Laki Headlines Field For Dave’s Friend On Laurel’s Dec. 26 Card

Hillside Equestrian Meadows' Laki, unraced since finishing sixth in defense of last fall's Grade 3 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash victory, is set to return for his 39th career start in the $100,000 Dave's Friend Dec. 26 at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

The 18th running of the Dave's Friend for 3-year-olds and up and 11th renewal of the Willa On the Move for fillies and mares 3 years old and up, both sprinting six furlongs, are among six $100,000 stakes on a nine-race Christmastide Day program.

In addition to Dave's Friend and Willa On the Move, the Robert T. Manfuso for 3-year-olds and up at about 1 1/16 miles and the 1 1/8-mile Carousel for fillies and mares 3 and older close out the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series in their respective divisions.

Laki broke outwardly and was never able to get into contention in the six-furlong De Francis Sept. 18 at Laurel, winding up well behind first-place finisher Wondrwherecraigis, who would be disqualified to second for interference but go on to win the G3 Bold Ruler in his subsequent start.

The 8-year-old Cuba gelding was given plenty of time to recover by trainer Damon Dilodovico, not returning to the work tab until Nov. 21. His last two breezes have come since Laurel's main track underwent renovations in early December.

“I'm glad we were able to get a second breeze on the new surface. I think that will help,” Dilodovico said. “Maybe that will work out as an advantage for those of us that are stabled here.

“He seems ready. We gave him a little break after the Dash, which he always seems to come back well from. We're pretty happy with where he is right now,” he added. “He earned the time off. He's a warrior.”

Laki is 11-for-38 lifetime, including 19 for 24 in the top three at Laurel, with $833,162 in purse earnings. He has won at least one stakes race five straight years, a streak he extended in the Frank Y. Whiteley going six furlongs April 24 at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. He also leads MATCH dirt sprinters with 21 points and will clinch a third straight division title following 2018 and 2019. The Series was shelved in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We may race him next year but I think we'll decide after this. We do plan on giving him another real winter break after this race and we'll see how he is afterward,” Dilodovico said. “[Owner Paul 'Buck'] Kalinowski will hopefully have a spot and can take him back home. He's rehabbed very well at his farm up in Connecticut.

“He's done a good job with him. Hopefully, he can take him up there and keep an eye on him and send us back a fresh old man,” he added. “That said, we won't [push] him. He's done his job. If he decides he wants to stop, we'll stop. But we are going into the season with at least the thought that we'll bring him back.”

Regular rider Horacio Karamanos has the call on Laki from the rail in a field of eight.

Sharing topweight of 124 pounds with Laki is Madaket Stables, Ten Strike Racing, Michael Kisber, and BTR Racing, Inc.'s Whereshetoldmetogo, a fellow multiple stakes winner that enters the Dave's Friend on a two-race win streak. Both victories, in the six-furlong New Castle Sept. 25 at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del., and seven-furlong Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial against fellow Maryland-bred/sired horses Nov. 26 at Laurel, came by a neck.

“The last time he was kind of forced to go wide, and it's nice to kind of see him overcome some things, regardless of what the outcome is,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “In terms of how he gets the job done, he just gets it done. I think that's the main thing. He still wants to do it. He likes racing.”

A 6-year-old El Padrino gelding, Whereshetoldmetogo has won 13 of 31 career starts with $744,791 in purse earnings, and has six wins in eight tries at Laurel. Other wins this year have come in the Not For Love at Laurel and Alapocas Run at Delaware, along with a third in the Challedon at Pimlico.

“He's great. We always thought he was doing well when he was over at Pimlico, but he's a different horse over at Laurel when he trains. He's just happier,” Russell said. “Something about it, I don't know, back in the barn, just how he is on the racetrack and everything. Obviously, he shows he loves it in the afternoon. We're happy that [this] one is at Laurel and he's at home.”

Jevian Toledo, Maryland's leading rider at both the fall meet and overall for 2021, will be aboard for the third straight race from Post 4.

The Dave's Friend also attracted Karan's Notion and Air Token, respective upset winners of the 2020 and 2021 Maryland Million Sprint. Bred, owned, and trained by Nancy Heil, Karan's Notion is winless in eight starts this year including a runner-up finish to Whereshetoldmetogo in the Not For Love.

Air Token won the Oct. 23 Sprint by 2 ¼ lengths for owner-trainer Jose Corrales, then came back with a gutsy effort between Whereshetoldmetogo and Youngest of Five in the stretch to finish third by a neck in the Bender.

“Racing is a competition and you need a little bit of luck. The horse ran a big race and came back good and that's how you take it in this business. You're not always going to win,” Corrales said. “He's a horse that just keeps improving. He's a very consistent horse. He's a very nice horse and I'm happy to have him. He's a pleasure to have. He's got a great personality.”

Threes Over Deuces, promoted winner of last year's New Castle who ran third by a neck this fall; multiple West Virginia-bred stakes winner Penguin Power; Youngest of Five; and Newbomb complete the field.

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Pennsylvania Leaderboard Presented By Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association: A New Generation Of Sires In The Keystone State

The top of the Pennsylvania sire standings hasn't changed much over the past few years.

Once the mighty Jump Start took over the top of the podium six years ago, he has yet to relinquish it, and his rival Weigelia has never been far behind. However, Jump Start's death in 2019 means his position at the head of the class will eventually open up and be claimed by one of Pennsylvania's younger sires.

The class of stallions poised to take over in the long-term, those with five crops of racing age or less, each have their own unique sets of circumstances, but in the meantime, they have been making their owners five-figure sums in Pennsylvania stallion awards.

When a registered Pennsylvania-bred and -sired runner finishes in the top three at Parx Racing, Penn National, or Presque Isle Downs, the owner of their sire receives a 10 percent bonus of the purse share, which can add up quickly for a stallion with an army of runners in the state.

The clear leader in the class with five crops of racing age or less is El Padrino, whose long-term potential was snuffed out in 2017 when he died following colic surgery.

El Padrino left behind four crops, all now at racing age, and those runners have earned the stallion's owner, Northview Stallion Station, $70,284 in bonus money so far in 2021.

The biggest contributor to that pot has been Prince of Rain, a 4-year-old gelding who has generated $11,459 in stallion awards this season, with top-three finishes in eight of his 10 starts.

After winning his debut start at Penn National on Feb. 24, Prince of Rain finished second in a trio of allowance races at Penn National and Parx, before getting back on the winning track in a Penn National allowance on May 28. He added another win two starts later in a July 28 allowance at Parx Racing.

Prince of Rain has since graduated to state-bred stakes company, highlighted by a third-place effort in the Banjo Picker Sprint Stakes at Parx on Aug. 23.

The gelding races as a homebred for the Z & Z Stables of trainer Michael Zalalas and breeder Angelo Zalalas.

With second-place Uncle Lino having moved to Maryland, the stallion with the greatest inside track to long-term success in the Pennsylvania standings among the younger stallions is arguably Godstone Farm's Well Spelled.

Well Spelled, a 12-year-old son of Spellbinder, has four crops of racing age that has made Godstone Farm $30,863 in stallion award earnings this season.

The leader among Well Spelled's stallion award earners is No More Martinis, a 4-year-old gelding who has brought in $5,155 in awards for that category. No More Martinis has won three of four starts this year, all at Penn National.

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Pennsylvania Leaderboard Presented By Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association: Northview Stallion Station Paces Keystone State By Incentive Earnings

Northview Stallion Station's Pennsylvania division may no longer be in operation, but its presence is still felt in a big way through the state's stallion owner incentive program earnings.

Northview PA ended stallion operations at its Peach Bottom, Pa., location and consolidated its roster to its Maryland branch at the end of the 2020 breeding season, or moved the horses to other farms in Pennsylvania. However, its $197,039 in stallion owner awards through the end of July was nearly three times that of next-closest WynOaks Farm with $68,601.

Stallion owners in Pennsylvania receive a 10 percent bonus of the purse share earned when a registered Pennsylvania-bred by a Pennsylvania stallion finishes in the top three at an in-state racetrack.

Northview accounts for three of the top six stallions by incentive earnings, including the runaway leader, Jump Start.

The late son of A.P. Indy generated $91,829 in stallion awards through the end of July, led by stakes winner Hey Mamaluke, who made his sire $7,275 at the cutoff point. Jump Start's second-highest stallion award earner, and his top filly, was two-time winner Amen Sylvia, who made $5,761 for her stallion in the time frame.

Another departed stallion accounted for Northview's second-highest incentive earning stallion, and the state's third-highest overall.

El Padrino, who died in 2017, has generated $50,625 in stallion incentive awards, led by Prince of Rain. The 4-year-old gelding put up $11,459 on behalf of his sire, highlighted by a debut maiden score at Penn National, allowance wins at Penn National and Parx Racing, and a third-place effort in the Banjo Picker Sprint Stakes at Parx.

Rounding out the top trio was young sire Uncle Lino, who has brought in $29,700 through stallion awards, placing him sixth overall.

The 8-year-old son of Uncle Mo's top stallion incentive earner was Marvalous Mike, whose $12,536 in stallion bonuses was the third-most of any Pennsylvania-bred. He reached that level with a three-race winning streak at Parx, first winning a maiden special weight, then taking an optional claiming race and an allowance race. Marvalous Mike most recently finished second in the Parx Summer Sprint Stakes.

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Introduced Best In Incredible Revenge At Monmouth

It took a little longer than he might have preferred but trainer Jorge Duarte, Jr. has finally figured out the key to bringing out the best in Introduced, his talented 5-year-old mare.

Kept calm in pre-race for the second straight start, Introduced surged to a three-quarter length victory in Saturday's $100,000 Incredible Revenge Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., adding a grass stakes victory to the stakes win she earned in the slop in the Smart N Fancy at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., a year ago.

Kept just off the early speed duel between Running Memories and Miss Auramet, the race favorite, Introduced rallied past both in mid-stretch to post her second straight victory on the grass and eighth overall from 19 career starts.

In recent losses, Duarte has said Introduced often lost races before they were even run because of how high-strung and nervous she can get. But a new routine of having a pony accompany her to the paddock has seemed to keep the Maryland-bred daughter of El Padrino from getting overly worked up.

“I think we did a good job keeping her calm before the race,” said Duarte, who won both grass sprints on the card and is now 9-for-20 at the meet. “That has always been the biggest battle with her. She helped us because she didn't get too fired up. She was better pre-race today.

“We did the same thing as we did last race (a nose victory over Miss Auramet in an allowance at Monmouth on July 23) with the paddock routine and bringing her over with the pony and she was fine. I felt good when I put the tack on her. Everything was smooth. She has really been running big lately. I'm very pleased with her right now.”

Introduced's winning time for the 5½ furlongs over a firm turf course was 1:02.50.

Running Memories, who set the early fractions of :22.20 and :44.51, held on for second, one length ahead of Miss Auramet.

Owned by Colts Neck Stables and ridden by Albin Jimenez, Introduced paid $10.60 to win.

“My first time riding her, though I breezed her a couple of times. She's a nice filly,” said Jimenez. “I got a beautiful trip right behind the speed. Jorge told me there would be speed inside of her so just break and see where she is and take it from there. It could not have worked out any better. I had a nice, beautiful position. She's a very nice filly. I can tell that after riding her one time.”

Introduced now has five wins from 15 career grass starts. The $60,000 winner's share boosted her career earnings to $384,801.

Racing resumes at Monmouth Park on Sunday, with the $100,000 Jersey Shore Stakes headlining an 11-race card. The popular Jersey Shore Food Truck Festival will also wrap up its second day then.

First race post time is 12:15 p.m. Parking and admission are free.

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