Needs Supervision Could Play Upset Card In Barbara Fritchie

Encouraged by her most recent effort, trainer Jerry O'Dwyer is giving Howling Pigeon Farms, Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Madaket Stables' multiple stakes winner Needs Supervision another shot at graded success in Saturday's $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) at Laurel Park.

The 69th running of the Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and older and the 45th edition of the $250,000 General George (G3) for 4-year-olds and up co-headline a Winter Sprintfest program of six stakes worth $900,000 in purses. First race post time is 12:25 p.m.

In addition to Needs Supervision, a 12-1 long shot on the morning line, Madaket's Sol Kumin also has an ownership stake in the Fritchie's 8-5 program favorite, five-time stakes winner Hello Beautiful. The two horses will break side-by-side respectively from Posts 7 and 8.

Needs Supervision, 5, ran fourth behind Majestic Reason in last year's Fritchie then was third in the Nellie Morse, held in mid-March prior to live racing being paused 2 ½ months in Maryland amid the coronavirus pandemic. Minor issues kept her from racing again for eight months.

“She's never had any major issues, just little niggly things,” O'Dwyer said. “She had a back issue that was bugging her and it was kind of causing her to break slow and she wasn't as comfortable as she could be. We seem to have a handle on that now.

“I think she's moving super now,” he added. “It's hard to find when there's something wrong with her because she's such a tough filly. She never shows any signs of distress or pain, but it's when she underperforms you know there's more there. That's when you really start going over her with a fine tooth comb to try and find something.”

Needs Supervision ran third to Fritchie contender Dontletsweetfooya, a winner of her last five races including two stakes, in the Nov. 28 Primonetta, then stretched out to 1 1/8 miles for the Allaire du Pont (G3) Dec. 26, where she tired to be fifth after setting the pace. Most recently, she closed to be second by a length behind Bella Aurora in the seven-furlong Interborough Jan. 18 at Aqueduct.

“She came out of her last race great. She ran a super race up there. I liked the way she finished up and came through horses. The winner got the clear path on the inside and she couldn't get out until the top of the lane,” O'Dwyer said. “We would have liked to get out a little bit sooner, but I was just glad to see her come back and run a race like that and finish up good.”

Needs Supervision won the seven-furlong Safely Kept in November 2019 at Laurel over next-out winners Hey Mamaluke and Victim of Love, the latter going on to win the Vagrancy (G3) and run second in the Fritchie and third in the Ballerina (G1) before going to the sidelines.

“She's won at seven furlongs, she likes the surface, and she seems to be training good and doing really well,” O'Dwyer said. “It's going to be a tough race, with lots of good fillies and mares in there. I think there's going to be lots of speed in there which should help us. We're not the quickest into stride, but I'd like to see her five or six lengths off them. That'd be nice. You're going to have Hello Beautiful and Dontletsweetfoolya, both of those are very fast fillies and I'm sure no rider will want to take their horse out of their comfort zone. So, I'm hoping it'll set up a little bit for us with something to run at.

“It's going to be a very nice race, very competitive. You just want to see the best horse win and everybody get a fair shake of the dice,” he added. “We still have a lot of faith in our filly, how she is right now. The owners have been great people to me. I'd just like to get her back in a bit of form and to get a graded-stakes win would be huge for her as a broodmare.”

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Friday’s Stronach 5 Features Racing From Four Different Tracks

The Stronach 5 will have competitive fields from Laurel Park, Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields as well as an industry-low 12-percent takeout come Friday afternoon.

The Stronach 5, which continues to offer a strong return on investment, begins at 3:59 ET.

The sequence kicks off with Laurel's eighth race, a $42,000 allowance event for 4-year-olds and up with an 8-5 favorite in Gentleman Joe. The 5-year-old will be equipped with blinkers for trainer Hamilton Smith. Trainer Miguel Vera sends out two. Prince James, a 4-year-old son of Tiznow who sold for $150,000 as a 2-year-old, enters off a second-place finish Jan. 3 at Laurel after spending the fall at Gulfstream Park and Gulfstream Park West. Vera will also saddle The Revenger.

Gulfstream's seventh race will serve as the second leg in the Stronach 5. The allowance optional claimer at a mile on the turf appears to be wide open with Whatmakessammyrun a tepid 3-1 choice breaking from the far outside 12 post for trainer George Weaver and jockey Luis Saez. Repole Stable's Hyperfocus makes his turf debut after a fifth-place finish in June in the Bashford Manor (G3). Easy Time will also make his turf debut for trainer Mark Casse after an eighth-place finish Jan. 2 in the Mucho Macho Man.

The Stronach 5 returns to Laurel for the ninth race, a wide open seven furlong claiming event with Company Clown the 3-1 favorite for leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez. Fine N Dandy ships in from Penn National for trainer Tim Ritchey.

The fourth leg of the sequence will be Santa Anita's third race, a starter optional claimer for 3-year-old fillies at 6 ½ furlongs on the turf. Disko Fever, trained by Richard Baltas, broke his maiden last time out by 3 ½ lengths at Santa Anita.

The Stronach 5 concludes with Golden Gate's second race, an $8,000 maiden claimer for 3-year-old fillies. Wildly Dramatic is the 9-5 favorite off a second-place finish Jan. 29 against similar company. You're All Talk, trained by Peter Eurton, drops in from $35,000 maiden company while trainer Jonathan Wong will send out first-time starter Street Dancing.

Friday's races and sequence

  • Leg One – Laurel Park 8th Race: (10 entries, 1 mile) 3:59 ET, 12:59 PT
  • Leg Two – Gulfstream Park 7th Race: (12 entries, 1-mile turf) 4:12 ET, 1:12 PT
  • Leg Three – Laurel Park 9th Race: (13 entries, 7 furlongs) 4:29 ET, 1:29 PT
  • Leg Four – Santa Anita Park 3rd Race: (10 entries, 6 ½ furlongs turf) 4:35 ET, 1:35 PT
  • Leg Five – Golden Gate Fields 2nd Race: (8 entries, 5 furlongs) 4:53 ET, 1:53 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 Stronach 5 In the Money podcast, hosted by Jonathan Kinchen and Peter Thomas Fornatale, will be posted by 2 p.m. Thursday at InTheMoneyPodcast.com and will be available on iTunes and other major podcast distributors

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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Laurel’s Winter Sprintfest Includes Rematch From Spectacular Bid Stakes

Kenny Had a Notion and Maythehorsebwithu, separated by a neck following a stretch-long duel in the Spectacular Bid last month, will hook up again as the primary challengers in Saturday's $100,000 Miracle Wood at Laurel Park in Maryland.

The 26th running of the one-mile Miracle Wood for 3-year-olds and the 28th renewal of the $100,000 Wide Country for 3-year-old fillies are among six stakes, two graded, worth $900,000 on the nine-race Winter Sprintfest program.

Serving as co-headliners are the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) for fillies and mares 4 and up and the $250,000 General George (G3) for 4-year-olds and up, both sprinting seven furlongs. Older horses will also go about 1 1/16 miles in the $100,000 John B. Campbell and $100,000 Nellie Morse for females.

Post time for the first of nine races is 12:25 p.m. ET. The Miracle Wood will kick off the stakes action in Race 3 (1:23 p.m.) with the Street Lute carded as Race 6 (2:53 p.m.).

The Miracle Wood will be the third meeting between Kenny Had a Notion and Maythehorsebwithu dating back to the First State Dash last September at Delaware Park, where they ran sixth and second, respectively.

Since then, Louis Ulman and Neil Glasser's Kenny Had a Notion won the 5 ½-furlong Jamestown over Laurel's world-class turf course and the six-furlong Maryland Million Nursery on dirt – one of four wins on the program for sire Great Notion – before running sixth in the James F. Lewis III and emerging with a displaced palate that required minor surgery.

Stretched out to seven furlongs for his two most recent starts, Kenny Had a Notion capped his juvenile campaign running second by a neck to James Lewis winner No Cents before his thrilling battle with Maythehorsebwithu in the Spectacular Bid.

“He's pretty game and he's going into this well. He worked good the other day so we'll stretch him out another eighth and see if he can get another eight against these horses,” trainer Dale Capuano said. “I think that he can do it. He sure seems like it. Until he does it you don't know for sure, but all indications are he could go at least another eighth of a mile, I think. We'll just have to see how it plays out.”

Kenny Had a Notion broke running in the Spectacular Bid, briefly losing the lead entering the stretch, but surged again along the rail for his third career stakes win. Jorge Ruiz, aboard for all three races, gets the return call from Post 5 in a field of seven.

“He has a lot of speed so I would assume that he'll probably in front again. We'll have to see if he can carry his speed that far, really,” Capuano said. “He came out of his race good so he's ready to go again. We'll see what happens. We'll see how he runs and how he comes out of it and then we'll decide what we'll do with him after this. But we have options.”

Michael Dubb and Bethlehem Stables' Maythehorsebwithu is the narrow 2-1 program favorite in the Miracle Wood over Kenny Had a Notion (5-2). Trained by Brittany Russell, the gelded son of 2009 Whitney (G1) winner Bullsbay has been sent to post as the favorite in each of his last three starts.

“He's great. He's a really good-training horse and he comes out of every race so far the same way. He touts himself. He trains well, and he hasn't missed a beat,” Russell said. “You want a horse like him. He has gas, but I think he'll keep going. I think he'll be fun moving forward.”

Maythehorsebwithu will also be racing beyond seven furlongs for the first time. He broke his maiden at first asking going 5 ½ furlongs in a maiden claimer last summer at Delaware, and captured a six-furlong optional claiming allowance Dec. 11 in his Laurel debut to punch his return ticket to stakes company.

“He ran really hard last time. I like this horse enough that I can see him jumping up and winning one of these races,” Russell said. “I think he'll like the mile, but you don't know until you try. He trains in the morning like he'll keep going, so I'm excited to see how the mile sets up for him.”

Russell's husband, jockey Sheldon Russell, gets the riding assignment from Post 4.

Klaravich Stables' Subsidize ships in from New York where he was a 3 ½-length maiden special weight winner Jan. 7 at Aqueduct in his fourth career start and first at 3. Victor Carrasco, who missed time recently with a minor toe injury, will ride for trainer Chad Brown from outside Post 7.

Kathleen and Robert Verratti's Silent Service was a front-running 6 ¾-length debut winner Jan. 22 at Laurel for trainer Mike Trombetta, whose first of four career Miracle Wood wins came in 2006 with Sweetnorthernsaint, who would go on to win the Illinois Derby (G3), run seventh as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and second in the Preakness (G1). Silent Service is also entered in a 6 ½-furlong optional claiming allowance Friday at Laurel.

Rounding out the field are Tiz Mandate, most recently fourth in the Spectacular Bid; multiple stakes-placed Newyearsblockparty, second last out in the seven-furlong Pasco Jan. 16 at Tampa Bay Downs; and The King Cheek.

Eight Look to Deny Street Lute Sixth Stakes in $100,000 Wide Country
One race before they send out respective stable stars Hello Beautiful and Dontletsweetfoolya against each other in the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3), trainers Brittany Russell and Lacey Gaudet will look to upset five-time stakes winner Street Lute in the $100,000 Wide Country.

Team Gaudet and Five Hellions Farm's Fraudulent Charge came up a nose shy of Street Lute in the seven-furlong Gin Talking Dec. 26 at Laurel, just her second career start and first in a stakes. The Will Take Charge filly was a 6 ¼-length maiden claiming winner on debut Nov. 12, also at Laurel.

“We couldn't take anything away from her,” Gaudet said. “We kind of didn't have any other option but to try her in the stake. We were really looking for a third or fourth, a good effort to kind of just get her back over there. We think that she's a promising filly and I do think that she's going to want to go further, but winter racing you kind of have to do what Mother Nature lets happen.

“She ran her eyeballs out last time. Obviously, a very, very nice filly beat her, and she has not missed a jump since then,” she added. “[Street Lute] looks like she'll be the filly to beat again this time, but our filly will be ready and I think she'll appreciate having some more training and racing under her belt.”

Johan Rosado rides Fraudulent Charge from Post 3 in a field of nine.

Wonder Stables, Robert LaPenta and Madaket Stables' Little Huntress scratched out of the Ruthless at Aqueduct after it was pushed back a day to Feb. 8 due to weather and Russell opted to stay home with the promising daughter of Frosted, making her stakes debut.

“To be fair we were planning to go to New York and then when they canceled and they brought the races back it gave us the opportunity to enter here, which we were considering anyway. She has a good win over this racetrack. Yeah, it's a bigger field than it would have been in New York but I just felt better about taking the next step out of her own stall,” Russell said. “She's put up some nice works in the morning. She appears to have taken a step forward in the morning so I hope that translates to the afternoon.”

Little Huntress was beaten less than a length when second in her Nov. 21 unveiling going six furlongs, then romped to a 14-length front-running maiden special weight triumph sprinting seven furlongs Dec. 27, both over her home track. Russell's husband, jockey Sheldon Russell, rides from Post 7.

“We always liked her. It's sometimes deceiving when they win like that because you're not sure what was behind them,” Brittany Russell said. “With that being said, if there wasn't much behind her that's OK because she did it really well. I knew she was going to need a run that first time. We liked her and thought she could get the job done, but she was a big, heavy filly that was kind of hard to get fit and was going to need a race. So, to see her move forward so much from that first run was something we expected.”

Lucky 7 Stables' Street Lute is the 2-1 program favorite to earn her fifth consecutive victory and sixth stakes overall through seven starts. Her only loss came when second by a nose in the Maryland Million Lassie last fall.

Since then, Jerry Robb-trained Street Lute won the Smart Halo, Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship and Gin Talking to cap her 2-year-old season before launching 2021 with a five-length triumph in the return of the six-furlong Xtra Heat Jan. 16. Xavier Perez will ride for the fifth straight time, from Post 5.

BB Horses' Miss Leslie was second to Street Lute in the Xtra Heat, snapping a three-race win streak to end her juvenile campaign including the 1 1/16-mile Anne Arundel County by a head over Buckey's Charm. She was claimed by winter meet-leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez for $25,000 in mid-November.

“She ran into a nice filly the last time, and it was a little short. It was six furlongs, not seven and I think that maybe the seven furlongs is going to be a little better for us. I think she is better going longer. We don't have any races for 3-year-old fillies going longer so we'll give it a shot in here,” Gonzalez said. “She's doing good and she came back good from the last race. Maybe we can be there.”

Buckey's Charm and Hamilton Smith-trained stablemate Whiskey and Rye, fourth in the Gin Talking and Xtra Heat; Salt Plage, unbeaten in two Parx starts for New York-based trainer Linda Rice; and recent maiden claiming winners My My Girl and Lady Clau complete the field.

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Majestic Dunhill Attempting Rebound In Saturday’s General George

R.A. Hill Stable's Grade 3 winner Majestic Dunhill, exiting a pair of disappointing efforts off a career-best performance, trades the South Florida sunshine for Maryland's winter chill as he attempts to regain his winning form in Saturday's $250,000 General George (G3) at Laurel Park.

The 45th running of the General George for 4-year-olds and up and the 69th edition of the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and older, both sprinting seven furlongs, highlight a Winter Sprintfest program of six stakes worth $900,000 in purses.

Sophomores will be in the spotlight in the $100,00 Miracle Wood going one mile and $100,000 Wide Country for fillies at seven furlongs, while older horses will contest the $100,000 Nellie Morse for females and $100,000 John B. Campbell, each at about 1 1/16 miles.

Post time for the first of nine races is 12:25 p.m. The General George is carded as Race 8 (3:53 p.m.).

No horse will have traveled farther for the General George than Majestic Dunhill, a 6-year-old gelding who is no stranger to Laurel or the race, having finished second by a length to Uncontested as a 25-1 long shot in 2019. He has placed in three stakes since, including the 2019 Polynesian at Laurel, and beat Share the Ride by a head to capture the seven-furlong Bold Ruler (G3) in the mud on Halloween at Belmont Park.

Following the Bold Ruler, Majestic Dunhill was unsettled in the starting gate and got stuck racing inside when seventh, beaten 4 ½ lengths by Share the Ride, in the six-furlong Fall Highweight (G3) Nov. 28 at Aqueduct. Trainer George Weaver wheeled him back in three weeks for the seven-furlong Mr. Prospector Dec. 19 at Gulfstream Park, losing all chance after being bounced around at the start and finishing 10th.

“He won the Bold Ruler there at Belmont and we were delighted with it. We always felt like he had a graded-stake with his name on it,” Weaver said. “I tried him six furlongs in his next spot, he broke bad and didn't run a [bit]. I ran him back too quick [in Florida] and he didn't run a [bit], but we freshened him up a little bit.

“The horse is doing great,” he added. “He had a great work and he's always run well at Laurel, so we're going to take another shot at it. He's run in the race before and run well, so it looks like a good opportunity for the horse and we're happy to be in it.”

Weaver feels Majestic Dunhill heads into the General George more prepared than he did the Mr. Prospector, whose winner, Sleepy Eyes Todd, would go on to run fourth to Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Knicks Go in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 23.

“Gulfstream's a funny track. If you don't get away a little bit it's really hard to make up ground unless you get some pace in front of you,” Weaver said. “The horse didn't break running [at Aqueduct]; he kind of got in a tangle and even after that didn't do much running. I brought him down here and ran him on short rest without breezing him and it was probably my fault. He really wasn't ready to fire big. I was running just to take a shot and it didn't work out, but now we've got our I's dotted and our T's crossed and we're ready to roll.”

In addition to the General George and Polynesian, both with jockey Feargal Lynch aboard, Majestic Dunhill won the City of Laurel Stakes in 2018 and was third in the 2017 Laurel Futurity on turf in previous trips to Maryland. Feargal Lynch, who returned Feb. 7 from a seven-month absence due to injury, will ride from Post 4 in a field of 10.

“He's been beat there but he won the stake late in his 3-year-old year, then came back and ran a huge second at big odds in the General George. Every time he's run there, he runs well,” Weaver said. “I don't know what it is about the track. That race, every year since he's run well, has been in the back of my mind. We didn't catch it last year. The horse was on a bit of a break, but this year we were able to make it and we're glad.”

Majestic Dunhill, a five-time winner with more than $375,000 in purse earnings from 23 starts, is listed at 10-1 on the morning line.

“I feel bad for him. I've been throwing him to the wolves, but he's been a hardy horse,” Weaver said. “He's 6 years old now and we've had him since he was a baby. He's just an old war horse. I used him as Vekoma's workmate. He's the only horse I had in my barn that could work heads-up with him. He's been useful to us in many ways. He's been a real fun racehorse to have, and we hope he can get it done.”

Randy Hill also shares an ownership stake with Gatsas Stables and Swick Stable in Funny Guy, the 9-5 program favorite for the General George. Based in New York with trainer John Terranova, the 5-year-old son of 2008 Preakness (G1) winner Big Brown is a five-time stakes winner against New York-breds who was second in the Vosburgh (G2) and fourth in the Forego (G1) last year and most recently second in the seven-furlong Say Florida Sandy Jan. 9 at Aqueduct. Sheldon Russell is named to ride from Post 2.

Breaking from the rail with regular rider Horacio Karamanos will be Hillside Equestrian Meadows' 8-year-old gelding Laki, rallying nose winner of the six-furlong Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) on the 2020 Preakness undercard. The De Francis was Laki's first graded attempt since finishing third in the 2019 General George, 1 ¼ lengths behind Majestic Dunhill.

Laki exits back-to-back fourth-place finishes, each going six furlongs, in the Dec. 26 Dave's Friend and Jan. 16 Fire Plug, the latter as the favorite after clipping heels early in the race and never able to find his stride. The second and third-place finishers, Share the Ride and Lebda, also return in the General George.

“Any kind of stumble or clipping heels or checking at that level is definitely going to compromise them, but he kind of fooled me going into that race. I just thought he was super sharp and he didn't kick,” trainer Damon Dilodovico said. “They're not machines. They all have bad days, but he hasn't had many.

“He's unbelievable, he is. He is a godsend, this guy,” he added. “He just does his work. He's easy in the barn.”

Laki has won at least one stakes every year since 2017 and owns six overall, four of them coming at Laurel, where he has a record of 8-7-3 from 21 starts. He is the richest horse in the field, with $715,662 in purse earnings.

“Hopefully he can make another good showing for himself. He definitely doesn't owe me anything,” Dilodovico said of the 9-2 morning line third choice. “Hopefully he can make some noise.”

Euro Stable's Lebda was third in the 2019 Iroquois (G3) and won Laurel's one-mile Miracle Wood and 1 1/16-mile Private Terms last winter before the coronavirus pandemic paused live racing in Maryland for 2 ½ months. He has gone winless in six starts since returning, including a fifth in the Dave's Friend and third in the Fire Plug after missing time with a minor injury.

“For me he ran really good last time. He's running with the older horses now. The last one was good,” winter meet-leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez said. “The time before he had a little problem and was off for a couple months and he needed a race, and the last time he showed a little more. I was very happy how he ran and how he is doing now.”

Lebda dueled for the early lead and forged a short advantage after a half-mile in the Fire Plug before being passed late and settling for third, beaten 2 ½ lengths. Alex Cintron, up for eight of his last nine races including both stakes wins, gets the return call from Post 3.

“The last race he was going easy and the outside horse pushed him and that's why he had to move soon. If he was able to keep going and nobody come from the outside I think we could have win the race,” Gonzalez said. “I believe six, seven furlongs are going to be good for him. I like it.”

Silvino Ramirez's Share the Ride ran third behind Firenze Fire and Funny Guy in the Vosburgh and second to Majestic Dunhill in the Bold Ruler before capturing a seven-furlong allowance at Parx and turning the tables in the Fall Highweight. The 6-year-old Candy Ride gelding will be making his third start this year, caught at the wire by Wendell Fong in the Fire Plug at Laurel and finishing third as the favorite in the seven-furlong Toboggan (G3) two weeks later at Aqueduct.

Three horses – Tattooed, Chilly in Charge and Fortunate Friends – enter the General George off wins. Holt, Montuori and Palumbo Racing Stable's Tattooed became a stakes winner for the first time by rallying from last to first and stick his neck out at the wire in the one-mile Jennings for Maryland-bred/sired horses Jan. 16 at Laurel.

William McCarty's Fortunate Friends will be racing first time off the claim for trainer Shaun Morrow, who took the 5-year-old gelding for $35,000 out of a Dec. 11 win at Laurel for Dilodovico. Newtown Anner Stud Farm's stakes winner Chilly in Charge, beaten a neck by Honest Mischief in the 2019 City of Laurel, won an optional claimer Jan. 4 at Parx going seven furlongs.

Raul DelValle's stakes winner Arthur's Hope, a seven-furlong allowance winner last July at Laurel, and Trin-Brook Stables, Inc.'s Informative, second in the 2019 James F. Lewis III and fourth in the 2020 Concern at Laurel, complete the field.

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