With his arsenal of six entries whittled down to five after races were taken off the turf for the Dec. 2 Claiming Crown card at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, trainer Joe Sharp scored the natural double winning the two richest races on the card—the $150,000 Emerald with Runway Magic and the $200,000 Jewel with Money Supply .
“When you claim one, you always hope they develop into the kind of horse that can be competitive on this day,” Sharp said. “It is special to win back-to-back races on Claiming Crown Day, especially for my team. We all work hard every day. This is a lot of fun and it’s great to be able to share it with them. Keep him healthy and we will target the same race next year.”
Jordan Wycoff’s Money Supply settled in seventh of nine older males early on and rallied to split foes late winning the Claiming Crown Jewel by 1 3/4 lengths over Luigi’s Spirit . Run at 1 1/8 miles over a sloppy (sealed) track, the 4-year-old trained by Sharp stopped the clock at 1:52.05 under jockey Jareth Loveberry.
“After he won the starter for us at Churchill (Sept. 27) Jordan (owner Wycoff) reminded me that he was eligible for the Claiming Crown,” Sharp said. “And at that point we started to target it. His off-track form hadn’t been the best in the past, so we were a little nervous. We went back and watched his replays, found some excuses, and decided to give it a go.”
Claimed from Chad Brown in August at Saratoga Race Course for $35,000, the Practical Joke colt rattled off two wins and one place-finish in Sharp’s care. Prior to his victory in the Jewel, Money Supply had never won on an off track in five attempts, but with Saturday’s tally, he now boasts an overall 5-2-2 lifetime record from 14 starts along with a $366,532 bankroll.
Mike Diliberto’s 5-2 morning line was a bullseye as the bettors agreed and the Sharp-trainee paid $7.60.
In the race prior, Baron Racing Stables’ Runway Magic made his first run out of Sharp’s barn a winning one in the Claiming Crown Emerald. With blinkers back on, Runway Magic employed the opposite tactics of Money Supply, pressing the front-running Tatanka through the opening call off the 1 1/16 miles affair before taking over at the quarter-pole and grinding down the sloppy (sealed) homestretch to win by 1 1/2 lengths over the 12-1 longshot Duke of Carthania .
Scheduled to be run on the turf, heavy rains demanded the Emerald be moved to the main track. Fair Grounds newcomer Jaime Torres guided Runway Magic across the finish line in 1:44.71.
Paying $12.60 at the windows, Runway Magic improved his career record to 4-3-3 fro 18 starts and took home $90,000 for his connections to make it $310,342 in lifetime earnings.
Having won the 2022 Glass Slipper with Invaluable, Sharp now has three Claiming Crown victories on his resume.
In other Claiming Crown stakes:
Richiesonaroll came from off the pace to win the Claiming Crown $100,000 Rapid Transit Starter. A 3-year-old facing older company, the Illinois-bred survived a photo to finish a neck over Startdfromdabottom .
Mischievous Rogue travelled comfortably off the pace saving ground before swinging wide out of the far turn to fly home and win the off-the-turf $150,000 Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial by 3 1/2 lengths.
Jockey James Graham recorded a natural double by guiding Anatolian to win the off-turf $150,000 Tiara and Time for Trouble to score in the $75,000 Iron Horse Kent Stirling Memorial.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
