‘Azteca’ Sharp Winner of $100,000 City of Laurel; Tale of Ruby Shines in $100,000 Safely Kept
‘Azteca’ Sharp Winner of $100,000 City of Laurel; Tale of Ruby Shines in $100,000 Safely Kept
Tale of Ruby Shines in $100,000 Safely Kept
Rockin Jojo Extends Streak in $75,000 Geisha
Rainbow 6, Super Hi-5 Carryovers for Sunday Program
LAUREL, MD – Gelfenstein Farm’s Grade 3 winner Sharp Azteca made a triumphant return to the races Saturday at Laurel Park, pulling away from a pacesetting duel with previously undefeated Hot Seat to win the $100,000 City of Laurel presented by Fidelity First.
The seventh running of the City of Laurel for 3-year-olds and 26th renewal of the $100,000 Safely Kept presented by Insight for 3-year-old fillies, both at seven furlongs, were among seven stakes worth $825,000 on an 11-race Fall Festival of Racing program highlighted by the $250,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) presented by Maker’s Mark.
Ridden by Edgard Zayas for trainer Jorge Navarro, both based in South Florida, Sharp Azteca ($7.40) hit the wire in 1:22.03 over a fast main track in his first race since finishing second in the 1 1/16-mile Super Derby Prelude Aug. 6 at Louisiana Downs, exiting the race with a major quarter crack.
“We thought he was going to be out more than three months, maybe up to a year. My blacksmith, he did an amazing job,” Navarro said. “Seven-eighths is a distance that can be tough unless he’s ready, and I guess he was. He’s going to be my top 4-year-old.”
Hot Seat, making his stakes debut after maiden and allowance victories by a combined 20 ½ lengths at Parx, broke well but was outrun for the lead to his outside by Sharp Azteca, who sailed through an opening quarter-mile in 22.53 seconds and a half in 44.86.
The leaders continued to separate from the field after going six furlongs in 1:09.33 before Sharp Azteca steadily edged away as Hot Seat switched to the outside, winning by 5 ¼ lengths. Hot Seat was a clear second, 3 ½ lengths ahead of Carry Back (G3) winner Rated R Superstar in third.
“He’s not a horse that’s going to fire when you ask him. He’s just a grinder,” Zayas said. “He keeps going and going. He’s a free-runner. We did not expect to be on the lead. We got going well and we put his biggest threat to the inside and hope we could outrun him, which he did.”
Sharp Azteca strung together three straight wins earlier this year capped by a 2 ½-length triumph in the Pat Day Mile (G3) on the May 7 undercard of the Kentucky Derby (G1). He was fourth in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens (G2) at Belmont Park prior to the Prelude.
Navarro said Sharp Azteca, a sophomore son of Freud, would be pointed to the seven-furlong Malibu (G1) Dec. 26 at Santa Anita Park for his next start.
Tale of Ruby Shines in $100,000 Safely Kept
Charles Fipke homebred Tale of Ruby, facing fellow 3-year-old fillies for her stakes debut off a pair of narrow allowance losses against older horses, rolled to the lead on the far outside and pulled clear of a tight pack to win the $100,000 Safely Kept.
Made the late but lukewarm 2-1 favorite, Tale of Ruby ($6.80) was unhurried early under Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado before finding her stride approaching the stretch, cruising up as 99-1 long shots Atlantis Romance, Jessica Krupnik and Decoratedwithstyle battled for the lead before edging away to win in 1:23.51.
“She broke a little slow coming out of the gate so I settled and bided my time and she took me all the way,” Prado said. “When I asked her, she had a lot left. Once she felt those horses coming, she gave me another gear.”
Winless in two starts at 2, Tale of Ruby returned from a seven-month layoff to break her maiden against elders in her sophomore debut July 27 at Saratoga. She was second in successive allowance efforts, beaten a total of 1 ¾ lengths, heading into the Safely Kept.
“I’ve always liked her and she’s had a multitude of little things go wrong. We could never get two or three races in a row out of her,” winning trainer Barclay Tagg said. “I’m glad it was Edgar on her because he’s got enough sense to sit there and let her run. I just told him not to rush it and he didn’t, and it all worked out.”
Rockin Jojo Extends Streak in $75,000 Geisha
Michael R. Cox’s Rockin Jojo, a 31-1 upset winner of the Maryland Million Distaff in her previous start, came charging down the middle of the track and held off Candida H. to win the $75,000 Geisha presented by Detail Finishes.
The one-mile Geisha for Maryland-bred/sired females 3 and up capped Saturday’s Fall Festival of Racing program. Trained by Guadalupe Preciado, Rockin Jojo ($19.40) ran one mile in 1:39.42.
A 4-year-old daughter of Street Magician, Rockin Jojo was reserved in the early going behind 25-1 long shot pacesetter Brenda’s Way, in front through fractions of 23.56 and 46.75 seconds. Jockey Angel Cruz, also aboard in the Maryland Million, swept to the outside leaving the backstretch with Rockin Jojo, who has limited vision in her right eye.
“The instructions were to get him into good position and then take him out because he has only one eye,” Cruz said. “That’s what I did and he gave me all he had for the second race in a row.”
Rockin Jojo continued to roll into mid-stretch when she was engaged by Candida H., but outran the Conniver Stakes winner to prevail by a head. Wowwhatabrat finished third.
“We thought she could run good. She was training very good for this race. It looks like she loves this track,” Preciado said. “She can only see a little bit in one eye. I like to see if we can keep it outside and not get hit with dirt and he did a good job. The kid rode her unbelievable.”
Rainbow 6, Super Hi-5 Carryovers for Sunday Program
There will be carryovers in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and $1 Super Hi-5 greeting bettors for Sunday’s nine-race program.
No one selected all six winners in the Rainbow 6, growing the carryover jackpot to $21,410.90. Tickets with five of six winners returned $307.96.
Sunday’s Rainbow 6 covers Races 4-9 and includes three races over Laurel’s world-class turf course.
The Super Hi-5 carryover will be $4,493.74 for Sunday’s opener, a $40,000 maiden event at 1 1/8 miles on the All Along Turf Course.
First race post time is 12:30 p.m.
