed him. He had a bit of a bleeding issue that we addressed and got taken care of, and the rest is history. We originally liked him because he was still eligible for two-other-than [allowances]. You never know in this game.”

“I just gave a leg up to Irad [Ortiz Jr.] and said ‘Good luck.’ That was about it. He was going to be forwardly placed.”

This is the first stakes win for Special Reserve. The son of Midshipman improved his record his record to 19-6-1-7 and has earned $358,647 Paradise Farms Corp. and David Staudacher.

Special Reserve returned $9.80 to win, $4.80 to place, and $3.80 to show.