It’s Preakness Preview Day on Saturday in Maryland as Laurel Park hosts several key prep stakes towards the third Saturday in May. Bet the late pick 4 with 1/ST BET and Xpressbet and play for your share of an additional $2,500 in cash. The Laurel $2,500 Hit & Split will be on Races 9-12, including the Federico Tesio Stakes, an automatic qualifier for its winner to the Preakness.
Race 9 | Weber City Miss Stakes
Black-Eyed Susan Stakes hopefuls match up in this 1-1/16 miles race around 2 turns. The $450,000 Curlin filly Reply lived up to her odds-on billing in her March 14 debut at Colonial Downs during the Virigina Derby flash meet. High-percentage trainer Brittany Russell benefits from the rail draw as this Repole Stables runner moves from 1-turn to 2-turn racing and should relish it. While it may appear a big step up in class, the previous stakes in this series, the Beyond the Wire, was won by a 17-1 former claimer and there’s not a lot of stakes-proven experience in the lineup. Parx-based raider #5 Hollywood Beauty has plenty of stakes on the docket, but has struggled in routes.
Race 10 | $100,000 Henry S. Clark Stakes
The recently opened Laurel turf course will be in business for this prep to Preakness Day’s Dinner Party Stakes. The one-mile event drew 10 entries, 4 of which will be making their first starts of the calendar year. That’s been a norm and successful path in this race over the years, so if you like a layoff horse, don’t fret. The inside pair and a couple of others should insure a solid early pace and give the late runners every chance. #3 Fulmineo is a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf alum for Arnaud Delacour and winner of the Jimmy Murphy on Preakness Day last year as a 3-year-old. It’s his first bid against elders, but should match up well after wintering at Tampa with a promising workout pattern for the return. #4 Neat won Keeneland’s Grade 3 Transylvania last year (pictured above, inside), Saratoga’s Grade 2 Hall of Fame and last traveled to Santa Anita in March with a respectable showing in the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile. Unquestioned class for this Rob Atras trainee and a Laurel course winner in his maiden breaker in October 2023. Old school trainer Shug McGaughey got an old school allowance prep into #6 Signator at Tampa Bay Downs last out and the Tapit 5-year-old stormed from last to win by a head behind a fast pace. Jockey Samuel Marin, who has turned heads at Tampa, makes the road trip.
Race 11 | $150,000 Federico Tesio Stakes
Mile and one-eighth races around this track of the same circumference can be tricky for outside runners with a very short run into the clubhouse turn. As solid as #9 Pay Billy was in winning the Private Terms here last month, he may be vulnerable at an underlay price against a much tougher field this time. #1 Surfside Moon saves all the ground and exits a solid second in the Withers over this same distance, beaten only by eventual Wood Memorial fourth-place finisher Captain Cook. #5 Kentucky Outlaw is the total X-factor. This unbeaten colt has rolled through 2 starts at Parx for a mom & pop operation that’s got a good one on their hands for just $12,000. His races and long-legged stride suggest 9F might be a winner for him.
Race 12
Nine claimers – with eight wagering interests due to a coupling of #1 Kick Startness and #1A Walk Away Joe – match up over 1-1/16 miles to close the sequence. The Jamie Ness entry makes for a strong early and late-place combination if both run. #6 Mr Jefferson makes a proper class drop and should be effective at this level, but 3-for-32 lifetime is no obvious rush to concede to him. #7 Supreme Song fits the conditions of the race nicely and seems well-spotted. He’s been competitive in Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania and should transfer here fine.
The Ticket
1 with 3,4,6 with 1,5 with 1/1A,6,7 = $9 for 50 cents
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