Competitive field in Saturday’s $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes
LAUREL, MD—Dazzling Move, a two-time winner at Laurel Park, returns to Maryland for Saturday’s $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares.
The Thirty Eight Go Go is the highlight of the 10-race program. The first post time is 12 pm ET, and two “Value Pick 5” wagers feature a low 12% takeout.
Dazzling Move had an excellent 2025 campaign, winning the Grade 3 Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream and earning three other graded placings, including a third in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Saratoga.
The Not This Time mare, owned by Dream Big Racing, returned to the winner’s circle this summer at Horseshoe Indianapolis, grinding out a victory in a high-level allowance race on September 3.
After moving to trainer Carlos David’s barn following the retirement of David’s cousin John Ortiz, Dazzling Move delivered a strong performance, finishing a close second in Woodbine’s restricted Silver Creek Stakes on the Tapeta course on October 10.
“Believe it or not, she ran the whole race with three shoes,” David said. “We got a little bit unlucky. The guy in the gate kind of held her, and she broke out and lost a shoe. She would have won that race, I think, with a good start. She’s a front-end runner. If she didn’t have to rush to get the lead, she wouldn’t have had to set those [fast] fractions.”
Since the Silver Creek, Dazzling Move has breezed three times in Kentucky.
“She’s doing really well,” David said. “She’s not the easiest to train, but she’s a sweetheart and very, very talented. She’s been eating everything. I think she fits this race perfectly.”
Dazzling Move, listed at 9-2 on Horse Racing Nation’s morning line, breaks from post 4 with jockey Angel Cruz aboard.
Brittany Russell, the meet’s leading trainer, entered two fillies in the Thirty Eight Go Go, including Repole Stable’s Waveless, the 9-5 favorite on the morning line.
Waveless earned stakes placings in both starts with the Russell barn since being transferred from Todd Pletcher’s New York string. She finished second, beaten 1 ¼ lengths, in the one-mile Twixt Stakes here on October 3. Sheldon Russell retains the mount and will break from post 8.
Russell also saddles Machmer Hall Thoroughbreds’ Especially (6-1, post 7, Mychel Sanchez), who made her stakes debut in the Twixt and finished third, 2 ¼ lengths behind her stablemate.
Stakes-placed Amalfi Drive (9-2, post 3, Jose Batista) has been seeking a spot since finishing fourth in the Shine Again Stakes at Timonium on August 29. The Godolphin homebred scratched from the Twixt and from Belmont’s Pumpkin Pie Stakes last Saturday.
“In the Timonium race, she was really unlucky,” said trainer Michael Stidham. “She was coming late and just missed getting up. With her, it’s been hard to find the exact distance that suits her best. The 1 1/16-mile is probably a bit of a stretch, but that’s what we’re dealing with. I’m hoping this will fit her.”
Depending on the break, Stidham’s tactical expectations are that Amalfi Drive “will be pretty forward.”
Gainesway Stable’s Aeolian (5-1, post 6, Jorge Ruiz) is a lightly raced filly with the pedigree and potential to earn strong black type in the Thirty Eight Go Go. Trained by Chad Brown, a five-time Eclipse Award winner, Aeolian is a full sister to Grade 1 winner Tapit Trice, who also finished third in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.
Aeolian returned from a two-month layoff to finish third behind the subsequent restricted stakes-winner Valtellina in a second-level allowance race at Belmont on September 25.
Lucky Hat Racing’s Ivy Girl (20-1, post 1, Jevian Toledo) is no stranger to Laurel Park. She rallied from last to win the Weber City Miss Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on April 18 and earned a stakes placing two starts later, finishing third in the Lady’s Secret at Monmouth.
Trained by Amelia Green, Ivy Girl has been freshened since finishing sixth in the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks on July 25 and would benefit from a fast early pace.
Larry Nafe’s Pink Ruby (15-1, post 9, Jaime Rodriguez) is a restricted stakes-winner on turf and has also placed in stakes races on dirt. Trained by Lindsay Schultz, Pink Ruby stumbled at the start of her most recent race, finishing third in the restricted Ogletown Handicap at Delaware on September 11.
Bush Racing Stable’s Doctor Abbie (20-1, post 2, Angel Rodriguez) finished second in last year’s Thirty Eight Go Go. Trained by Tim Kreiser, the 6-year-old mare has completed the exacta in 24 of 46 starts. She received a nice prep for this race last month, finishing second, four lengths behind Delray, in her first start since early March.
Multiple stakes-placed Late Nite Call (30-1, post 5, Jeiron Barbosa) and Delray (15-1, post 10, Vincent Cheminaud) complete the field. Gold Digging Broad (30-1, Jean Briceno) is on the Also Eligible list.
The Thirty Eight Go Go is named for the two-time Maryland-bred champion, bred and trained by the late Hall of Famer King Leatherbury, who died on February 10 at age 92. In 1987, Thirty Eight Go Go captured eight stakes races, including the Grade 2 Gardenia, Grade 3 Tempted, and the Maryland Million Lassie. She also won three consecutive editions of the Geisha Stakes.