Five competitive and interesting races from Laurel Park, Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park will comprise Friday's Stronach 5.
The coast-to-coast action begins at approximately 4:27 ET and features a low 12-percent takeout.
The Stronach 5 begins in Maryland with Laurel's eighth race, an allowance event on the turf for fillies and mares going 1 1/8 mile. Follow the Flag, a 3-year-old filly by Tapit out of the Grade 1 winning mare, Mushka, returns after a six-month layoff for trainer Michael Matz. Runaway Monet, who broke her maiden by 9 ¾ last time out for trainer Rodney Jenkins, hopes to try the turf for the first time after having three previous starts on the grass moved to the main track.
Next up is Gulfstream's eighth race, an allowance optional claimer at six furlongs for state breds with a dozen entered including Vinnie Van Go, who has been claimed in seven of his last eight starts. The gelding will be saddled Friday by Saffie Joseph Jr. Vinnie Van Go is one of six horses in the race claimed from its previous start. Katie's Cowboy goes out first time for Kent Sweezey, Frenchmen Street for Elizabeth Dobles and Gangly for Jose D'Angelo.
The third leg of the sequence returns to Laurel and its ninth race, a maiden claiming events at six furlongs for 2-year-olds. Bust'em Kurt is the 7-5 favorite for leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez after a pair of seconds against maiden special weight company. Divining Stone, a son of Divining Rod, makes his debut for Arnaud Delacour as does Off Course, a son of Speightster, for Jeremiah O'Dwyer.
The Stronach 5 heads west for the final two legs of the sequence. Santa Anita's third race, a claiming event for fillies and mares at six furlongs on the turf, has a field of nine including Mind Meld, making his third start off the layoff for trainer Mike Puype and dropping from $50,000 claiming company. Sweet Devil gets blinkers for trainer Michael McCarthy. Miss Tokyo makes her first start since June of 2020 for Leonard Powell. Acai has placed in two of three starts across the dirt for Doug O'Neill, and New Drama has done the same for Tim Yakteen.
Santa Anita's fourth race concludes the Stronach 5 with maidens 3-years-old and up going six furlongs on the main track. Sir Flatter draws the rail after closing strongly for second money last time out at Los Alamitos. The full field may have to catch Try to Capture, who runs on or close to the pace in his first two starts for trainer Peter Miller. Fenestra returns to the races off a 16-month layoff for trainer Vladimir Cerin. Fenestra, a son of Street Sense, is out of the graded stakes-placed mare Curlina.
Friday's races and sequence
- Leg One –Laurel Race 8: (10 entries, 1 1/8-mile furlongs turf) 4 :27 ET, 1:27 PT
- Leg Two –Gulfstream Race 8: (12 entries, 6 furlongs) 4:38 ET, 1:38 PT
- Leg Three –Laurel Race 9: (10 entries, 6 furlongs) 4:59 ET, 1:59 PT
- Leg Four –Santa Anita Race 3: (9 entries, 6 furlongs turf) 5:05 ET, 2:05 PT
- Leg Five –Santa Anita Race 4: (13 entries, 6 furlongs) 5:35 ET, 5:35 PT
Fans can watch and wager on the action at 1/ST.COM/BET as well as stream all the action in English and Spanish at LaurelPark.com, SantaAnita.com, GulfstreamPark.com, and GoldenGateFields.com.
The minimum wager on the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is $1. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.
If a change in racing surface is made after the wagering closes, each selection on any ticket will be considered a winning selection. If a betting interest is scratched, that selection will be substituted with the favorite in the win pool when wagering closes.
The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.
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