Veteran trainer Kieron Magee doesn’t need to win, but 5-pound apprentice Axel Concepcion rode the two winners as the pair clinched their respective meeting titles as laurel park ended the Spring Encounter on Sunday.
Magee, 62, entered the eight-race program, the day ending without a starter but leading Jamie Ness 11-8 in the coach rankings. Hugh McMahon won twice on Sunday to overtake Ness in second, while Brittany Russell was fourth with seven wins.
For the meetup starting on April 1, Magee won by 42% (11 to 42) while also scoring five wins and four seconds to finish with a money success rate of 77 %. His horses made $299,085 in pocket profit with three of his winners—oxide , Noble And Honoring the Fleet —declared.
Magee said: “It feels great because I only have 25 horses left. To hit the 25-horse trainer title, it takes a number of things.” “I lost a series but they won on the way out. Everyone was declared a winner. I’m happy to have won it with so few starts. Having a high percentage is amazing.”
A native of Ireland who worked as a gymnast for coach Dale Capuano who recently retired after arriving in the US, Magee led all Maryland coaches to victory from 2014-2016 and currently owns or shares a total of 10 titles at Laurel and history. Racecourse Pimlico. It was his first meeting title since Pimlico’s 2018 Spring Split.
Magee claimed at least one win on 10 of 16 race days, including a brace on April 15. He won with three straight starts on April 15-16 and took the win. bet on Henry S. Clark’s off-field game on April 29 against more level 3rd Place winner for coach Bob Baffert in the Hall of Fame in 2021, who has won both starts since being claimed in a March 19 win at Laurel.
Magee said: “We asked him for $40,000 and he came back and won two options and then we won a hundred thousand dollars with him. “He’s doing great. The phone is ringing. People want to buy him, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. My partner says, ‘Let’s not sell him. Let’s have fun. .'”
Magee is based year-round in Pimlico, where the Maryland live races move for the 15-day Preakness Encounter starting Thursday, May 11 and running through Sunday, June 4. The 148th Preakness (G1), Middle Jewel of the Crown Trio, will be held on 20 May with the 99th Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3-year-olds competing on the night before Preakness, May 19.
“I always love being back in Pimlico. It’s my home,” Magee said. “Hopefully we can continue.”
Axel Concepcion
Concepcion, who just turned 18 on March 16, entered Sunday with 12 wins, one behind co-leaders Jevian Toledo and Jeiron Barbosa. Concepcion won the opening match i have courage ($5.40) to tie it into three dimensions before riding fiancee Grace OLD ($5.20) to win Race 5 and claim his first equestrian title.
A native of Puerto Rico, where he won 21 races after attending Escuela Vocacional Hipica and turning pro on January 1, Concepcion won nine of the 16 races with the content. doubles on April 1, 13, 14 and 29 before Sunday.
Represented by agent Tom Stift, Concepcion debuted in Maryland on February 24 and claimed its first winner, Sparkle like a diamond , the next day at Laurel on his fifth U.S. horseback ride. He’s following in the footsteps of Barbosa, who won three equestrian titles last year in Maryland and reached the final round of the Eclipse Awards as a champion apprentice.
Before Barbosa, the only apprentices from the past decade to win the meet-up title at Laurel were Yomar Ortiz (winter 2013) and Julio Correa (summer 2019). Correa was also a finalist for Eclipse.
“I’m very confident with my job and the work that Tom does for me. I’m not under pressure. The victories are coming and thank God for two wins today,” Concepcion said. “I rode with confidence. Thanks to all the owners and trainers who helped me. In the morning I worked so hard for this, the first meeting that I won. won. I’m very grateful. Thank you to everyone who gave me the opportunity. I’m ready for Pimlico.”
Toledo, Maryland’s four-time lead jockey covering both 2021 and 2022, led all racers at the spring meeting with a purse earnings of $632,615. Toledo, who doesn’t ride Saturday or Sunday at Laurel, won four races on April 29, including three bets – Clark prize with Classier, Native Dancer on Class Nimitz and Primonetta on the ship Princess Kokachin . He also won Miss Weber City on April 15 with his 3-year-old daughter cat in the wood .
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