Woodrow Marriott, struggling to get down the stairs to the Laurel Park winner's circle, balled his right hand into a fist and shook it.
"For an invalid, not bad," joked Marriott, 91, after his talented chestnut colt Malibu Moonshine won the $75,000 Miracle Wood Stakes for 3-year-olds.
Tall, lean and dapper in his suede Southwestern cowboy hat and turquoise bolo tie, Marriott cut a sharp if unsteady figure at Laurel yesterday, while his horse made a strong impression on the track. With a moment in the spotlight, Marriott told a few tales of his brother, J. Willard Marriott, opening an A&W root beer stand at the corner of 14th Street and Park Road NW in 1927 which eventually led to the founding of Hot Shoppes and later the Marriott hotel empire.
"I started Marriott," he said. "I helped build the first Marriott hotel in Arlington."
Marriott's three brothers and four sisters are gone, but he continues to play hard after 40 years in the racing game, breeding for sales and running a small stable.
He entered two runners in the Miracle Wood -- the other was sixth-place finisher Woody's Apache -- but Malibu Moonshine looks to have a future after his 1 3/4-length victory in the one-turn mile race.
Trained by King Leatherbury, 71, third all-time with 6,059 victories, Malibu Moonshine raced well back in the field of 11 before launching an extremely wide move turning for home. He caught favorite Legal Control at the top of the stretch and galloped home under rider Steve Hamilton.
Leatherbury, who hadn't won a stakes race in Maryland since 2001, didn't mind thinking big for a moment.
"It remains to be seen if he's good enough for the Preakness," he said. "We knew he was a good horse from go. He showed all the qualities of a good horse. I haven't had any good horses lately. I'm thankful for Mr. Marriott to have some quality horses."
Malibu Moonshine, who won the St. Nick Stakes at Charles Town in his prior start, took the Miracle Wood in an unexceptional 1 minute 40.25 seconds, getting the last quarter mile in a slow 25.49 seconds.
Marriott's best horse was Grade I winner Catatonic, a top mare in the 1980s, who died last year at 21. Malibu Moonshine has begun to provide him new thrills, and he momentarily wept in the winner's circle.
"I wobbled over here to pray for it," he said haltingly of the victory. "I didn't plan on it, but I prayed hard."
Racing Notes: Closing Argument, ridden by Cornelio Velasquez, outgamed favored High Fly in the stretch to win the Grade III $150,000 Holy Bull Stakes for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park. The winner ran the 1 1/8-mile race in 1:50.14.
In another key 3-year-old race at the same track, the 52nd running of the Grade II $150,000 Hutcheson Stakes, Proud Accolade dominated five others to win the 7 1/2-furlong race in 1:29.90 for trainer Todd Pletcher. Proud Accolade won the prestigious Champagne Stakes last fall at Belmont Park.
