Armata Stable’s Haddix, ridden confidently by Roddy Mackenzie, stalked the early pace of I’m Telling before drawing away to a 9 3/4-length victory in the $15,000 Legacy Chase, the featured race of the 11th annual Shawan Downs in Hunt Valley, Md. Owner-trainer Bay Cockburn’s I’m Telling held on for second under Jacob Roberts, and leading owner Irvin S. Naylor took third with Gorgeous Charger.
In another romp, Tuatha De Danann Stable’s Red Dirt Girl drew away to a 10 1/4-length win in the $15,000 filly and mare maiden hurdle at the 34th annual Foxfield Fall Races in Charlottesville, Va. Robby Walsh was in the saddle for trainer Richard Valentine. Owner-trainer Jonathan Sheppard’s Cubist finished second, and Mar-Jim LLC’s Smart Hokie took third.
Trained by Kathy McKenna, Haddix ran the Legacy Chase’s 3 1/8 miles in 7:10 on yielding turf. “I wanted to sit second or third while Jacob was setting a genuine pace,” Mackenzie told the Baltimore Sun. “My horse jumped well.”
Armata had a big day at Shawan. In the race immediately after the Legacy Chase, its Mussiecoocoo won the $10,000 maiden timber race for trainer Tom Voss. Kristen Fischer rode the winner. Armata also a second-place finish in the $15,00 maiden hurdle with Brother Sy, trained by Todd Wyatt and ridden by Mackenzie.
Leading jockey Paddy Young padded his lead with two Shawan victories, aboard Hickory Tree Stables’ Gustavian in the maiden hurdle and on Debra Kachel’s Class Mark in a $10,000 claiming hurdle. The rider’s wife, Leslie Young, trains Gustavian, and Ricky Hendriks trains Class Mark. Young added another win at Foxfield Fall, aboard Dale Thiel’s Sir Dynamite in a $10,000 maiden hurdle.
Two winners of the $150,000 Iroquois Steeplechase (Gr. 1) hooked up in the Shawan training flat race, and Naylor’s Tax Ruling prevailed by a neck over Mary Ann Houghland’s Pierrot Lunaire. Xavier Aizpuru was aboard Tax Ruling, winner of the Nashville race the last two years. Pierrot Lunaire won the spring season’s richest race in 2009.
In Foxfield’s co-feature, a $15,000 maiden hurdle, Hue of Crimson and jockey Jeff Murphy prevailed by 1 1/2 lengths over Sheppard’s Sergeant Karakorum, ridden by Brian Crowley. Owned by KazenbyBanksMaddenStable and trained by Doug Fout, Hue of Crimson ran the 2 1/8-mile distance in 4:18.80 on turf rated as soft.