Laurel Cancels Friday Card After Third Race; Stronach 5 Also Cancelled

Due to deteriorating weather conditions, Laurel Park was forced to cancel the remainder of its live program Friday following the third race.

Winter storm Landon brought steady rain through the Mid-Atlantic region overnight and throughout the day Friday.

Laurel's first three races were contested over a sloppy and sealed main track.

Friday's national weekly Stronach 5 wager, which was to kick off with Laurel's eighth-race finale followed by races from Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita and Golden Gate, was also canceled. It will return next Friday, Feb. 11.

Laurel is set to host a nine-race live program Saturday. Post time is 12:25 p.m.

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Six Stakes Worth $550,000 Comprise Laurel’s 10-Race Card On Saturday

Grade 3 winner Hibiscus Punch, multiple stakes winners Wondrwherecraigis and Cordmaker, and promising 3-year-old H P Moon are among the horses to watch on Laurel Park's stakes-filled Saturday program.

Six stakes worth $550,000 in purses help comprise Laurel's 10-race card, which begins at 12:10 p.m.

Stakes action begins in Race 3, the $75,000 Jennings for Maryland-bred/sired horses, where Hillwood Stable's Cordmaker chases his 13th career win, ninth in a stakes and third in row. Maryland-bred/sired females follow in Race 4, the $75,000 Geisha featuring Mike Trombetta-trained stablemates Kiss the Girl and Lookin Dynamic.

K E M Racing Stable and Five Hellions Farm's H P Moon will make just his second career start and first since an eye-opening debut triumph last August at Pimlico in Race 6, the $100,000 Spectacular Bid. The seven-furlong Spectacular Bid is Maryland's first stakes race of the season for 3-year-olds. Stakes winners Buff My Boots and Luna Belle headline the $100,000 Xtra Heat for 3-year-old fillies in Race 7.

Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson's homebred Hibiscus Punch ends an 8 ½ month break between starts in Race 8, the $100,000 What a Summer, just her second race since pulling a 41-1 upset in the 2021 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) last February at Laurel. Among the competition are stakes winners Princess Kokachin, Prodigy Doll, Kaylasaurus and Don't Call Me Mary.

Race 9 is the $100,000 Fire Plug featuring Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group, Madaket Stables and Bethlehem Stables' Wondrwherecraigis, last out winner of the Bold Ruler (G3) Oct. 31 at Belmont Park, the first career graded-stakes win for trainer Brittany Russell. Maryland-bred multiple stakes winner Jaxon Traveler, 2-0 lifetime at Laurel, is also entered.

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Stronach 5: Two Winning Tickets Each Pay $49,623

There were two winning tickets in Friday's Stronach 5, each worth $49,623.90.

The Stronach 5 featured races from Laurel Park, Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park and Golden Gate Fields and a low 12 percent takeout.

The Stronach 5 began with the ninth and 10th races from Laurel Park, and both races were wide open and produced nice returns. Joe Mike Jim, trained by leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez, returned $17.20 in the ninth race and Edict, trained by Edward Allard, returned $9.80 for winning Race 10.

Santa Anita's third race was up next and Lookin At Sweetie drove to the lead down the stretch to win at odds of 3-1 for trainer Richard Baltas and jockey Diego Herrera. Gulfstream's ninth race, contested over a mile and 70 yard Tapeta course, was won by Fish Mooney at odds of 6-1 for trainer Mark Casse and jockey Emisael Jaramillo. The Stronach 5 concluded with Golden Gate's third race and the 14-1 shot Perfect Edition

Friday's races and sequence

Leg 1 –Laurel Race 9: Joe Mike Jim $17.20
Leg 2 –Laurel Race 10: Edict $9.80
Leg 3 – Santa Anita Race 3: Lookin At Sweetie $8.20
Leg 4 – Gulfstream Race 9: Fish Mooney $15.00
Leg 5 –Golden Gate Race 3: Perfect Edition $30.40

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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Stakes Winning Colt Named For President Biden Entered In Two-Turn Allowance At Laurel

When The Elkstone Group homebred Joe captured the Maryland Juvenile Dec. 18 at Laurel Park, it provided founder Stuart Grant with an ideal Christmas gift to bestow the colt's namesake, a longtime family friend who also calls Delaware home.

“I don't know where it's displayed, but I know the President has a win photo from [Joe's] stakes win,” Grant said. “The Biden family and us have been close for 30 years. I'm hoping it's in the White House, but I don't know for sure.”

Joe, based at Laurel with trainer Mike Trombetta, is entered to make his sophomore debut in Sunday's fourth race, an optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up going around two turns at about 1 1/16 miles. Regular rider Victor Carrasco gets the call from the rail in a field of six.

“He's doing great. We are bringing him along slowly. We'll look for the best spot for him,” Grant said. “Especially in a six-horse field, I don't really care where he is. If it was 12 horses, I might not want the inside or the outside, but he's a good horse.”

Joe is also nominated to the first stakes in Maryland for 3-year-olds, the $100,000 Spectacular Bid, sprinting seven furlongs. Originally scheduled for Jan. 22, it is one of six stakes worth $550,000 in purses that was pushed back to Saturday, Jan. 29 at Laurel.

“With him being a Maryland-bred, there's not much difference in the purse money to us than the stakes. Right now we may wind up being in the allowance and we'll just see what happens,” Grant said. “Assuming the track is good and everything's in good shape, I don't know why we wouldn't run him there. There are plenty of stakes. He's a young horse, and we want to build his confidence. We think he can do really good things. We're taking it easy with him.”

By Declaration of War out of the Arch mare Battle Bridge, Joe is a half-brother to Grade 3-placed turf router Irony of Reality who was unveiled in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight turf sprint Oct. 24 at Laurel, where he got bumped at the break and wound up fifth in a field of nine. Moved to the dirt and stretched out to a mile for his next start, Joe sat just off the lead before taking over after six furlongs and drawing clear to a 3 ¼-length triumph Nov. 21.

“We liked him. Donna Freyer down at the Camden Training Center breaks them for me and she always liked him,” Grant said. “He didn't get up to Mike that quickly. It took him a little bit longer to develop. We don't push horses unnecessarily, and when Mike got him he was really happy with him. He's the one who said [he'd] like try him first on turf while we still have turf. We ran on that once and we brought him back to the dirt. Mike's done a good job.”

Next up was the seven-furlong Maryland Juvenile, where Joe found himself trailing all but two of 12 horses in the early going before uncorking a steady rally on the far outside to gain the lead in mid-stretch and win by 1 ½ lengths in his stakes debut.

“It's tempting after a stakes win like that to say, 'OK, go put him on the [Kentucky] Derby trail.' I'm not sure that's the best thing for this horse, so we're going to continue to bring him along slowly,” he added. “We're going to target the right spots. We'll move from this month's race to presumably a stakes race. If he wins the allowance, he won't have a lot of choices. We'll put him in some overnight stakes and see how he does with that kind of company. It's a long summer with a nice 3-year-old. We'll find some good places for him.”

Joe is actually the second horse Grant named for Biden. He also bred V P Joe, a son of Sky Mesa that won three of 21 starts between 2009 and 2012.

“This one, I tried to name Ridin With Biden but someone took it,” Grant said. “I said, 'We'll just go with what we call him,' and lo and behold it was available.”

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