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Friday’s Stronach 5 Features Pair Of Turf Races, Four Tracks

A maiden special weight event at Santa Anita Park featuring the Baffert Stable's 3-year-old colt Fenway and two turf races from Gulfstream Park highlight this week's popular Stronach 5.

Friday's Stronach 5 will also feature races from Laurel Park and Golden Gate Fields along with an industry-low 12-percent takeout.

The opening leg of the Stronach 5 will begin at 3:55 ET with Laurel's eighth race, a 5 ½ furlong allowance event for 4-year-olds and up. Kingston Pike (4-1) enters off a three-length victory against claiming company while Josef Is Real (9-2) enters off a second-place finish against allowance company. Bourbon Street (6-1) goes first time off the claim for trainer Anthony Farrior.

Gulfstream's seventh race, a mile turf event for 3-year-old filly with a $35,000 claiming tag, serves as the second leg of the Stronach 5 and Celestial Cheetah is the 9-5 favorite. The daughter of Social Inclusion won her 3-year-old debut by 6 ¼ lengths after finishing sixth Dec. 5 in the Demoiselle (G2).

The third race at Santa Anita – the third leg of the Stronach 5 – is a mile maiden special weight event for 3-year-old colts. Trainer Bob Baffert will send out Fenway, a $650,000 son of Into Mischief who finished second Feb. 15. John Velazquez has been named to ride. Trainer Mike Puype has the 2-1 morning-line favorite in Harbored Memories, a homebred son of Harbor the Gold who comes off a pair of second-place finishes at Santa Anita. Flavien Prat has the call. Hronis Racing LLC's Star Sailor, a $275,000 son of Union Rags, enters the event for trainer John Sadler off a third-place finish, two lengths behind Fenway. Baffert will also send out Hudson Ridge, a son of American Pharoah who finished sixth in his debut Feb. 5.

The action moves to Golden Gate for its third race and the fourth leg of the sequence. The $8,000 maiden claiming event at 5 ½ furlongs has a 5-2 favorite in Mattawa N That. The gelded son of Eddington has finished second in his previous two starts for trainer Blaine Wright. Breaking from the rail is Flash of Gray, fifth in his debut Feb 13.

The Stronach 5 concludes with Gulfstream's ninth race, an allowance optional claimer at a mile on the turf. Witez will race for the first time since a fifth-place finish in the Mrs. Revere (G3) at Churchill Downs Nov. 14 and a fourth-place finish in the Valley View (G3) at Keeneland Oct. 16. Over the summer the 4-year-old daughter of More Than Ready finished third in the Lake George (G3) at Saratoga. Kissing Frogs is the race favorite. Trained by Bill Mott, the lightly-raced daughter of Cairo Prince is undefeated in her only two turf races.

Friday's races and sequence

Leg One – Laurel Park 8th Race: (13 entries, 5 ½ furlongs) 3:55 ET, 12:55 PT
Leg Two – Gulfstream Park 7th Race: (7 entries, 1-mile turf) 4:12 ET, 1:12 PT
Leg Three –Santa Anita Park 3rd Race: (8 entries, 1 mile) 4:35 ET, 1:35 PT
Leg Four –Golden Gate Fields 3rd Race: (8 entries, 5 ½ furlongs) 4:53 ET, 1:53 PT
Leg Five –Gulfstream Park 9th Race: (10 entries, 1-mile turf) 5:16 ET, 2:16 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.

The post Friday’s Stronach 5 Features Pair Of Turf Races, Four Tracks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Laurel’s Spring Meet Features Seven Stakes Worth $750,000

Laurel Park will offer seven stakes worth $750,000 in purses, including automatic qualifiers for the Preakness Stakes (G1) and Black-Eyed Susan (G2), Saturday, April 17 as part of its upcoming spring meet.

The 19-day spring meet opens Thursday, April 1 and runs through Sunday, May 2, serving as a bridge between Laurel's ongoing winter meet, which began Jan. 1, and the Preakness Meet at historic Pimlico Race Course.

Racing will be conducted Thursday through Sunday during the spring meet, with the exception of Easter Sunday, April 4. Post time will be 12:40 p.m. with a special 12:15 p.m. post on Kentucky Derby day, Saturday, May 1.

Co-headlining the stakes program are the $125,000 Federico Tesio for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles and the $125,000 Weber City Miss for 3-year-old fillies at about 1 1/16 miles. The Tesio serves as a 'Win and In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, the 146th Preakness May 15, and the Weber City Miss is a 'Win and In' event for the 97th Black-Eyed Susan May 14.

Last year's Tesio winner, Wertheimer and Frere's homebred Happy Saver, went on to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) against older horses in his subsequent start to complete a perfect 4-0 sophomore campaign.

Sprinters 3 and up will go six furlongs in the $100,000 Primonetta for females and seven furlongs in the $100,000 Frank Y. Whiteley. Laurel's world-class turf course is scheduled to host its first stakes of the season – the $100,000 Dahlia for fillies and mares 3 and older and $100,000 Henry S. Clark for 3-year-olds and up, both going one mile, and the $100,000 King T. Leatherbury for 3-year-olds and up sprinting five furlongs.

Live racing returns to Laurel Park with an eight-race program Friday, March 5. The winter meet runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Sunday, March 28.

The post Laurel’s Spring Meet Features Seven Stakes Worth $750,000 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Updated: ‘Integrity Issue’ Behind 30-Day Suspension Of Eclipse Award-Winning Apprentice

Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey Alexander Crispin has been suspended for 30 days and fined $1,000 for carrying the wrong weight during a race at Laurel Park in Maryland, the Daily Racing Form reported Tuesday.

On Wednesday, DRF reported the circumstances surrounding the ruling. Maryland stewards had heard rumors about Crispin allegedly riding under weight.

The race in question is the ninth on Jan. 16, 2021, in which Alpha Queue finished third. The horse, trained by Lacey Gaudet, was disqualified, and the Equibase chart notes that it “carried wrong weight.” Crispin's listed weight in the chart, presumably the weight at which he was supposed to ride Alpha Queue, was 115 pounds.

Video evidence showed that Crispin weighed in at 115 before the race, but 110 afterward.

According to the condition book, Crispin can ride at as low as 108 pounds.

Maryland rules require disqualification if the jockey rides at least one pound below listed weight, while overweights may be penalized with warnings.

“We felt, as a group, that it was an integrity issue, and it needed to be addressed,” chief state steward Adam Campola told drf.com. “We wanted to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.”

Two stewards outside of Maryland, commenting without specific knowledge of Crispin's case, told the Daily Racing Form that the fine and suspension suggest Crispin may have deliberately falsified his weight, or knew that he was not riding under the assigned weight.

Judge’s Ruling Condemns Maryland Commission’s Hearing Procedures

Howard County Circuit Court Senior Judge Lenore Gelfman released a ruling on Feb. 9 that condemned the Maryland Racing Commission's hearing procedures over a lack of due process, the right to a fair and impartial hearing, reports The Racing Biz.

The case before Judge Gelfman was that of the Jan. 18, 2020 Geisha Stakes at Laurel, in which the winner, Artful Splatter, veered out into the path of the oncoming Anna's Bandit, who finished second. Stewards ruled no change in the order of finish, and Jerry Robb, trainer and co-owner of Anna's Bandit, appealed that decision with the MRC.

A hearing was held on Feb. 27, 2020, in which the commission upheld the stewards' decision. Robb's attorney, Lorraine Lawrence-Whittaker, filed an appeal with the circuit court alleging that the MRC hearing was flawed.

Judge Gelfman concluded that “the hearing before the MRC did not adequately protect Petitioner against the deprivation of one of his most essential and foundational rights,” that of due process.

Both the petitioner and the stewards are represented by counsel in these hearings, as is the Maryland Racing Commission. However, Judge Gelfman found issue with the fact that the MRC's counsel, Eric London, has also been presiding over the hearings.

“This court notes that Counsel for the MRC interjected himself repeatedly, leading to the conclusion that he, not the MRC, was the decision-maker,” Judge Gelfman wrote. “Counsel's participation and manner in the hearing deprived Petitioner of due process,” she said.

As for Robb's case, that has been remanded to the MRC for a new hearing.

The Racing Biz reports that the first hearing since the court's ruling was held on Feb. 25, and MRC chairman Emmet Davitt presided.