LAUREL, MD. 01-30-15---Cutty Shark punched his ticket to next month’s $250,000 General George Handicap (G3) at Laurel Park with a victory in today’s feature, a $47,000 optional allowance test.

Trained by Donald Barr, owned by Leslie Ruth & Barbara Houck and guided for the first time by Xavier Perez, Cutty Shark was confidently ridden to a narrow victory in 1:23.41 for the 7-furlong distance, the same distance as the General George on President’s Day, February 16.

It was the fifth Laurel Park score for Cutty Shark, who also finished second in the City of Laurel Stakes andthird in the Fire Plug Stakes. Today he broke sharply, contested the pace between horses and then edged away to win by a neck. The son of Old Fashioned paid $5.40 as the betting favorite and boosted his earnings to nearly $175,000.

“We lost a lot of training days with him because of the weather,” Barr said. “I don’t feel like he was at his best today. It was an ad-lib training job but he still ran a 1:23 and he should be better in the General George.”

Barr captured the 1995 General George, then a Grade 2, with Who Wouldn’t.

Extrasexyhippzter, who was making his first start since Preakness day 2014, turned in a very game second and Never Stop Looking, who won the Fire Plug here on January 3, finished a length further back in third. All three are possible for the President’s Day classic.

About Laurel Park
Laurel Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida and is one of North America's top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world's largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is also a major producer of televised horse racing programming through its HRTV cable and satellite network and is North America's premier supplier of virtual online horse racing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.