Jet Majesty Soars to Laurel Feature Win Saturday; Late Pick 5 Hit for $30,682; Rainbow 6, Super Hi-5 Carryovers Sunday
Jet Majesty Soars to Laurel Feature Win Saturday; Late Pick 5 Hit for $30,682; Rainbow 6, Super Hi-5 Carryovers Sunday
Dancing Lucy Edges Summer Frock in Co-Feature
Maryland-Breds Sweep Saturday Juvenile Maiden Races
Late Pick 5 Hit for $30,682; Rainbow 6, Super Hi-5 Carryovers Sunday
Week 2 Qualifier in MJC Players’ Challenge Contest Sunday
LAUREL, MD – Relaxed through comfortable fractions for the first part of the race, Norman Stables’ Jet Majesty soared home a front-running winner of the featured 10th race Saturday at Laurel Park.
Jockey Jevian Toledo, riding for trainer Tony Dutrow, settled the 5-year-old Raffie’s Majesty mare on the lead from her inside post, tracked to her outside by Moon Virginia after a quarter mile in 24.33 seconds, a half in 48.65 and six furlongs in 1:12.42.
Jet Majesty ($9.60) was still in command as the field of eight straightened for home, and edged away down the stretch under Toledo’s urging to win by 1 ½ lengths in 1:41.45 for 1 1/16 miles over a firm Bowl Game Turf Course.
Channel Regatta came on for second, 1 ¼ lengths ahead of Moon Virginia. Miss Atomic Bomb, favored at 8-5, finished fifth.
“I took it easy in the beginning. They let me almost walk in the beginning and she relaxed pretty nice,” Toledo said. “I started asking and I had plenty of horse left. When I asked her she responded pretty well and just kept going.”
The $45,000 second-level optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares three and older was the fifth career win from 16 starts for Jet Majesty, making her debut over the Laurel turf in her first start since July 4.
It was the second win of the day for Toledo, Laurel’s summer meet riding champion with 29 victories.
“You don’t win a race every single day, so it’s good when you win one,” Toledo said. “It’s better when you win two.”
Toby Roth’s Dancing Lucy dueled Summer Frock the length of the stretch before emerging with a nose victory in Saturday’s co-featured eighth race, a $42,000 entry-level allowance for females 3 and up on the Exceller Turf Course.
The top two battled through an opening quarter-mile in 23.24 seconds, a half in 45.50 and five furlongs in 56.67 before Dancing Lucy ($9.60), racing on the outside, emerged from the photo finish with her third win in four starts. Winning time for 5 ½ furlongs was 1:02.55.
Maryland-Breds Sweep Saturday Juvenile Maiden Races
Chadds Ford Stable’s Dancing Rags, stretched out and switched to dirt off her debut effort last month, assumed the lead on the turn for home and held off a determined second effort from pacesetter Tequilita to win Saturday’s fourth race by 1 ¾ lengths.
The 2-year-old daughter of Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Union Rags, trained by Graham Motion and ridden by Angel Cruz, gave Maryland-breds a sweep of back-to-back $40,000 maiden special weights for juveniles on Saturday’s program.
Dancing Rags ($8.80), third in a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint Aug. 5 at Laurel, ran one mile in 1:39.84 over a fast main track. Out of the Storm Cat mare Home Court, she was bred by David DiPietro and purchased for $210,000 as a 2-year-old in training out of the March sale in Ocala, Fla.
In the third race, a 5 ½-furlong sprint over the Bowl Green Turf Course, Sagamore Farm’s Misty On Pointe ($11.60) was swung four wide for the drive for home by jockey Horacio Karamanos and pulled away to a 1 ¼-length victory in 1:03.13.
Bred by Mr. and Mrs. Charles McGinnes and trained by Horacio Depaz, Misty On Pointe is a chestnut daughter of Munnings out of the Hard Spun mare Boudicca. She cost $85,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s July 2015 yearling sale in Kentucky.
Pick 5 Hit for $30,682; Rainbow 6, Super Hi-5 Carryovers Sunday
Starting with a carryover of $9,738.50 from Friday and bolstered by $23,799 wagered into Saturday’s pool, the 50-cent Late Pick 5 combination of 11-7-3-2-11 was hit for a $30,682.20 payoff.
Sunday’s Late Pick 5, which offers an industry-low 12 percent takeout, spans Races 6-10. First race post time is 1:10 p.m.
There was one horse live to take down the 20-cent Rainbow 6 carryover jackpot heading into Saturday’s 11th-race finale, but Catch finished off the board resulting in a carryover of $3,451.19 for Sunday. Tickets with five of six winners returned $114.34.
The Rainbow 6 carryover jackpot is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
Sunday’s Rainbow 6 spans Races 5-10 and includes the day’s co-features on the Bowl Game Turf Course, a $42,000 allowance at 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares 3 and older in Race 7 led by 124-pound topweight Opie, and a $45,000 optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up at 5 ½ furlongs in Race 9 which drew a field of 10.
There will be a Super Hi-5 carryover of $1,242.38 for Sunday’s opener, a $33,000 maiden event for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs on the main track.
In addition to live racing, Laurel will play host to the second of seven weekly qualifiers in the Maryland Jockey Club Players’ Challenge leading up to the Oct. 8 championship round. Entry fee is $30 and limited to members of the MJC Premier Players Club. For more information, visit https://www.laurelpark.com/handicapping/players-challenge.
Notes: Jockey Kevin Gomez swept the early daily double Saturday with Who Stole My Sock ($9.20) in the first race and Rumblin Kyle ($7.80) in the second. Sheldon Russell also notched back-to-back wins aboard Ocala Jim ($6.60) in the seventh and Dancing Lucy ($9.60) in the eighth. Jevian Toledo was first with Little Kitten ($6.40) in the sixth and Jet Majesty ($9.60) in the 10th, and Feargal Lynch won on Etiquette ($6.80) in the ninth and Y’er Wan ($39.80) in the 11th. Graham Motion trains both Dancing Rags and Etiquette.
