Old Bay arrives at Saturday’s Maryland Million Lassie, for two-year-old fillies, one of the more intriguing contenders. She’s made four starts to date; no runner here has made more.

And she’s done nothing but run good races. The only thing she hasn’t done is win; Old Bay has finished second in all four of her career starts, last out finishing just a neck behind two-for-two Just Great, who would have vied for favoritism in this spot, in the Small Wonder at Delaware Park.

“I think she’s run well, and it’s just unfortunate not to have won,” Shuman said, ticking off where things have gone wrong: one race where she wouldn’t pass a horse on the inside, a failed experiment with blinkers, a race where she finished up strongly and passed the winner on the gallop out. “She’s shown a lot of gate speed and everything, and I just think she’s still developing, learning racing.”

Old Bay is out of the Not for Love mare Manhattan Madam, who made only one career start. But as a broodmare, Manhattan Madam has been productive for breeders Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman. Manhattan Madam has thrown seven winners to date, including a stakes winner in Bawlmer Hon, and three other $100,000-plus earners.

For all that, Old Bay fetched only $15,000 at auction, with Runaway Point Farms (Sandy Horner) the winning bidder. Shuman thinks the modest price stems at least in part from her youth relative to her contemporaries: she was a May foal.

Having trained Bawlmer Hon – a turf stakes winner who was stakes-placed twice on dirt – and Market Mover, whom he describes as a “useful horse,” Shuman liked what he saw of Old Bay when she was offered for sale at last October’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic fall yearling sale.

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“She’s correct as can be, just perfect conformation,” he recalled. “The only knock was she was a May foal. I think a lot of pinhookers, they buy here in the Midlantic sale to come back and sell them in the spring, but they don’t really look for May foals. I think that helped us get her for the 15 [thousand] – we thought she was a steal.”

Old Bay debuted August 2 at Delaware Park, finishing a good second behind Top Blue, who had been a $200,000 yearling. Then came another second. And another. And another.

Last out in the Small Wonder, Old Bay was off as one of the longest shots, 16-1 at post time. After an alert break, she stalked the pace before rallying in the lane while widest of all. She fell just a neck short of Just Great, who had won her debut by nearly 14 lengths before being sold to Team Valor International and Gary Barber, and three parts of a length ahead of Lucky Cougar.

“Every race, she’s come out of it really good,” Shuman said. “She’s as classy of a horse as I’ve ever been around, just a ton of class. Physically, she just keeps getting stronger and feeling better.”

Old Bay is one of three runners from the Small Wonder to move to the Lassie, with show horse Lucky Cougar and Super Fabulous, who led most of the way before finishing fourth, also here.

Trainer Justin Nixon will send out the Lassie’s morning line favorite in Sheilah’s Warcloud (3-1), a Madefromlucky filly who won at first asking before finishing second in allowance company. Other major contenders include Shine On Moon (4-1), a first-out turf winner for trainer Cal Lynch and owner-breeder Hope Haskell Jones, and Remember Me (5-1), who was a near-miss third in the Keswick at Colonial Downs for trainer John Robb and his and wife Gina’s No Guts No Glory Farm.

The Lassie is the sixth race on a 12-race program.

Charlie Marquez will be aboard Old Bay in the Lassie for the fourth time. Shuman likes the way his charge is coming into the race, even though the Small Wonder was September 27 – just 17 days ago.

“The owner didn’t put any pressure to rush her back. It was, you know, ‘It’d be nice to go and go in there,’” Shuman said. “But the way she came out that race and jumped right in her feed tub, she’s done nothing but move forward, I feel, after that race. So we’re kind of, ‘Let’s go for it.’”