Among Trio of $100,000 Stakes Saturday, Nov. 23 at Laurel
Fall Meet Resumes with Nine Races Friday Starting at 12:25 P.M.
LAUREL, MD – Kentucky-based Grade 1-winning millionaire Stilleto Boy and Grade 3-placed local multiple stakes winner Copper Tax, on the Triple Crown trail earlier this spring, are among 18 horses nominated to the $100,000 Richard W. Small at Laurel Park.
The 1 1/8-mile Small for 3-year-olds and up is among three $100,000 stakes on a Saturday, Nov. 23 program along with the six-furlong Dave’s Friend, also for horses 3 and older, and 6 ½-furlong Willa On the Move for fillies and mares 3 and up.
Trained by Ed Moger Jr. for his brother, Steve, Stilleto Boy won the 2022 Californian (G2) and 2023 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) last March, his most recent victory. Placed in five other Grade 1 stakes including back-to-back editions of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) in 2022-23, the 6-year-old gelding is winless in three starts this year, running seventh last out in the Sept. 28 Lukas Classic (G2).
Rose Petal Stable’s Copper Tax won the 2023 James F. Lewis III at 2 and the March 23 Private Terms and April 20 Federico Tesio – all at Laurel – with the latter earning him an automatic berth in the 149th Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, May 18. After some consideration he was directed instead to the June 22 Ohio Derby (G3), where he ran third, and was freshened before running third again to launch his comeback in the Nov. 3 Discovery at Aqueduct.
Hillwood Stable’s multiple graded-stakes winner Post Time, who became a millionaire with his runner-up finish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) Nov. 2 at Del Mar and is a perfect 7-0 at Laurel, is also among the nominees. Trainer Brittany Russell said the 4-year-old Frosted colt is tentatively being aimed at the Cigar Mile (G2) Dec. 7 at Aqueduct.
Grade 3 winner Magic Michael and Jamie Ness-trained stablemate Excellorator, a winner of two straight and three of four following a $40,000 claim July 5; multiple stakes winners Armando R, No Cents and Shake Em Loose; and Brilliant Ice, dominant last-out winner of the 1 1/8-mile Maryland Million Classic Oct. 12 at Laurel, are also nominated.
Witty, a three-time stakes winner on both turf and dirt bred, owned and trained by Elizabeth Merryman, tops 17 nominees to the Dave’s Friend. The younger sibling to Grade 1 winner and millionaire mare Caravel snapped a five-race losing streak that included a second in the June 29 Highlander (G2) with a six-furlong optional claiming allowance sprint victory Nov. 2 at Laurel.
Midwest-based trainer John Ennis nominated both Epic Ride and Manny Wah. Welch Racing’s Epic Ride won the Leonatis and was second in the John Battaglia Memorial, both over Turfway Park’s all-weather surface, before running third in the Blue Grass (G1) and 14th in the Kentucky Derby (G1). He has raced once since, finishing third in the seven-furlong Perryville (G3) Oct. 19 at Keeneland.
Susan Moulton’s Manny Wah exits a sixth in Keeneland’s Oct. 24 Phoenix (G2), a race he won in 2022. The 8-year-old son of Will Take Charge has finished in the top three in 24 of 47 lifetime starts including five wins and more than $1 million in purse earnings. He has placed in four other graded-stakes including the 2019 Malibu (G1) and ran in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) in 2020 and 2022.
Stonehedge homebred Dean Delivers strung together four consecutive wins this spring and summer highlighted by Laurel’s Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash July 28, but had his streak snapped when third last out in the Sept. 28 Vosburgh (G3) at Aqueduct. Now 5, the Cajun Breeze gelding owns six stakes wins topped by the 2021 Smile Sprint (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
Also prominent among nominees are Take a Hint, winner of Laurel’s March 16 Not For Love; and Spikezone, who extended his win streak to five Nov. 1 at Laurel and ranks second in the country with 10 wins from 13 starts this year.
The Willa On the Move drew 17 nominations led by Narrow Leaf Farm’s 3-year-old homebred filly Miss Harriett, a winner in her first try against older horses last time out in a six-furlong optional claiming allowance Sept. 27 at Laurel. She is 5-for-8 lifetime at Laurel with stakes wins in the 2023 Maryland Million Lassie and 2024 Wide Country and Miss Disco, the latter July 21.
Other nominees include Disco Ebo, whose multiple stakes wins include the six-furlong Primonetta April 13 at Laurel; stakes winners Bourbon Bon Bay, Kissedbyanangel and Simply Stated; and 3-year-old Morgan’s Ford Farm homebred Binnie, a winner of three straight and four of five lifetime whose only loss came when fourth to Kissedbyanangel in the 2023 Maryland Juvenile Filly in her second career start.
Laurel Park resumes its calendar year-ending fall meet with a nine-race program Friday starting at 12:25 p.m. Speedyness, one of the Mid-Atlantic’s top 3-year-olds in the spring, is entered to launch his comeback from a summer break in the Race 8 feature for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles, while Maryland’s champion 2-year-old filly of 2022, Malibu Moonshine, faces seven rivals in Race 7, an optional claiming allowance for females 3 and up sprinting seven furlongs.