Gift of Gab gives Stettinius her first stakes win
Jockey Jasmine McGuin notches first career victory
LAUREL, MD—Alogon received a lovely, pace-tracking, ground-saving ride from jockey Forest Boyce, slipped through the inside in the stretch, and gamely passed favored pacesetter Victory Achieved to win Saturday’s $100,000 Laurel Dash for 3-year-olds and up.
The Laurel Dash and the $100,000 Sensible Lady Turf Dash for fillies and mares were both run at six furlongs on the Fort Marcy Turf Course and served as the featured races on a special “First Responders Day” at Laurel Park. A ceremony honoring firefighters, police officers, EMS workers, and all first responders took place in the Laurel Park winner’s circle.
Earlier this week, trainer Ned Allard expressed confidence that Alogon would bounce back from his seventh-place finish in last month’s Van Clief Stakes at Colonial Downs.
“His first start this year [fourth in Monmouth’s Get Serious Stakes on June 21], he stumbled badly and almost lost the rider,” Allard said. “Then he got back in gear. He hadn’t run in eight months. I think he might have even needed one. He needed a perfect trip, but he didn’t get it.”
Allard also felt that Alogon didn’t get the best trip in the Van Clief, but Boyce needed only a little more than a minute to rectify the situation.
Alogon rode the pocket directly behind Victory Achieved through a moderate opening quarter in 24.24 seconds, then summoned his class to prevail by three-quarters of a length in 1:09.09 on good going.
“The horse broke great today,” Boyce said. “That day at Monmouth, he fell on his face and kind of blew the whole thing. Today, he broke sharp and was right there. We had the perfect trip. I was a little worried about having to drive him up inside [Victory Achieved]. You don’t ever really want to do that, but there was nowhere else to go. He hesitated for a second, but then he went in there.”
Victory Achieved tried hard but was second best, three-quarters of a length ahead of Senbei. Witty, Card Trick, Isivunguvungu, and Bold Diversion followed.
Alogon returned $14.60 as the fifth choice.
Ned Allard has trained several generations of Alogon’s family. In fact, Allard saddled Shananie, the sire of Alogon’s third dam, to win the Grade 3 Sport Page Handicap at Aqueduct in 1985.
“They can all run,” Allard said when asked whether the family shared any genetic traits.
Allard has won more than 2,800 races in his career, and Boyce has nothing but praise for the affable 80-year-old.
“I love him,” said Boyce. “It’s like riding for [the late] Dickie [Small]. He, Dickie, and Shug [McGaughey] are all such great horsemen.”
Alogon, a 7-year-old homebred son of Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner California Chrome, is owned by Charles Matses. He made his first two starts for trainer Dan Peitz before being sent to Allard.
Starting with a $25,000 maiden claiming win at Meadowlands in 2022, Allard’s Alogon has secured eight wins in 27 starts, including the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint at Aqueduct last fall. The gelding has earned $699,999.
Allard is considering another run in the Belmont Turf Sprint, which is being held this year at the new Belmont Park on September 27.
“It’s a little bit quick back, but he’s only had three starts this year,” Allard said. “He’s a very fresh horse. It’s funny. Every year, it’s almost as if he comes alive [in the fall].”
*Gift of Gab gives Stettinius her first stakes win
Gift of Gab’s late-running victory in the $100,000 Sensible Lady Turf Dash for fillies and mares at six furlongs on the Fort Marcy Turf Course marked the start of a series of firsts.
It was the mare’s first stakes win after 33 previous starts.
Trainer Suzanne Stettinius achieved her first stakes win.
It was the first two-win day of Stettinius’ career, following Brewmaster’s last-to-first victory in the opening race of the Saturday program.
“I was hoping for a top-three finish,” Stettinius said about Gift of Gab. “When she came out wide and started flying past them, I can’t even explain that feeling.”
Stettinius, 38, represented the United States in the modern pentathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Seven years later, she began her training career, and her barn has steadily grown in prominence.
With career highs in wins and earnings, Stettinius is enjoying her best year to date. She excels with turf horses and has guided Gift of Gab from a $12,500 claiming win in the mare’s final start of 2025 to the Sensible Lady Turf Dash winner’s trophy.
Gift of Gab warmed up vigorously under jockey Jorge Ruiz and settled back to last along the inside as Le Amazonia set a pressured pace with long shot Come to Mama. The 23.06 opening quarter wasn’t blazing, but Ruiz seemed very comfortable in his position, and Gift of Gab traveled sweetly into the long stretch.
Ruiz angled Gift of Gab to the outside for a clear seam at the midway point of the long stretch, then stormed home to win by three-quarters of a length over Somnium. Come to Mama stayed on well for third, half a length behind the runner-up. Les Reys, Le Amazonia, Secure’s Hope, favored Gerrards Cross, and Minty completed the order of finish.
“I think she’s really turning into a late-closing sprinter,” Stettinius stated. “[I was worried] that she was too far back and that these horses were too good for her to run them down. [Ruiz] looked like he had so much confidence in her around the turn, and he was sitting and sitting. She swung out and ran. It was really cool.”
Gift of Gab, the sixth choice, paid $24.40 to win.
“It looked like there was a lot of speed in the race,” said Ruiz, who rode two winners on the card. “Passing the quarter pole, I knew I had the horse. By the eighth pole, she responded quickly.”
Foaled in Maryland, 7-year-old Gift of Gab, owned by Richard Blue Jr. and Ann Merryman, is a homebred by Fast Anna out of World Gone Wrong. She made her first 11 starts for trainer Michael Merryman before being transferred to Stettinius in 2024.
Since then, Gift of Gab has been a racing secretary’s dream, running in races from claiming events to stakes and hitting the board in both the 2025 The Very One Stakes at Pimlico and the 2026 Jameela Stakes at Laurel. She prepared for the Sensible Lady Turf Dash with a one-length victory in a starter allowance at Colonial on August 16.
“She’s such a good-trying mare,” Stettinius said. “I’ve actually ridden her since she was two, when Michael trained her. It’s nice to have known her for so long because I know when she’s ready to run.”
Gift of Gab has captured 10 of 34 starts and has earned $373,520.
*Jockey Jasmine McGuin notches first career victory
Apprentice jockey Jasmine McGuin earned her first victory, guiding Pediatrician to win Saturday’s second race at Laurel Park, a $7,500 claiming race for 3-year-olds and upward who have never won two races.
The victory came in McGuin’s 23rd start.
“I’ve been riding horses since I was about 14,” an emotional McGuin said after posing for her first winner’s circle photo. “I’m 25. I grew up in Maryland, born and raised in Bowie. I’m a Maryland-bred. I’ve always loved horses. This is quite something for me because I won my first race at home, where I’m always working. I work here every morning.”
Pediatrician broke out slightly from the far outside post in the five-horse field, then advanced to press the pace while three wide.
Pediatrician took the lead into the stretch and drew clear to prevail by 8 ¼ lengths. The 4-year-old colt by Uncle Mo, out of Grade 3-placed Corderosa by Aldebaran, completed six furlongs in 1:11.68 on the good main track.
“Fantastic,” McGuin said when asked about her feelings. “I’ve been dying to get my first win, and I knew it was going to be on this horse. I don’t know why I kept saying it, but over the last few weeks, as I’ve been galloping him, it was ‘this one, this one, this one is going to be the one that wins it for me.’”
McGuin and Pediatrician are no strangers to one another. “He’s a fun horse to ride, and I ride him every morning,” she said. “I don’t really take him out of the gate very often, so it was a first for me. Coming out and straightening him up was pretty easy. Just getting him onto the lead was all he really needed.”
Pediatrician is trained by Marco Salazar. “He believes in me wholeheartedly,” McGuin said. “I get on all his horses in the morning, and I’ve got a couple more mounts for him tomorrow.”
When asked about some of the challenges she’s faced on her journey, McGuin replied, “Being a girl. Everybody misjudging you because you’re small and don’t have the arms of a man. That’s what it is.”
How does McGuin plan to address future challenges?
“Keep pushing, keep riding like that, and don’t give up.”
*Around the track:
Boyce also won the third race aboard juvenile filly Blo Your Mind ($9.20), who made her debut for trainer Tim Keefe.
Trainer John Salzman Jr. and jockey Joe Rocco Jr. teamed up for two pacesetting wins on Saturday. Majestic Blue ($11.20) wired the field in the fifth race, and Rerun Table ($2.20) ran them off their feet in the seventh.
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