SIMPLY SUPER CAPTURES $150,000 HICKORY TREE STAKES AND TITOSCHANGEDMYLUCK SPRINGS 13-1 UPSET IN $150,000 KESWICK STAKES IN VIRGINIA CERTIFIED JUVENILE RACES AT COLONIAL DOWNS

NEW KENT, Va. (Aug. 9, 2022) – Maxis Stable’s Simply Super ($5.00) passed odds on favorite Heldish inside the sixteenth pole to win the $150,000 Hickory Tree Stakes, and Matthew Schera and Lawrence Stable’s homebred Titoschangedmyluck ($29.80) split horses in deep stretch to capture the 5-furlong, $150,000 Keswick Stakes for 2-year-old fillies in co-featured Virginia Bred/Sired Virginia Certified stakes races Tuesday at Colonial Downs.

In the Hickory Tree, Simply Super, trained by Mike Maker and ridden by Horatio Karamanos, won his second race in four starts this year. A son of 2020 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Super Saver out of So You Know by Jump Start, Simply Super completed the 5 furlongs over a fast track in 56.74.

Heldish, the 4-5 favorite, broke on top in the eight-horse field, and saved ground along the rail going into the far turn. Simply Super came from fourth to second place at the top of the stretch, set his sights on Heldish, and eased by in the final yards.

“I saw the speed was with the four (Heldish). My horse broke okay, but the four quickly and of the gate, and I chased him to stay close,” said Karamanos. “ He (Simply Super) was a little lazy at the top of the stretch but he responded.”

Grand Escape finished third, followed by My Mamba in fourth.

This was the second time this meet that Karamanos and Maker combined to win a stakes race. The duo won the Colonial Cup with Red Knight on July 27.

Simply Super won on debut at Keeneland on April 20 in a 4 ½ furlong maiden special weight. In his most recent start, he finished fourth in the listed 6-furlong Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs on July 4.

In the Keswick, Titoschangedmyluck ($29.80) split horses in deep stretch and sped to a 2 1/2-length victory over Rebel Consort. Trained by James Lawrence II and ridden by Jeiron Barbosa, Titoschangedmyluck broke her maiden in her third start.

Facing seven rivals, Titoschangedmyluck broke well and stayed in fourth on the backstretch while Bee Mountain set the pace up front through the stretch, followed by 35-1 Rebel Consort. As Bee Mountain faded, Barbosa found a space between the two leaders in the final furlong to post a 2 ½ length victory over Rebel Consort, with Livana finishing in third, Cocktail Dreaming in fourth and Bee Mountain in fifth.

A daughter of Social Inclusion out of Tiztito by Tiznow, Titoschangedmyluck completed the 5 furlongs in 58.59 over a fast track.

“She’s always shown me a lot of talent,” said Lawrence. “She really blossomed so I wanted to give her a chance here. It’s not every time that you can run for $150,000.”

Buoyed by an $82,000 carryover in the Pick 5, an additional $761,373 was bet into the wager on Tuesday and combined with the other offerings on the race led to a total of $1,113,614, bet into the sixth race on August 9 at Colonial Downs. That total is the highest non-Virginia Derby single race pool in the history of the New Kent, Virginia racetrack.

The New Kent, Virginia, track’s Pick 5 was altered this year to offer a carryover pool when nobody selects all five winners in the sequence which covers the last five races daily. The Pick 5 is a 50-cent minimum wager and offers a low 12% takeout rate.

Total handle on the 10-race card was $4,158,873.