Trainer Annette Eubanks registers 500th win
Majorca romps to provide milestone victory
Frank Vespe
March 7, 2026
Rising Sun Racing Stables’ Majorca broke to the lead and never looked back in Saturday’s third race at Laurel Park.
That he left no doubt – never headed and never really threatened en route to a two-length victory – was something Daniel Eubanks appreciated. Eubanks, the owner, has been filling in for his mother as trainer these last few months, and Majorca’s victory was the 500th career win for Annette Eubanks, who was not present.
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“Right now, man, it’s a lot of relief,” said Daniel Eubanks. “I’ve been kind of slowed down the wins lately. I had six seconds so far trying to get this, and toward the end of last year, too. I’m just very happy for my mom.”
Majorca, a four-year-old son of Volatile who was once a $135,000 yearling purchase, made the first half-dozen starts of his career in New York and Florida for trainer Todd Pletcher. But by mid-2025, his connections had grown disenchanted with their still-a-maiden and sold him at the Fasig-Tipton July horses of racing age sale, where trainer Joe Sharp picked him up.
But that went sideways fairly quickly, with the horse requiring surgery. At that point, Eubanks got a call from trainer Keri Brion.
“I got a call from Keri like, ‘Hey, this guy don’t really want to keep this horse, and he wants to basically just pay the bill if you want to take the time to put into him,” Eubanks remembered. “I’ve been recouping a lot of horses lately, last year, especially having horses off long layoffs and injuries. So I took on the challenge, and we were very patient with this guy, and he’s trained very well. This is a great return right now.”
The Eubanks team gave Majorca time and gelded him. Majorca entered today’s contest, a $25,000 maiden claimer going seven furlongs, with seven timed works while in the Eubanks barn and Jevian Toledo on his back.
And high hopes for a barn that had registered six runner-up finishes this season – versus a single win – in 19 starts.
“I’ve been thinking we were live since the end of last year, last week of the year,” Eubanks said. “And then a couple of weeks ago when I got three seconds: I try to put them where they’re always live, whether it’s for 500 [wins] or not.”
Annette Eubanks has now won 500 races from 4,780 starters with purse earnings just shy of $9.1 million.
She enjoyed perhaps her best year in 2024, when she won 20 races from 92 starters, with her charges earning over $730,000. Among her wins that year was Brilliant Ice’s triumph in the Maryland Million Classic, her first and to date only Maryland Million win.
As for the future, Daniel Eubanks said his mother, now in her 80s, remains actively engaged in the barn, though not typically at the track. Retirement, though, may, or may not be, in her plans. Meantime, Daniel Eubanks will keep doing a job he calls a “lot harder job than I ever expected in my life.”
“We’ll leave that question to her,” Daniel said of his mother’s potential retirement. “We had an agreement. She was gonna retire at 500, and a couple weeks ago, she said no. As soon as we got 499 she said, ‘You know, I don’t think I want to retire.’ Whatever mom wants to do, I’ll do.”
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