Interrupted Perfect On Laurel Turf With $150,000 Lady Baltimore Triumph

Interrupted Perfect On Laurel Turf With $150,000 Lady Baltimore Triumph

Luzzi Wins First Race Since 2014 aboard Spring to the Sky
 
 LAUREL, MD – Pin Oak Stud’s Interrupted, trained by Graham Motion and ridden by Matthew Rispoli, rallied over a yielding turf course to win Saturday’s $150,000 Lady Baltimore at Laurel Park.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interrupted, a 4-year-old homebred filly, has now won all four of her starts across Laurel’s turf course, and Rispoli has been aboard for all four. 
 
“She really loves the course, and Matthew has such a good rapport with her,” said Motion, whose filly won by 1 ¼ lengths over the pacesetter Speed Seeker. “I also trained the mom [Alternate] and dad [Broken Vow] so it’s very exciting.”
 
Interrupted, a winner of the Penn Oak Stakes in May and coming off a victory at Laurel in an optional allowance July 24, broke from the rail and “was a little closer than usual,” said Rispoli, who rated the filly fourth behind fractions of :25.21, :51.46 and 1:17.45 set by Speed Seeker, who was pressed from the outside down the backstretch by Pink Poppy. 
 
Entering the stretch, Rispoli roused Interrupted away from the inside for a clear run down the middle of the track outside Speed Seeker and Pink Poppy to get up in time for the $90,000 first-place prize. Pink Poppy was third.
 
“I was hoping the rail would open up, but when it didn’t I just swung her out,” said Rispoli, who took off his mounts at Monmouth Park Saturday to ride Interrupted.
Interrupted has now won five of nine starts for $250,205.
 
Luzzi Wins First Race Since 2014 aboard Spring to the Sky
 
Jockey Mike Luzzi, who recently returned to riding after breaking his leg in two places and his pelvis in five places in November at Aqueduct, guided Anthony McCarthy’s Spring to the Sky gate-to-wire to win the $75,000 Laurel Dash. 
 
The victory was the first for Luzzi since the accident.
 
“It feels good,” said Luzzi, the Eclipse Award-winning apprentice in 1989 who began his career in Maryland. “There was a time I didn’t know I would ride again, so this is satisfying. Laurel has always been good to me. It is my home track, and I have always done well here. I came back a few years ago, and won the General George a couple times.”
 
A 6-year-old son of Langfuhr who won the Troy and Lucky Coin in 2014, Spring to the Sky, trained by Bruce Brown, broke on top in the 10-horse Dash and never looked back, setting fractions of :23.31, :47.90 and coming home in six furlongs in 1:13.57. Night Officer was a half-length behind in second while A P Elvis finished third.
 
“I had not ridden this horse before, but I did breeze him in the morning,” Luzzi said. “We wanted to get him to the lead, and I had to hustle him a bit - then he took off and got me there. I knew that I had to save him a little for this long stretch, and somebody ran up to me a little earlier than I hoped, but he was game enough to keep going.”