Magic Weisner

Magic Weisner, the Preakness runner-up who is recovering from West Nile virus, will spend a few more days at the New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania, his Maryland veterinarian, Dr. Bob Vallance, said yesterday. Magic Weisner was to return yesterday to his stall at Laurel Park. Vallance said the gelding is doing fine, but that veterinarians want to monitor his condition another day or two as a precaution before sending him home.

As Will Alberts remembered how much his mother, Nancy, loved her horses, dogs and cats, he demonstrated how much he loved her. Addressing the large crowd that had gathered in the Laurel Park clubhouse to celebrate the late trainer's life Alberts said he will "continue her business in Maryland" and asked for help from local horsemen. Nancy Alberts, who died last week at 65 after suffering a stroke, rose to fame by training long shot Magic Weisner to a runner-up finish in the 2002 Preakness.

Nancy Alberts doesn't hide her enthusiasm when people ask about Magic Weisner. And they still ask, even though Magic hasn't won a race since July 2002. They ask around the track. They call. They ask in letters and e-mails. Alberts received three or four Christmas cards addressed to herself and Magic. "Magic is doing wonderful," she said Thursday to yet another inquiry about her 5-year-old gelding, which, despite his troubles, remains in training at Laurel Park. And then, Alberts said something she hadn't said before: "I think I just might have a racehorse again by spring."

Nancy Alberts, described by her peers as a tough, hardworking horsewoman with a heart of gold, died late Tuesday night at Georgetown University Medical Center, 16 days after suffering at stroke. She was 65. The Laurel-based trainer rose to fame as one of just 13 women to saddle a Preakness starter. In 2002, Alberts went on a magical ride with the aptly named Magic Weisner, a horse she bred, owned and trained to a second-place finish in the Preakness. After missing the victory by three-quarters of a length, Magic Weisner went to the Belmont Stakes and finished fourth.

Magic Weisner makes his first start today since his Triple Crown heroics in the Grade II, $300,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown near Cleveland. Five 3-year-olds were entered in the 1 1/8 -mile race, but Magic Weisner is the even-money favorite based on his runner-up finish in the Preakness and fourth-place finish in the Belmont. His Laurel trainer, Nancy Alberts, said that despite the favorite's role, Magic Weisner has his work cut out. Thistledown favors speed, and few horses have as much speed as Magic's chief rival, Wiseman's Ferry, who set the pace in the Belmont.

Trainer Nancy Alberts said she is attempting to get Magic Weisner back to the races after another setback in his effort to return to form. The surprising runner-up in the 2002 Preakness and third-place finisher in the Belmont Stakes is recovering on Alberts' Carroll County farm after a "wild animal bit him on the leg and got it infected," according to Alberts. "If anything can happen to a horse, it seems to happen to him." Magic Weisner is still suffering from difficulty in his back side after contracting a case of West Nile Virus that nearly killed him. In his previous race last July at Laurel, he finished last in a $36,000 non-stakes race, 21 1/4 lengths back.

Magic Weisner, who charged down the stretch after War Emblem in the Preakness, will chase the speedy black colt again in the Belmont with a Triple Crown on the line. Nancy Alberts, the Laurel-based trainer, owner and breeder of Magic Weisner, said yesterday she has decided to run her gelding in the Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Belmont Park. Her Maryland-bred horse could spoil War Emblem's bid to become racing's 12th Triple Crown winner. War Emblem has won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - The real War Emblem returned to the track yesterday. With Medaglia d'Oro dominating the Jim Dandy Stakes three hours away at Saratoga and no legitimate speed horse around to challenge his pace, War Emblem raced away from four rivals and became the first Kentucky Derby winner to capture the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. On the lead from the break after an unnerving moment in the gate, War Emblem justified his 3-10 odds and covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1 minute, 48 1/5 seconds to add another prestigious victory to a 3-year-old resume that includes wins in the Illinois and Kentucky derbies, and the Preakness.

The return of Magic Weisner and King Leatherbury's pursuit of his 6,000th win could highlight an unusually spicy opening day at Laurel Park. Racing returns Thursday to the Maryland track after a six-week break for competition at Colonial Downs. Leatherbury, 70, is two wins shy of becoming the third trainer to win 6,000 races. Dale Baird and Jack Van Berg are the others. Leatherbury, who saddled his first winner in 1959, has 51 training titles at Pimlico and Laurel Park. "What can I say?

ELMONT, N.Y. - The Maryland-based van carrying Magic Weisner from Laurel pulled into the Belmont Park barn area a tick before 1 p.m. yesterday and both the horse and trainer Nancy Alberts seemed happy with the trip. "Four hours and 12 minutes," said Alberts, whose sentimental long shot finished a fast-closing second to War Emblem in the Preakness three weeks ago. "It was nice and easy." It was the first look at the spacious stable complex for both Magic Weisner, who has never competed outside Maryland, and Alberts, who remembers "being at Belmont in the clubhouse once for the races" but has never run a horse here.

In 30 years working with horses, Sykesville trainer Nancy Alberts had come about as close to the Preakness as most Marylanders. She'd watched the race on television. "I never dreamed I'd be in a big race like that," she said. But the talk in early 2002 said that no horse had emerged as a Triple Crown front-runner. And she had a medium-sized bay gelding named Magic Weisner who seemed to run a little better every time out. When she announced plans to saddle him in the Preakness, some local thoroughbred watchers told her she shouldn't lest she embarrass herself and the horse.

Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey capped a productive day at Pimlico Race Course by guiding favored My Typhoon to a two-length victory in the $75,000 Hilltop Breeders' Cup Handicap yesterday. Sent off at 3-5 odds, My Typhoon out-dueled long shot Flashy Three through the stretch to register his second victory in three starts for Live Oak Plantation. Bailey was at Pimlico to sign copies of his autobiography, Against The Odds: Riding For My Life, and subsequently picked up the mount on the winner for trainer William Mott, the pair that combined to work on the great Cigar.

Before the snow pummeled Laurel Park yesterday, Nancy Alberts trotted out her star gelding, Magic Weisner, for the beginning of his latest comeback attempt. Alberts, who lives in Sykesville, and Magic Weisner, now 6, scripted one of racing's most endearing stories in 2002. The horse Alberts bred from a mare she'd purchased for $1 finished second in the Preakness and Haskell Invitational Handicap, won the Ohio Derby and finished fourth in the Belmont. But then the story almost turned tragic.

Seeyoubychance won yesterday's $40,000 H. Steward Mitchell Stakes, his first added-money victory, in a thrilling stretch drive at Pimlico Race Course. Under Ryan Fogelsonger, the 2-year-old son of American Chance wrested the lead in mid-stretch, battled front-running speedster Late Night Lover and then held off a last-gasp effort by favorite Monster Chaser to win by a neck. Seeyoubychance, who is trained by Dale Capuano, paid $8.80. He covered the six furlongs in 1 minute, 12.70 seconds, topping a $22.40 exacta and $77.60 trifecta.

Water Cannon's return from a five-month layoff was a success, but it didn't result in a victory yesterday in the $100,000 Northern Dancer Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. The gray-roan gelding, who was good enough to be entered in the Preakness, won a torrid speed duel with Diamond David for more than a mile, then became a victim of Play Bingo's late charge. Play Bingo cruised on by to prevail by 5 1/4 lengths, notching his fifth straight triumph and first in an added-money race. Water Cannon held on for the place by a length over long shot Hastego.

Trainer Nancy Alberts said she is attempting to get Magic Weisner back to the races after another setback in his effort to return to form. The surprising runner-up in the 2002 Preakness and third-place finisher in the Belmont Stakes is recovering on Alberts' Carroll County farm after a "wild animal bit him on the leg and got it infected," according to Alberts. "If anything can happen to a horse, it seems to happen to him." Magic Weisner is still suffering from difficulty in his back side after contracting a case of West Nile Virus that nearly killed him. In his previous race last July at Laurel, he finished last in a $36,000 non-stakes race, 21 1/4 lengths back.

ELMONT, N.Y. - On a day when little worked well for Magic Weisner, the Maryland-bred colt showed his resolve with a gritty fourth-place finish yesterday in the 134th Belmont Stakes. Unsettled by the biggest crowd in New York racing history and uncomfortable on the sandy, 1 1/2 -mile track, Magic Weisner persevered to finish four horses ahead of War Emblem, who added to the long line of failed Triple Crown bids at Belmont Park. War Emblem had beaten the hard-charging Magic Weisner by three-quarters of a length in the Preakness three weeks ago. Yesterday, there was some solace in Magic Weisner's out-of-the-money run. "If it wasn't for his `try,' we'd have been eighth," jockey Richard Migliore said.

A wall of horses parted before him and Magic Weisner barreled through to win his third stakes race in a row, this time the $75,000 Deputed Testamony Stakes yesterday at Laurel. Odds-on favorite Touch Love, the only filly in the field of five, tired and finished last. Touch Love, a two-time stakes winner, had been expected to take the lead in the 8 1/2 -furlong race, but two geldings were bent upon denying her the front. Root With Style rushed outside and passed the filly early and Majestic Sir joined the pair down the backstretch.

Nancy Alberts doesn't hide her enthusiasm when people ask about Magic Weisner. And they still ask, even though Magic hasn't won a race since July 2002. They ask around the track. They call. They ask in letters and e-mails. Alberts received three or four Christmas cards addressed to herself and Magic. "Magic is doing wonderful," she said Thursday to yet another inquiry about her 5-year-old gelding, which, despite his troubles, remains in training at Laurel Park. And then, Alberts said something she hadn't said before: "I think I just might have a racehorse again by spring."

In the film Seabiscuit, the hero rebounds from near death to win a big race at the end of the movie. Magic Weisner's comeback may still end that way, but it began with a stunning disappointment yesterday at Laurel Park. In his first race since nearly dying from West Nile Virus, Magic Weisner, the runner-up in last year's Preakness, finished last in a $36,000 non-stakes race against veteran local horses. Owned, trained and bred by Nancy Alberts, Magic Weisner finished 21 1/4 lengths behind the winner, Inner Harbour, in the seven-furlong race.