Spring Meet Jockey, Trainer Titles Going Down to the Wire
Watch and Wager on Kentucky Derby, Oaks at Laurel Park

LAUREL, MD – All options remain on the table when it comes to the next start for The Elkstone Group’s multiple stakes-winning Maryland homebred Joe, including the 147th Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

The $1.5 million Preakness Saturday, May 21 anchors a blockbuster weekend of 16 stakes, 10 graded, worth $3.8 million in purses that begins the previous day with the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) Day program.

Joe, part of trainer Michael Trombetta’s string at Laurel Park, returned to the work tab with a half-mile breeze in 49 seconds over a main track rated good Monday. It was his first piece of work following a gutsy head victory over stablemate Mr Jefferson in the 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio April 16.

The Tesio serves as a ‘Win and In’ qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the 1 3/16-mile Preakness. Because he is not Triple Crown nominated, Joe would have to be supplemented at the time of entry at a cost of $150,000.

“He looks good and he’s training well,” Elkstone’s Stuart Grant said. “He appears to continue to get better, so we’re very happy with that.

“There’s a good chance that you will see us at Pimlico on the third Saturday in May,” he added. “We will have to see what we want to do, but there’s a good chance that we will be running at that track on that day.”

Other stakes for 3-year-olds on Preakness weekend include the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) sprinting six furlongs and the $100,000 James W. Murphy going one mile on the grass. The $100,000 Sir Barton going 1 1/16 miles is for sophomores that have not won an open sweepstakes.

“We’re very excited. It’s awesome,” Grant said. “We’ve been there before. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone in the Preakness. I’ve had a few horses in the Black-Eyed Susan and I’ve had a few horses on the undercard on Preakness Day, and it’s a ton of fun. It’s a great day for Maryland racing. It’s a great day for horse racing. It’s a great time to be down there. We also want to win races, so we have to place our horses smartly.”

Part of the decision-making process will be the result of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby (G1), where a full field of 20 was entered this week. Blue Grass (G1) winner Zandon is the narrow 3-1 program favorite over Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Epicenter (7-2), with Santa Anita Derby (G1) runner-up Messier (8-1) the third choice. The remaining 17 horses range from 10-1 to 30-1.

“It will depend on how [Joe] is training. We’ll watch the Derby and we’ll see how those horses are. It looks like a pretty good crop,” Grant said. “If the race goes 1:59 and two and there’s six of them across the track, that’s a little bit tough. If the race went in 2:03, maybe they’re a beatable group. But, there’s some pretty nice 3-year-old colts this year. There’s not one dominating one, but that’s almost scarier because you never get chased out of a race because there’s one really good horse. You get chased out because there’s half a dozen that can win.”

Maryland’s champion 2-year-old male of 2021, Joe clinched his title with a victory in the Maryland Juvenile in mid-December/ He won his two-turn debut Jan. 23 in an optional claiming allowance at Laurel and was second to Shake Em Loose in the March 19 Private Terms. Named for President Biden, he has been first or second in five straight races, four of them wins, since finishing fifth in a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint last October in his career debut.

“I guess we’ll see how the Derby goes [and] we’ll see how our horse continues to progress,” Grant said. “It’s a nice position to be in. I’m very happy with how Joe’s done. I’m very appreciative of what Mike has done, and we’ll see where we go.”

Spring Meet Jockey, Trainer Titles Going Down to the Wire

Live racing returns to Laurel Park Thursday to kick off the final weekend of the 22-day spring meet, with the races for leading jockey and trainer still very much up for grabs.

Seven-pound apprentice Jeiron Barbosa tops the jockey standings with 19 wins, four more than Jevian Toledo with five-pound apprentice Jean Alvelo (13) and Jaime Rodriguez (12) also in double figures.

An 18-year-old native of Puerto Rico, Barbosa is attempting to become just the third apprentice in the last decade to win a riding title at Laurel, following Yomar Ortiz (winter 2013) and Julio Correa (summer 2019). Correa led the U.S. in wins by an apprentice with 126 and finished second to Canada-based Kazushi Kimura in voting for the 2019 Eclipse Award.

Barbosa, who only began riding professionally Jan. 1 in his home country and won with his first two starters in the U.S. March 25 at Laurel, is named in six races Thursday but none on Friday. Toledo, Maryland’s overall leading rider in 2015, 2017 and 2021 and an eight-time meet titleholder including Laurel’s 2022 winter stand, is named in eight races Thursday and six Friday.

Claudio Gonzalez and Jamie Ness are tied atop the trainer standings with 10 wins apiece. Gonzalez has two horses entered Thursday and none Friday, while Ness has two horses entered both days.

Gonzalez, a cancer survivor, has led all Maryland trainers in wins each year since 2017. He has won nine consecutive meet titles in Maryland dating back to Laurel’s 2019 summer stand and owns 19 meet championships, 17 at Laurel and two at historic Pimlico Race Course.

Approaching 3,600 career wins, Ness won the fifth-most races in Maryland in 2021 while leading the standings at both Parx and Delaware Park. He was Laurel’s leading trainer at its 2011 and 2012 fall meets as well as Pimlico in 2012, 2015 and 2019.

Brittany Russell ranks third in the spring meet trainer standings with nine wins, while Michael Trombetta and Kieron Magee are tied at eight.

Watch and Wager on Kentucky Derby, Oaks at Laurel Park

In addition to its own live race programs, Laurel Park will be the place for fans to watch and wager on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Kentucky Derby (G1) this weekend from Churchill Downs.

The Oaks for 3-year-old fillies will take place Friday as Race 11 with a scheduled post time of 5:51 p.m. First post at Laurel is 12:40 p.m., and advance wagering will be offered for Churchill’s entire Derby Day card.

The Triple Crown series for 3-year-olds opens with Saturday’s Derby, which goes off as Churchill’s Race 12 with a post time of 6:57 p.m. Laurel will have a special 12:15 p.m. first post Saturday.

Laurel will open its doors at 10 a.m. both Friday and Saturday. Post time at Churchill is 10:30 a.m. both days.

The 147th Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, will be run Saturday, May 21 at historic Pimlico Race Course. Preakness Eve marks the 98th running of the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3-year-old fillies.