Sunday’s card rescheduled to Thursday, October 15
LAUREL, MD—A blueblood filly trained by a five-time Eclipse Award winner somehow slipped through the betting cracks in Saturday’s featured ninth race at Laurel Park, a first-level allowance for fillies and mares at one mile on turf.
Blackfin’s dam, Uni, was a European transplant whom trainer Chad Brown turned into a veritable turf monster. Between April 18, 2018, and June 29, 2019, the More Than Ready mare went unbeaten in five starts, including the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar. The following year, Uni swept two more Grade 1s, culminating in a victory over males in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile. That season, she received the Eclipse Award as Champion Turf Female.
Uni won another Grade 1 in 2020, the First Lady Stakes at Keeneland, before being sold to Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm for $4.1 million as a broodmare prospect.
Exported overseas, Uni was bred to the European stallion Kingman, and her first baby, Blackfin, was foaled on Irish soil on February 18, 2022.
Blackfin received her initial training in Maryland, recording 2-year-old workouts at Fair Hill for Brown before being sent to the trainer’s base at Payson Park in Florida.
The bay filly didn’t debut until September of her 3-year-old season, finishing sixth of ten in a maiden special weight at Aqueduct. Freshened until June of this year, Blackfin has improved gradually from start to start. She hit the board in her first two 2026 runs, then graduated in a Monmouth maiden special weight on September 7, her final start before today’s victory.
Jockey Luis Rivera Jr. let Blackfin find a steady rhythm while racing between horses at the back of the pack as Let’s Dance Again controlled fractions of 24.56, 49.03, and 1:13.06.
War Madam advanced to the lead in the upper stretch, but Rivera set Blackfin down between rivals, and they surged to deny fellow closer Correto by a head in 1:36.72 on the firm turf course. War Madam finished another half-length behind. Then came Let’s Dance Again, Screen Test, favored Cozy Rosie, Set Ablaze, Finch, and Miss Picky. Gripen, Fabia, Chilling Factor, and Verdant Tones scratched.
Blackfin paid $16.80 to win as the sixth choice.
“The trip went exactly how I planned it,” Rivera Jr. said in the winner’s circle. “I didn’t see myself being forward in this race. I wanted [Correto] to get a little closer to the pace so I could follow her and have someone good in front of me to track. She took me to the quarter pole, and at the quarter pole, I let my horse run, and she was there for me.”
Rivera was quick to complement the Brown operation.
“Those horses that this trainer has are amazing,” he said. “When you ride for him, you always know that you got a lot of horse underneath you. When she saw the clearance in the stretch, she was ready to run. She was just waiting for my cue. She was not tired at all. She passed the wire, and I couldn’t even pull her up. She just wanted to keep going.”
A winner in two of five starts, Blackfin has earned $72,110.
*Sunday’s card rescheduled to Thursday, October 15
Due to expected weather from Hurricane Isaias affecting the Mid-Atlantic region, Laurel Park has rescheduled Sunday’s live racing program.
The nine-race card will be run in full without a redraw on Thursday, October 15.
Laurel Park and the Maryland Jockey Club Off Track Betting Network will remain open for simulcast wagering on Sunday.
Laurel Park will host live racing next week, Thursday through Sunday. The first post time is 12 pm ET.
*Around the track:
Apprentice jockey Leandro Briceno rode two winners on Saturday’s program. Briceno guided Lucky Tin Tin ($13.80) to a dominant 11 ¾-length victory in the day’s opening race for trainer Ferris Allen III. In the fourth race, he saved ground for most of the way with late-running Yau Majesty ($11), eased outside in the stretch, and got up in the shadow of the wire for trainer Michael Gorham.
Trainer Jamie Ness won two races. Mischievous Twins ($8.80) made a late rally to win the third race with jockey Jaime Rodriguez. Paco the Taco Man ($4) put in a strong effort between rivals to take the tenth race with jockey Mychel Sanchez.
Aruba Ariba, a 2-year-old gelding by Holy Boss out of Pick Your Pleasure (by Lemon Drop Kid), earned a 76 Beyer Speed Figure for his impressive 9¾-length win in Friday’s seventh race. Ridden by Xavier Perez and trained by Jerry Robb, Aruba Ariba posted the co-highest Beyer for a 2-year-old in Maryland this year, matching Walt’s Notion’s figure from the James F. Lewis III Stakes on October 9. Bred in Maryland by Anchor & Hope Farm, Aruba Ariba is a full brother to the multiple stakes-placed Al Loves Josie. Both Aruba Ariba and Walt’s Notion are possible entries in the $100,000 Maryland Million Nursery on October 24.
Live racing resumes Thursday with nine races. First post time is 12:00 pm, and two “Value Pick 5” wagers feature a LOW 12% takeout.
The free “Laurel Park Handicapping Guide” is available on every race day. It features picks, analysis, trainer stats, trip notes, horses to watch, track bias information, and more from The Maryland Jockey Club’s handicapping team. Thursday’s guide is available Wednesday evening. Click here to view it.
Join us at Laurel Park on Saturday, October 17, for “Cigars & Bourbon On The Rail,” presented by WBAL News Radio 1090 AM/101.5 FM. Your all-inclusive ticket includes the finest cigars, bourbon, and whiskey selections at the premium bar, a chef-prepared trackside luncheon, and live Thoroughbred racing. For the menu and tickets, click here.
Never miss a second of the action on the Laurel Park YouTube channel. Click here to watch full pan and head-on replays.
Watch “Today at the Races,” the Maryland Jockey Club’s morning handicapping show every racing day at 11 am ET on the Maryland Jockey Club’s X account. Click here to watch.