He’s No Lemon Placed First in $150,000 Bald Eagle
Goldwood Runs Win Streak to Five in $100,000 Sensible Lady
Meadow Dance Earns First Stakes Win in $100,000 Weather Vane

LAUREL, MD – Fully recovered from a bout of colic that had interrupted his 2019 campaign, Pewter Stable’s Dubini rallied from last to capture Saturday’s $100,000 Laurel Dash presented by Fidelity First and Blackwell Real Estate at Laurel Park.

The Laurel Dash, a 5 ½-furlong turf stakes for 3-year-olds and up, was one of eight stakes worth $1.3 million in purses on the September to Remember program that featured the $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3).

“I’m just thankful to be here. I have to thank everyone who helped with this horse, because he did colic. That’s why we had to sit out the season,” trainer Kathleen Demasi said. “It’s so redeeming to have him come back to run three incredible races off the bench.”

Dubini finished second in last year’s Laurel Dash, in which he fell a half-length short of holding off Clash and Cash.

Dubini, who finished third in a stakes at Colonial and second in the Turf Monster (G3) at Parx in his two recent starts, settled near the rear of the nine horse field as Oldies Bur Goodies and Smokin Nitro contested the early pace through swift fractions of 21.64 and 44.27 for the first half-mile. Daniel Centeno sat chilly aboard Dubini in ninth place after the field straightened for home with Fielder surging to the lead in mid-stretch. When asked for his run in the stretch, Dubini lengthened strides on the outside and got up to win by three-quarters of a length.

“That’s his style and Danny rode him great today. You can’t rush him. He wants to do his thing.,” Demasi said. “I thought I was in a little bit of trouble in mid-stretch. I said, ‘I don’t think he’s going to get up for a piece,’ and all of a sudden he took off. It’s a long stretch.”

Dubini ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:01.71 to capture his fifth win in 18 career starts and first success since Aug. 19, 2017.

Fielder held second, three-quarters of a length in front of 2-1 favorite Dirty.

He’s No Lemon Placed First in $150,000 Bald Eagle

Graham Motion couldn’t seem to lose Saturday afternoon at Laurel Park.

Even when he saddled Alex Campbell Jr’s homebred He’s No Lemon to a second-place finish in the $150,000 Bald Eagle Derby presented by B&B Commercial Interiors, Motion still wound up with the race winner.

Despite finishing 1 ¼-lengths behind Jais’s Solitude in the 1 ½ mile Bald Eagle, He’s No Lemon was placed first when stewards disqualified Jais’s Solitude from first to sixth for interfering with the longshot Zonda down the stretch.

It was Motion’s third stakes victory of the afternoon.

Ridden by Trevor McCarthy, He’s No Lemon, a 3-year-old gelding by Lemon Drop Kid, covered a firm course in 2:29.09. Another Mystery was placed second and Changi third

Entering the Bald Eagle off a victory at Saratoga over 1 3/8 miles course, He’s No Lemon was rated by McCarthy in eighth some eight lengths off the pacesetter Zonda and jockey Victor Carrasco, who set fractions of :25.32, :50.48, 1:15.26 and 1:40.66. Entering the stretch, Virginia Derby (G3) runner-up was driven to the lead under jockey Feargal Lynch, who won the inaugural running of the Bald Eagle with Channel Cat last year. But stewards found Lynch bothered Zonda, forcing Carrasco to check, and He’s No Lemon, who closed strongly down the middle of the course, was placed first.

He’s No Lemon has been no worse than third in each of his last six starts.

Goldwood Runs Win Streak to Five in $100,000 Sensible Lady

Colts Neck Stables’ homebred Goldwood, sent to post as the 6-5 favorite off four consecutive stakes victories, cleared pacesetter Escapade in mid-stretch and held off defending champion Fire Key’s late bid to make it five straight in the $100,000 Sensible Lady Turf Dash.

With regular rider Jose Ferrer up for trainer Jorge Duarte Jr., Goldwood ($4.60) ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:01.69 over a firm Dahlia turf course to win by a half-length over Fire Key, who edged Escapade by a head for third.

Goldwood, a 5-year-old daughter of multiple Grade 1 winner Medaglia d’Oro, began her streak May 18 and won a quartet of Monmouth Park stakes, never by more than 1 ¾ lengths. She now owns nine wins from 18 lifetime starts.

Escapade, who returned from a seven-month layoff with an impressive optional claiming win Aug. 3 at Laurel, blazed through fractions of 21.53, 44.53 and 55.61 seconds with Goldwood poised to her outside. Goldwood forged a short lead approaching the finish as Fire Key joined the leaders on the far outside.

“This filly is doing great. The horse in front went fast, but she likes to be close to the pace,” Ferrer said. “About 25 yards before the first wire she started to accelerate, and from the first wire to the second wire she was just rolling.”

Meadow Dance Earns First Stakes Win in $100,000 Weather Vane

Right Time Racing III and Madaket Stables’ Meadow Dance remained unbeaten this year since returning to sprints, posting a front-running one-length triumph in Saturday’s inaugural $100,000 Warrior’s Reward Weather Vane at Laurel Park.

Second betting choice at 9-5 in a field of nine, Meadow Dance ($5.80) completed six furlongs in 1:09.37 over a fast main track to hold of 8-5 favorite Needs Supervision, a stakes winner over the winter at Fair Grounds making her first start since mid-February.

It was the first career stakes victory for Meadow Dance, who coasted to the lead and was tracked for a quarter-mile in 22.49 seconds by Bunting before Jennemily picked up the chase after a half in 45.75. Needs Supervision was kept outside in the clear on the turn and was poised to make her run once straightened for home, but was unable to reel in Meadow Dance as she separated from her rivals through the lane.

“It’s always nice when your horse breaks on top,” Russell said. “The filly broke and put me in a great spot. I felt like she was going easy enough in upper stretch and I was very happy to hold on.”

Meadown Dance, a 3-year-old Jimmy Creed filly, opened her season winning a 6 ½-furlong allowance June 22 at Churchill Downs before a similar gate-to-wire score in a six-furlong optional claimer Aug. 3 at Ellis Park, both over her elders. She ran third in a pair of stakes at 2, including the Alcibiades (G1) last fall.