Threes Over Deuces, Kaylasaurus Score MATCH Victories At Laurel

Pocket 3's Racing's Threes Over Deuces, narrowly beaten in his previous two starts, came out on the winning end of another close finish by surging between horses approaching the wire and getting his head down first to capture Sunday's $100,000 Dave's Friend 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 and up, both sprinting six furlongs, were among six $100,000 stakes on a nine-race Christmastide Day program.

Both races served as the finale in their respective divisions for the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series.

Threes Over Deuces ($26.60) earned his second career stakes win and first since being promoted to victory over Whereshetoldmetogo in last fall's New Castle at Delaware Park. The 6-year-old Flat Out gelding, second in the 2020 General George (G3) at Laurel, had gone winless through seven 2021 starts, beaten a neck while third to Whereshetoldmetogo in a New Castle rematch and second by head to Battle Station in a Nov. 14 optional claimer at Laurel.

“It was nice to turn the tables once on Whereshetoldmetogo. Hopefully it's the start of The Deuce getting back to [being] The Deuce,” Jon Madden, principal owner Pocket 3's Racing, said. “He's always fighting. He started the year slow and then started to get right. The last two races we sent him but with the new track we held him back, and it worked out.”

Threes Over Deuces settled off a 22.94-second opening quarter mile run by Newbomb, who maintained a short advantage after a half in 46.26 as a field that included multiple stakes winner Whereshetoldmetogo, Maryland Million Sprint winners Air Token and Karan's Notion and 14-time career winner Penguin Power began to close in.

Jockey Victor Rosales swung Threes Over Deuces out wide leaving the far turn and set him down for a drive to the wire, where they were able to edge past a stubborn Penguin Power and hold off a late bid on the far outside from Nov. 26 Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial runner-up Youngest of Five, who wound up a nose behind Penguin Power. It was a length back to Air Token in fourth, with 3-2 favorite Whereshetoldmetogo checking in fifth. Grade 3 winner Laki was scratched.

The winning time was 1:10.94 over a fast main track.

“It was the plan to take him back today,” Rosales said. “In the early races the speed wasn't holding on, so we tried to take him from behind this time.”

Kaylasaurus made a last-to-first rally to win the Willa On the Move

Late Surge Powers Kaylasaurus in $100,000 Willa On the Move
Bush Racing Stable and Liberty House Racing's Kaylasaurus, trailing by as many as nine lengths at one point, completed a last-to-first move with an eye-catching rally through the stretch to surge past Princess Kokachin and win the $100,000 Willa On the Move.

It was the first career stakes win for Kaylasaurus ($13), a 5-year-old daughter of multiple Grade 2-winning sprinter Munnings racing first time off the claim for Penn National-based trainer Tim Kreiser. The winning time was 1:11.74 over a fast main track.

“She always makes that big move down the stretch, and Maryland's known for the quarter pole home is where you make your money,” Kreiser said, “so, we thought this would be the best spot to run her.”

Princess Kokachin, who extended her win streak to five with a front-running triumph over eight-time stakes winner Hello Beautiful in the Nov. 26 Politely at Laurel, broke running and held the advantage again over Hello Beautiful after going the opening quarter-mile in 22.30 seconds and the half in 45.77.

Jockey Xavier Perez and Princess Kokachin were still going easy on the turn as Hello Beautiful, favored at 4-5, was passed to her inside by 25-1 long shot Paisley Singing. Princess Kokachin was comfortably in front and going strong in mid-stretch but was no match for the devastating late run on the far outside from Kaylasaurus.

“We saw the pace was there,” Kreiser said. “[Hello Beautiful] was struggling trying to keep up with [Princess Kokachin], so I was feeling good about the three-eighths pole.”

Kaylasaurus won by 2 ¼ lengths over Princess Kokachin, with Paisley Singing another two lengths back in third. Dontletsweetfoolya and Hello Beautiful completed the order of finish. The winner was claimed for $25,000 out of a 3 ¼-length win going six furlongs Nov. 30 at Penn National and was making her third career stakes try. She finished 10th in the 2018 Gin Talking at Laurel and fourth in the Aug. 23 Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial at Parx.

“The race was good for my filly,” winning jockey Horacio Karamanos said. “The speed was going and she's got a beautiful finish, so I just sit in behind. They were going fast and I tried to be close but not rush her and when she started to move in the middle of the turn, I go little wide to look for the best spot and she give me a beautiful kick at the end. The last sixteenth of a mile, she was just galloping.”

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Championship On The Line Sunday As MATCH Series Concludes At Laurel Park

The overall 2021 Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships (MATCH) Series title will hinge on the performances of a pair of Maryland-bred runners Dec. 26 at Laurel Park, which will host the final round of four $100,000 divisional stakes.

Though the winners of three of the four divisions already have been determined, the top spot is up for grabs. Hillwood Stable's Cordmaker currently leads the overall standings with 36 points, followed by Hello Beautiful—owned by Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables—with 27 points.

Cordmaker, a 6-year-old Curlin gelding trained by Rodney Jenkins, has started in all five legs of the 3-Year-Olds and Up Long—Dirt division and has two victories, one at Colonial Downs and the other at Laurel, where he has won eight times in his career. A sixth series start in the 1 1/8-mile Robert T. Manfuso Stakes will earn him another 3 bonus points to go along with points earned by finish position. The maximum number of points Cordmaker can end the series with is 49, with a minimum of 40.

Hello Beautiful, a 4-year-old Golden Lad trained by Brittany Russell, also has two series victories, one at Pimlico Race Course and the other at Laurel, where she has won nine races in her career. Hello Beautiful will pick up 5 bonus points for her fourth series start in the six-furlong Willa On the Move Stakes in the Filly and Mare Sprint—Dirt division. With a victory, her maximum number of points would be 42, with a minimum 33.

MATCH Series participants in each stakes collect 10 points for a win, 7 for second, 5 for third, 3 for fourth, 2 for fifth and 1 for sixth through last. Bonus points are awarded as follows: 5 for a fourth start in the same division, 2 for a fifth and 3 for a sixth start.

MATCH Series division bonus money is awarded to the owner and trainer of the top horses by points as follows: $20,000/$10,000 for first, $15,000/$7,500 for second, and $7,500/$3,000 for third. In addition, the owner and trainer of the overall points-earner regardless of division will receive $20,000 and $10,000, respectively. A horse must start at least three times in one division to qualify for bonus money.

In addition, bonuses will be distributed to the breeder of the top overall point-earning Maryland-bred horse and Maryland-sired horse in the series as follows—$3,000 for Maryland-bred and $3,000 for Maryland-sired.

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MATCH: Cordmaker Can Honor Breeder In Robert T. Manfuso; Belle Of The North Goes For Two Straight In Carousel

Hillwood Stable's multiple stakes winner Cordmaker, still going strong at the age of 6, looks to close out a solid campaign by stringing together back-to-back wins for the first time in more than two years in the $100,000 Robert T. Manfuso Dec. 26 at Laurel Park.

The inaugural Manfuso for 3-year-olds and up going about 1 1/16 miles and the return of the 1 1/8-mile Carousel for fillies and mares 3 and up, which carried Grade 3 status from 1988 through 1997 and was last run in 2002 at Laurel, are among six $100,000 stakes on a nine-race Christmastide Day program.

In addition to the Manfuso and Carousel, the Dave's Friend for 3-year-olds and up and Willa On the Move for fillies and mares 3 and older, both sprinting six furlongs, close out the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series in their respective divisions.

First race post time is 12:25 p.m.

A gelded son of two-time Horse of the Year and 2014 Hall of Famer Curlin, Cordmaker has already clinched the MATCH Series older male long dirt division title. He leads 4-year-old filly Hello Beautiful – entered in the Willa On the Move – by nine points, 36-27, for the overall title.

Cordmaker was bred in Maryland by Manfuso and his life partner, trainer Katy Voss. A longtime owner and breeder and former owner of both Laurel and historic Pimlico Race Course who was instrumental in revitalizing Maryland racing, Manfuso passed away in March 2020.

“To win that would be really nice for the horse and the owner, Mrs. [Ellen] Charles,” trainer Rodney Jenkins said. “We've both seen quite a lot.”

Cordmaker has finished third or better 22 times in 33 career starts including 11 wins and $734,640 in purse earnings. He is 16-for-25 in the money at Laurel, his home track, picking up his eighth and most recent victory in the 1 1/8-mile Richard W. Small Nov. 27. He sat off the pace in third, took the lead at the top of the stretch and went on to a 1 ¾-length score.

The effort helped ease the sting of his prior start, when he finished second by a length to Captain Bombastic in the Sept. 18 Polynesian but was disqualified to sixth for interference after drifting out in the stretch. Before that, he won the 1 1/16-mile Victory Gallop Aug. 23 at Colonial Downs.

“I was happy with the last race. He ran well and he did what he had to do,” Jenkins said. “It was nice to see him come back and overcome the things that had happened to him. He had a rough go there for about a month. It didn't discourage him, I don't think.”

Cordmaker owns seven career stakes wins, five of them coming at Laurel. He has also placed in eight other stakes, running third in successive editions of the historic Pimlico Special (G3) in 2019 and 2020.

“He's sound and doing good,” Jenkins said. “I feel real good about him. I think he'll run good. He's been doing well.”

Jenkins gave Cordmaker one breeze between the Small and Manfuso, a five-furlong move Dec. 18 at Laurel that went in 1:01.60, seventh-fastest of 36 horses. He will break from the rail in a field of nine under regular rider Victor Carrasco.

“We don't do a lot with him. We gallop him if he needs it. If he gets too fresh we gallop him. I walk him some days, jog him some days. It just depends on what mood he's in, and he's stayed – knock on wood – real sound,” Jenkins said.

“I rest him when I see there's a big period before a race that we really want to go in. I'll just walk him and turn him out and stuff like that,” he added. “He's not a horse that's been really drilled through his career. He seems like he's got a lot of racing left.”

The only horse to rival Cordmaker's on-track success is Runnymoore Racing's 5-year-old gelding Alwaysmining, a 10-time winner from 32 lifetime starts with seven stakes victories. Most of his success came at 2 and 3, though he did capture the Jennings and John B. Campbell to open 2020. He has gone 1-for-14 since, finishing sixth last time out in the Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial Nov. 26 at Laurel.

Mohan Stable, Inc.'s Bobby G, 7, has earned 14 of his 16 lifetime victories in 47 starts at Laurel, with most of his success coming in starter races. He has run in four career stakes, finishing second in the 2020 Claiming Crown Iron Horse at Gulfstream Park and third in the 2019 Small at Laurel.

McCarty Racing's Doubleoseven will return to dirt in the Manfuso after finishing off the board in successive turf stakes, running fourth in the July 3 Kent (G3) at Delaware Park and eighth in the Aug. 31 Virginia Derby (G3) at Colonial, his most recent effort.

“It was just a planned break for him. He's not a real tall horse but he's kind of long and lean so we gave him a little time to let him grow. The owner is very good, very patient,” trainer Jerry O'Dwyer said. “I was hoping to run him in a two-other-than a couple of weeks ago as a prep and come back for the stake, but things didn't work out that way. We've just been sitting on him.

“We gave him a couple tries on turf. He ran well in the Kent Stakes so we said we'd give him another go. There wasn't a lot of options for him at the time for a 3-year-old stakes,” he added. “It didn't go as planned but he's equally effective on the dirt.”

Doubleoseven has had a steady string of works at Laurel since Oct. 31 for his comeback, which would mark just the second time the 3-year-old faced older horses. He won his only other try in a restricted 1 1/16-mile allowance May 29 over a sloppy Pimlico main track.

“He's doing very well,” O'Dwyer said. “We just gave him an easy breeze here [the other day]; he went in 1:01 and change. I didn't even breeze him the week before. I just left him alone because he's fairly fit and tied on. He's a light-framed horse so I don't want to overcook the goose.”

Stakes winners Everett's Song, who had a three-race win streak snapped when fifth as the favorite in the Nov. 27 City of Laurel, and Shackqueenking; Small runner-up Workin On a Dream; McElmore Avenue and Plot the Dots are also entered.

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Stronach Stable, Inc.'s Belle of the North, a homebred daughter of Street Boss that became a stakes winner in her previous start, will attempt to make it two in a row in the $100,000 Carousel Dec. 26 at Laurel Park.

The Carousel will be just the seventh start for Belle of the North, trained by Jose Corrales. She drew Post 4 in a field of eight and, as the lone 3-year-old filly in the field, will carry low weight of 119 pounds including jockey Horacio Karamanos.

“The filly is doing very well. She's doing very well,” Corrales said. “She's training good after the race, and she's a horse that has been an improving horse. I think we're going in the right direction.”

Belle of the North was making her stakes debut when she made a last-to-first move to capture the seven-furlong Safely Kept by a half-length over Fraudulent Charge Nov. 27 at Laurel. Runner-up in four stakes, Fraudulent Charge came back a popular 5 ¾-length allowance winner Dec. 18.

“I think she was in the right spot last time. I don't think I wouldn't have wanted her any closer. I think she was perfect where she was,” Corrales said. “As a matter of fact, I think she was probably closer than where I expected her to be. But she broke better this time, because she's slow out of the gate.”

Belle of the North has encountered early trouble in half of her races, part of the reason she didn't graduate until a Sept. 24 maiden special weight triumph at Laurel after going unraced at 2.

“She's improving every time. I think with this filly just the time will help her to mature and she will be even better,” Corrales said. “Now we're stretching her out going a mile and an eighth and I think that's' going to help her. I've been teaching her to go longer, to open up her air so that she has enough air to finish.”

Miss Leslie, Lookin Dynamic, Villanelle and Artful Splatter, the first four finishers from the Nov. 13 Thirty Eight Go Go at Laurel, will line up again in the Carousel along with Scatrattleandroll, who ran sixth. The top quartet was separated by only 2 ½ lengths, with favored Miss Leslie making a five-wide move to win by half a length, her second straight victory for fall meet-leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez.

Jeff Drown's Smooth With a Kick is entered to make her first start since Jan. 17, when the 5-year-old Candy Ride mare ran last of six in the Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct. A $270,000 yearling that sold for $650,000 as a 2-year-old in training, she put together a 3-3-3 record with $221,005 in purse earnings from 14 starts for previous trainer Chad Brown.

“This probably isn't the ideal starting point. She's a nice mare. She's done some good racing. The goal is to get her on the board in a stake but the mile and an eighth [is tough]. I wish I could have had her ready sooner,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “I would have liked to have gotten a run into her, per se, but it just hasn't worked out. She's training great, though. I think she's honest and I think she'll run well.”

Smooth With a Kick made her stakes debut at Laurel in the 2020 Twixt, finishing third as the favorite to Wicked Awesome, beaten 7 ½ lengths, after being bumped at the break. She followed that effort by winning an optional claiming allowance at Keeneland, then was fifth in the Falls City (G2) prior to her latest start.

“She was training down in Florida. Niall Brennan had her. I think they were planning on breeding her and she ended up getting some time off and they thought, 'Well, there's nothing wrong with her, let's put her back in training,'” Russell said. “It just took them probably a little bit longer to get her to the racetrack than they wanted. She's been in training for quite some time even though she's only been with me for eight weeks. She has plenty of works under her belt coming in. It's just the nature of the distance and the caliber of horse she'll be running against.”

Smooth With a Kick had the first timed breeze of her comeback Sept. 4 at Brennan's Ocala, Fla. farm, and has had eight works since Oct. 24 for Russell, six at Laurel and two at historic Pimlico Race Course.

“She's very classy. She does exactly what you ask in the morning,” Russell said. “Her work tab might not be flashy, looking at the times, but she's put up some good works beside some horses in the morning and she keeps going. She has really nice gallop-outs. She seems like there's quality to her and she's very straightforward. I'm hoping that kind of translates to the afternoon.”

Jevian Toledo has the call on Smooth With a Kick from the rail.

Rounding out the field is Three Diamonds Farm's Kiss the Girl, the Mike Trombetta-trained stablemate of Lookin Dynamic and Villanelle. Kiss the Girl was second in the 2019 Schuylerville (G3) at Saratoga, won the March 13 Conniver at Laurel and Aug. 21 All Brandy at Pimlico, and most recently scored a 4 ¾-length optional claiming allowance triumph Nov. 7 at the same course and distance.

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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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