By John Scheinman
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, October 5, 2008

The Jim McKay Maryland Million Classic offered a gaudy prize of $300,000, but the $150,000 Distaff attracted the best horses. The field of nine fillies and mares had combined for 68 victories, 19 in stakes races, and purse earnings of more than $3.1 million.

Trainer Michael Trombetta, whose 4-year-old filly Spectacular Malibu hadn't raced since August, didn't enter the race yesterday with much confidence, but his horse delivered a powerful burst of speed at the top of the stretch to overhaul front-runner All Giving and pull away to win by 2 1/2 lengths at Laurel Park.

The victory set off a rollicking celebration that only happens at a Maryland racetrack these days during the Maryland Million and Preakness Stakes. A crowd of more than 50 members in a Country Life Farm partnership and fans stormed onto the dirt track in front of the winner's circle to greet the horse and jockey Julian Pimentel.

"I can't say we contemplated winning," said Trombetta, best known for sending out 2006 Kentucky Derby favorite Sweetnorthernsaint the year Barbaro won. "This was a great group of horses, all stakes winners. She probably ran one of her lifetime best. I expected La Chica Rica [who finished last] to go out there, and I asked Julian not to fall too far out of it. I don't think you want to be too far out on a day like this. Spectacular Malibu missed 2007 with a small ankle chip, but now she's paying us back."

Spectacular Malibu won the Maryland Million Lassie for 2-year-old fillies in 2006 and is the only horse with which Trombetta has ever won a race in the event. However, her breeder, Charlie Hadry, won three Maryland Million races as a trainer before he died of cancer in 2004.

Spectacular Malibu was the final horse Hadry bred. Mike Pons, business manager at Country Life Farm in Bel Air, Md., said he bought the filly at an estate sale to help out the family.

"I bought her as a youngster, and she was a short filly, and she grew up to be this big monster," Pons said after Spectacular Malibu had run the seven-furlong race in 1 minute 23.56 seconds.

With Maryland racing suffering severe economic hardship, the Maryland Million remains one of the few events of major significance on the state racing calendar. It is particularly important to horsemen and breeders in the state because it offers 12 races worth $1.68 million dollars for the offspring of Maryland sires.

The event attracted a crowd of 21,948 with 2,494 watching at Pimlico; the all-source wagering handle came to $2,962,953.

The Classic drew just five horses and was won by a 7-year-old horse named Cuba, with owners from Massachusetts who race primarily in New Jersey.

By leading Maryland sire Not For Love, Cuba caught up to front-runner Diamond David with a quarter-mile remaining in the 1 3/16 -mile race and pulled away to win by four lengths under jockey Pedro Cotto Jr.

Trainer Robert Dibona, who is based at Monmouth Park, claimed Cuba for $18,000 in February at Gulfstream Park and has now won more than $400,000 with him. Victory in the Classic was worth $165,000.

"Bobby was the master," co-owner Bill Corrigan said. "I didn't even want to pay the $9,000 for half the horse. Now he's won over $400,000."

Dibona called the victory his greatest. "No question," he said. "He's just the coolest horse. He's push-button. Don't think he doesn't know what's going on today. He likes it as much as we do."

Cuba, who won the 1 3/16 -mile race in 1:57.78, vied for favoritism with Five Steps, who finished fourth. Long shot Diamond David provided the toughest opposition. The gelding hadn't finished in the top three in a race since last year's Classic and wound up holding off defending champion Evil Storm for second.

"I'm tickled pink with him," said Diamond David's trainer, Nancy Alberts. "He had just enough horse left to hold off Evil Storm. Mario [Pino] did that. Mario used to ride his mother, Jazema."