Bailintin relishes wet track in co-featured seventh race
LAUREL, MD – Trainer Jose Corrales spoke only one word when describing Safe Trust’s progression from a petulant baby to a multiple stakes-placed juvenile to the winner of today’s co-featured fourth race at Laurel Park, a first-level allowance with a $62,500 claiming option for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs.
“Teamwork.”
After Safe Trust parlayed a pace-pressing trip to her second victory, Corrales credited his staff.
“She was very crazy,” Corrales admitted. “It was hard to break her and everything like that, but we got lucky. We got a couple of good people that work with us, and the horse has improved. She’s got a good groom and exercise rider. The owners are very good people. They deserve to have a nice horse.”
Safe Trust pushed pacesetting All My Memories through fractions of 22.60 and 46.95 seconds over the muddy going, assumed command in the upper stretch, then always found a bit more under jockey Denis Araujo to deny favored Malibu Hooch by 1 ¾ lengths in 1:12.93.
Krissi N finished third, a head behind Malibu Hooch, and was followed by Atlantis Queen, Rosieontheriver, In My Memories, and Chickin Lickin.
Safe Trust returned $7.40 as the third choice in the wagering.
“She’s fast,” Corrales said. “Last time, she was very close, and we rated. It was very hard to rate her, but she still ran a good race. We gave her a little bit of time off, and she’s fresh.”
Foaled in Maryland, Safe Trust is a homebred owned by Barak Farm. She is by Mosler and hails from the family of Grade 1 winner See How She Runs.
A maiden winner in her second start, a 4 ½-furlong waiver maiden at Laurel, Safe Trust finished third in Colonial’s restricted Keswick Stakes on Aug. 3, placed third in Laurel’s Maryland Million Lassie on Oct. 12 and ran second, beaten 1 ½ lengths by the region’s leading juvenile filly, Caprice in the Maryland Juvenile Fllly Stakes on Dec. 7.
Corrales mentioned the $100,000 Wide Country Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on Feb. 22 as a potential next start for Safe Trust.
Bailintin digs deep to win the seventh race.
“As long as you don’t give up on her, she doesn’t give up on you,” said winning jockey Tais Lyapustina after Bailintin rallied from just off the pace to win the co-featured seventh race, a first-level allowance for older fillies and mares at seven furlongs.
Bailintin, a 4-year-old by Girvin, broke well, tracked the pace three deep, floated even wider turning into the stretch, then tried her heart out in besting ground-saving favorite Edge of Town by three-quarters of a length in 1:26.70. Pace-pressing Bondiva made a short lead turning into the stretch, and held on for third, three-quarters behind the runner-up.
Bailintin, trained by Rudy Sanchez-Salomon for High Schticking Thoroughbreds, returned $17.20 to win as the fourth choice in the five-horse field.
Lyapustina mentioned that she wasn’t concerned about the wet track or that the surface seemed speed-friendly for most of the afternoon.
“She really likes this track,” Lyapustina said. “[The track being speed-favoring] made my job a lot easier in knowing what I had to do. She does prefer to be up close, I feel. That made the decision really easy, and breaking from the outside hole was kind of a godsend.”
Bred in Florida by Belvedere Farm, Bailintin is a Girvin half-sister to stakes-winner Navy Goat. Their second dam, War Thief, captured the Grade 3 Modesty Handicap.
Purchased for $52,000 by private sale at the OBS April juvenile auction in 2023, Bailintin has been claimed three times during her career, most recently for $16,000 by High Schticking and Sanchez-Salomon out of a third-place finish on Nov. 1. She has won two of five starts for these connections.
Around the track:
Following his victory aboard Stormy Midnight in the first race, apprentice jockey Jadiel Zambrana now rides with a five-pound allowance…Corrales also saddled third-race winner Addy’s Laddy T N T…Nine Maryland breds are among the 2025 Triple Crown Series nominations. The 3-year-olds are Crisis Manager (trainer Tom Amoss), It’s Hammertime (Gary Capuano), Modus Bestia (Richard Baltas), Passion Rules (Brad Cox), Reggie Runs Rogue (Justin Nixon), Sacred Thunder (Capuano), Studlydoright (Jerry Robb), Tony Eclipse (Brittany Russell), and an unnamed colt by Nyquist out of How My Heart Works (Richard Mandella)…Live Racing resumes at Laurel Park on Saturday with a nine-race program. The first post is at 12:25 p.m. ET with a low 12% takeout on both “Value Pick 5” Wagers…”The Racing Biz” offers a free Saturday handicapping tournament featuring Laurel Park’s last eight races at Contest Central – The Racing Biz…On Sunday, Laurel Park will host “The Big Game Watch Party,” with food and beverage specials available from 5:30 p.m. ET to close.
