Jaime Rodriguez captures Winter Meet riding title
Jamie Ness repeats as Winter Meet training champion
LAUREL, MD – Favored Discreet Ops ($4.20) didn’t disappoint the Laurel Park betting public on Sunday when winning the featured sixth race, a second-level allowance with a $40,000 claiming option for fillies and mares at 5 ½ furlongs.
Returning from a 65-day layoff, Discreet Ops broke outward from her far outside post position. Still, they recovered quickly under jockey Carlos Lopez to sit a good three-wide tracking trip outside of pacesetters Kitten’s Appeal and Winkiwinki.
Those two sped the opening quarter in 22.81 seconds but couldn’t separate from Discreet Ops, who pounced with an outside bid into the stretch. Discreet Ops continued her strong momentum to the wire, stepping the distance in 1:05.18 over the fast track while 2 ½ lengths better than Devil Pays in Gold.
Winkiwinki was third, followed by Kitten’s Appeal and Angel Art. Stickwiththecolors and Talk to the Judge scratched.
A $50,000 weanling, Discreet Ops resold for the same price the following year before being purchased by owner Charles Reed and trainer Ben Feliciano Jr. for $27,000 as a juvenile.
If one thing is apparent, Discreet Ops, a 4-year-old Army Mule filly, runs best with time between her races.
She couldn’t have been fresher than in her career debut when winning by 7 ¾ lengths at 20-1 on Nov. 16. 2023.
Put away for the rest of that season, she returned with no rust, taking a first-level allowance on April 13, 2024.
“We bought her at the sale at Timonium,” Feliciano said. “I love the Army Mules. She won the first time, and then she tore her leg up. She’s got a run-down. She still has it. It’s just hard to heal, and it’s in a spot where she hits it all the time. We gave her a break, she won again, and then she started in stakes company.”
Although Discreet Ops showed promising results in stakes races last year, finishing third in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness and second in the listed Safely Kept, she didn’t get back to her winning ways until this afternoon, the first time since her second start that she raced after a layoff of 45 days or greater.
“We were kind of overrunning her a little bit,” Feliciano admitted. “You tend to do that sometimes, particularly with these stakes horses where you’ve got to go when the stakes come up. A little bit of time [off] definitely helped her a lot.”
Discreet Ops has won three of 12 starts, earning $155,440 in purse money. Feliciano already has a plan for her next start.
“Either a three-other-than or stakes company, one or the other.”
Jaime Rodriguez wins Winter Meet riding title
Jaime Rodriguez won his third consecutive Laurel Park Winter Meet riding title, dominating the competition with 38 victories, 17 more than runner-up J. G. Torrealba. Sheldon Russell placed third with 19 wins.
It was the seventh Laurel Park riding title for Rodriguez, a 33-year-old native of Puerto Rico. Rodriguez led all Maryland jockeys in winners in 2023 and 2024.
Jamie Ness repeats as Winter Meet training champion
Rodriguez rides first call for Jamie Ness, who repeated as Winter Meet training champion. Ness won 27 races, four better than perennial rival Brittany Russell. Kieron Magee finished third with 16 winners.
Ness also earned his seventh Laurel Park training title. He finished second behind Russell for year-end honors in Maryland in 2023 and 2024.
Around the track:
Racing resumes on Friday with the beginning of the Laurel Park Spring Meet. The first post time is 12:10 ET. Laurel Park holds live racing on a Friday through Sunday schedule. Starting on the first live race day in the Laurel Park Spring Meet, both “Value Pick 5” wagers come with “Carryover Potential.”
