Mystic Strike wins My Lady’s Manor

Beats back charge by Witor to take steeplechase race

Mark Beecher, a Fallston-based amateur jockey, took the inside trip with Upland Partners’ Mystic Strike in Saturday’s $50,000 My Lady’s Manor, surged to the lead at the final fence, and held off a hard-charging Witor to win Saturday’s 109th running of the Maryland timber classic.

Bruton Street-US’s Lemony Bay finished third on a sunny, pleasantly warm afternoon in Monkton. The 3-mile My Lady’s Manor is the first jewel of the Maryland Timber Triple Crown, followed by the Grand National next Saturday in Butler and the Maryland Hunt Cup on April 27 in Glyndon.

As expected, Armata Stables’ Grand Manan went right to the lead at the start, with reigning timber champion Doc Cebu tracking his pace through the first 1 1/2 miles. When Grand Manan began to falter, Doc Cebu went to the lead under Hadden Frost and jumped well through the middle portion of the race.

Beecher placed Mystic Strike close behind the leaders in the early going and kept to the inside to provide his 10-yearold mount with the shortest path around the Monkton course.

Approaching the final fences, Mystic Strike was well inside as Doc Cebu led the way ahead of Witor and Lemony Bay toward the outside of the spacious course. Beecher gave his mount a brief break and sacrificed some headway approaching the last two fences.

Doc Cebu, switched toward the inside, took out the top rail of the next-to-last fence and tossed Frost over his shoulder as he stumbled on landing. Doc Cebu hardly missed a stride and ran with the field to the next fence.

With Doc Cebu out of the chase, Blair Wyatt’s Witor took the lead under Eric Poretz, with Lemony Bay close behind him.

Mystic Strike, taking the inside path, kicked down the top rail of the last fence, never missed a stride, and fought past Witor early in the stretch run. Witor continued to battle to the finish line but could not gain any ground. The Germanbred finished second by 1 1/4 lengths, and Lemony Bay was third, 12 1/2 lengths farther back.

Mystic Strike ran the 3-mile distance in 6:18 2/5 on turf rated as good. A foul claim by Poretz against Mystic Strike and Beecher was disallowed.

A Florida-bred Smart Strike gelding trained by Todd McKenna, Mystic Strike secured his first victory since having his number put up in the 2017 Radnor Hunt Cup in Pennsylvania.

He had finished third in last year’s My Lady’s Manor.

More horse racing: Runnymede Racing’s Alwaysmining, who extended his win streak to five races with his fourth consecutive stakes triumph last month, heads a list of 15 sophomores nominated to the $125,000 Xpressbet Federico Tesio on April 20 at Laurel Park.

The 38th running of the 1 1/8-mile Tesio for 3-year-olds, and the fourth renewal of the $125,000 Weber City Miss for 3-yearold fillies are among seven stakes worth $750,000 in purses on the Spring Stakes Spectacular program which highlights Laurel’s 19-day spring meet.

For the fourth straight year, the Tesio will serve as a win-and-in race for Triple Crown-nominated 3-year-olds to the 144th Preakness Stakes (G1) on May 18, while the Weber City Miss is a ‘Win and In’ event for the 95th Black-Eyed Susan (G2) May 17, both at legendary Pimlico Race Course.

Boxing: Brooklyn Park boxer Nick Kisner’s time in the national spotlight was a brief one Saturday night, as his Showtime heavyweight bout against Otto Wallin of Sweden was stopped after the first round.

The referee halted the bout after the ringside doctor determined that Kisner (35-1) could not continue because of a cut over his right eye. The match was declared a no-decision, which means neither fighter will get credited with a win or loss because the cut was opened by an unintentional head butt when Wallin (20-0) and Kisner, 28, knocked heads midway through the first round.

Minor league baseball: Three thirdinning home runs helped the Harrisburg Senators clinch the four-game series against the Bowie Baysox with a 10-4 win in front of an announced 3,247 at Prince George’s Stadium on Saturday afternoon.