Smith Saddles Three in Saturday’s Five Stakes
Saturday’s Rainbow 6 Carryover $91,000
Rainbow Heir Seeks Victory in $100,000 Dave’s Friend
Lexington Street Looking for Four Straight in Juvenile Filly

LAUREL, MD - Veteran conditioner Hamilton Smith could have a memorable afternoon this coming Saturday when he saddles starters in three of the five stakes races being run at Laurel Park.

Smith, who saddled his first winner at Suffolk Downs in 1977, saddles Maryland Million Distaff winner Lionhearted Lady in the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go, stakes-placed Coach Fridge in the $50,000 Jennings, and Easy River in the $50,000 Maryland Juvenile Futurity.

First race post for Saturday’s nine-race program is 12:25 p.m. The program will also include a $91,337 carryover in the 10-cent Rainbow 6.

Lionhearted Lady, a 4-year-old filly by Lion Hearted, won the Maryland Million Distaff at seven furlongs by two lengths Oct. 17 before finishing third last time out in the Willa On the Move Stakes at six furlongs behind the graded-stakes winner Lady Sabelia. She’ll try a mile in Saturday’s Thirty Eight Go Go.

“She finished good in that race, she was closing, so that’s what you want to see,” said Smith, who’s filly is two for three at the distance and has never finished off the board in seven starts at Laurel. “I think she’s a better middle-distance horse than she is anything else. Seven eighths of a mile is her best distance, so we have that in our favor. I don’t know if she’s good enough to handle some of those mares in there, but there’s only one way to find out. She’s as good as we’re going to get her.”

In the seven furlong Maryland Juvenile Futurity, Smith sends out Easy River, a son of Not For Love who broke his maiden on the turf Oct. 30 while coming from off the pace. In his previous two races on the dirt, Easy River went to the front and faltered.

“We've been trying to change his running style a little bit,” Smith said. “If you noticed his first couple of races he was up there on the front end and backed up. He was getting a little speed crazy and I didn't like that, so I've been working him behind horses and doing some different things in the training procedure. When I ran him on the grass I told the boy to take him back and he ran a real good race. Last week I worked him behind a filly and he laid back about three lengths off of her, and I told the kid on the filly to ease off the fence a little bit and see if he'd come through and he did, and he went on by pretty handily. Hopefully he can get the distance. I think he should. He's been training real well."

Coach Fridge, second in the New Castle Stakes at Delaware in September, will be making his first start since finishing fourth in the Maryland Million Sprint Handicap.

“Time off wasn't planned,” Smith said. “We've been trying to get him in an allowance race or two and none of them have been able to fill. He's been training well. He usually runs fairly well fresh. We going take a swing at them and see."

Rainbow Heir Seeks Victory in $100,000 Dave’s Friend

Trainer Ben Perkins has reason to be optimistic about New Farm’s Rainbow Heir heading into Saturday’s six furlong The Dave’s Friend. The 5-year-old enters the race off a 4 ¼-length victory in an allowance optional claiming event Dec. 4 at Laurel for his eighth victory in 18 career starts and his third victory in four starts at Laurel.

Rainbow Heir has raced just six times this year, starting in May with a fourth-place finish in the John J. Reilly Handicap and a fifth in June in the Mr. Prospector Stakes. The son of Wildcat Heir also finished second in September in the New Jersey Breeders Handicap.

“He ran real well [last out],” Perkins said. “We got a little behind getting him started up because of the weather last winter and, at Monmouth, he just wasn’t really 100 percent ready when we started running him. I think his early races took a little bit out of him and it just took him a while to come around. He’s a nice, sound horse and in the fall he started to come back to himself.”

Perkins said Rainbow Heir’s fondness for Laurel “went into the thinking” of running him in the Dave’s Friend. “He always runs well here.”

Lexington Street Looking for Four Straight in Juvenile Filly

Marathon Farm, owned by Peter Angelos, CEO and majority owner of the Baltimore Orioles, not only has a promising 2-year-old in Showalter running in the Maryland Juvenile Futurity Saturday but a talented filly in the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship in Lexington Street.

A daughter of Street Sense out of the mare Lexington Girl (a daughter of Storm Cat who sold as a yearling in 2002 for $1.3 million), Lexington Street has reeled off three consecutive wins after finishing second in her debut back in September. Trained by Gary Capuano, Lexington Street broke her maiden Oct. 4 before winning the Maryland Million Lassie Stakes Oct. 17 and an allowance optional claimer at a mile Nov. 27.

“She came out of [the last race] fine; she had a real good breeze on Saturday so everything looks to be a go,” Capuano said. “She's pretty versatile. The mile was a perfect race for her. Cutting back to the seven furlongs should not be a problem. She's got enough tactical speed if you need her to stay close, she will. She gets a good trip, she should be okay."

On the fact Angelos has two of the favorites in Saturday’s Juvenile stakes, Capuano said; “He deserves it. He's been in the game for a while. It's nice for him to come up with a decent horse and maybe have some fun with."