Quint’s Brew shopping for next stakes spot

LAUREL, MD – Faster Gator returned from a 257-day layoff in fine style, rallying from off the pace to win Friday’s featured eighth race at Laurel Park, a $49,000 first-level allowance with a $62,500-$50,000 claiming option for 3-year-olds at 5 ½ furlongs.

Trained by Anthony Farrior, Faster Gator made a powerful impression in his only start last year. Bet down to favoritism in a nine-horse maiden special weight at Laurel, Faster Gator made all the running to score by 2 ¾ lengths, leaving four next-out winners in his wake.

“He showed a lot of talent [before his debut],” Farrior said. “He worked with a horse called Chunk of Gold [recently second in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at the Fair Grounds for trainer Ethan West], and he used to beat him pretty handily in the mornings.”

Faster Gator was scheduled to make his second start at Mahoning Valley but scratched from that race on Sept. 24.

“He had a little flake in the ankle,” Farrior continued. “Instead of pushing on and ruining him, we gave him a little time. He’s a big horse. We let him grow up.”

Faster Gator has a mind of his own. He reared up several times on the walk to the paddock and had to be saddled away from the other horses.

“He’s very playful,” Farrior said. “I was hoping he didn’t get loose.”

Faster Gator wasn’t away the best this afternoon but soon advanced under jockey Arnaldo Bocachica to track the pace from the outside as favored Slam Notion and Little Bit Risky grappled through an opening quarter of 22.78 with the aid of a stiff tailwind.

Bocachica soon had Faster Gator in prime position as the speed duel intensified around the turn, and they angled three wide for a clear run in the stretch. Faster Gator drifted inward slightly in midstretch to bump Slam Notion, then drove home 1 ¼-lengths better than that foe in 1:04.68 over the fast track.

Change My World placed 3 ¾ lengths behind the runner-up. Little Bit Risky, Chesapeake Dream, Blanches Mule, and Shootersgottashoot completed the order of finish. Lou’s Birthday was scratched.

Faster Gator withstood a jockey’s objection from Slam Notion’s rider, J G Torrealba, for the bumping incident and returned $6.40 to win as the second betting choice. Faster Gator wore blinkers for the first time today.

“He broke slow, and that may have helped him,” stated Farrior. “[Bocachica] said he was sitting in the gate a little bit when they broke. When he won first time, ‘Boca said he was waiting on horses, so we breezed him with blinkers since he came back. The blinkers keep him focused.”

Bred in Kentucky by Romar Farm and BRS, Faster Gator was purchased for $50,000 by Farrior on behalf of owner Richard Burnsworth. He is a Vekoma half-brother to Killer Collect, a stakes-winner at Dubai at 1 3/16 miles. His dam, the Nobiz Like Shobiz mare, Comforter, was stakes-placed around two turns on dirt.

“I think he’s going to want to go long,” Farrior added. “His family is all long.”

Quint’s Brew shopping for next stakes spot

After impressive victories in the restricted Jennings at a mile on Jan. 18 and the listed General George at seven furlongs on Feb. 15, Quint’s Brew stamped himself as one of the better older horses in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Quint’s Brew showed no rust returning from a lengthy layoff in the Jennings, scoring by six lengths with a 98 Beyer Speed Figure. He utilized similar pace-pressing tactics in the General George, drawing off the prevail by 5 ½ lengths with a 99.

“He came out of his race a bear,” trainer Ned Allard said on Tuesday. “We haven’t made up our minds yet, but the two races we have in mind are the Carter [Grade 2, $300,000 over seven furlongs at Aqueduct on April 5] or the Frank Whiteley [$100,000 over seven furlongs at Laurel on April 12].”

A winner in four of five starts, Quint’s Brew was bred in Maryland by Paul Berube, Karen Linnell, and Spinnaker Hill Farm and is owned by Berube, Linnell, and Heather Hunter. He is a 4-year-old gelding by Mosler.

“I think he’s going to be able to step up another notch,” Allard said. “He’s just one of those horses that does everything right and seems to do it so effortlessly.”

Around the track:

Jockey Gokhan Kocakaya, a champion rider in Turkey with over 3,000 lifetime victories, went 2-for-2 in his Maryland debut. Kocakaya booted home The Wolfman ($7.40) in the sixth race and States United ($9.60) in the finale. Both winners were trained by Kieron Magee…Sassafrassness ($6.80), a half-sister to multiple stakes-winner Speedyness, multiple stakes-placed Starry Moon, and stakes-placed dirt router Royal Number, looked very professional in a successful debut performance in Friday’s opener. Ridden by Jaime Rodriguez for Jamie Ness, Sassafrassness tracked outside, seemed outpaced on the turn, angled four deep into the stretch, and powered home. The 3-year-old filly is by Unified out of multiple stakes-winner Hartigan…Speedyness is the morning line favorite in tomorrow’s Not For Love Stakes…Stakes-winner It’s Hammertime, most recently fourth in the Nashua, breezed a bullet five-eighths in 1:01.40 for trainer Gary Capuano, who also worked Onyx Ten a half-mile in 49.40. Onyx Ten, a 3-year-old filly by Street Magician, is unbeaten from two starts this year with wins in the Xtra Heat on Jan. 25 and the Wide Country on Feb. 22…Live racing resumes on Saturday with a nine-race program headlined by the Not For Love and the Conniver Stakes, $75,000 events for Maryland-bred or -sired runners. The first post time is 12:10 ET, and there is a carryover of $10,867.72 into the Chesapeake Pick 6 Jackpot wager.