Welovemollynteddy gets tested in Smart Halo
Foxy Junior seeks Twixt repeat
Stronsino cuts back in distance for Polynesian
Popular Oyster Fest event returns on Saturday
LAUREL, MD—Louis Ulman, Walter Vieser II, and Michael Scheffres’ Walt’s Notion, a well-bred son of Great Notion, was named the even-money favorite by Horse Racing Nation for Saturday’s $100,000 James F. Lewis III Stakes for 2-year-olds at six furlongs.
The James F. Lewis III is one of four $100,000 stakes on the star-studded ten-race program, which also includes the Smart Halo Stakes for juvenile fillies at six furlongs, the Twixt Stakes for fillies and mares at one mile, and the Polynesian Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at one mile.
Gates open at Laurel Park on Saturday at 11 am ET. The first race starts at 12 pm, and two “Value Pick 5” wagers offer a bettor-friendly 12% takeout.
Laurel Park also hosts the popular Oyster Fest from noon to 4 pm. Top brands, including True Chesapeake, Choptank Oyster Company, and Tom’s Cove Aqua Farms, will be represented. Admission is free. Reserve your spot here.
A 2 3/4-length debut winner at Delaware Park on August 14, Walt’s Notion then finished a close second to Strong Suspicion in the restricted First State Dash Stakes at the same track on September 11.
“He put forth a winning effort in his last start,” trainer Phil Capuano said. “It was a shame that he just got beat by a better horse. Those two ran together the first time, and I would say we got a better trip. [Last time, Strong Suspicion] had the perfect trip, the perfect post. He sat off our heels. Both horses had to work for it. That horse came out on top.”
Walt’s Notion, the stakes-winning sprinter Pont Aven’s half-brother, will wear a set of cheater blinkers for the first time this Saturday. Mychel Sanchez will ride.
“The first time when he broke his maiden, it looked like he was kind of looking around,” noted Capuano. “He just really wasn’t focused out there. On the gallop-out in the stake, he just stuck right next to that horse, and didn’t really keep on going. He came back, and he really wasn’t blowing. He didn’t act like he was tired.”
Colts Neck Stables’ Grind It Out, a $325,000 purchase in June, ran to the gaudy auction price in his well-bet debut at Colonial for trainer Jorge Duarte Jr., wiring the field by 4¾ lengths.
“He caught my eye when he arrived at the barn in New Jersey,” said Duarte. “[After the sale], we gave him a little freshening in the paddock at our training center. He hasn’t missed a beat in training. He’s very easy to train. We were excited to see him run for the first time. He was well-bet on the board and seemed a little green when he ran away from the field. He learned a lot from that race.”
Colts Neck captured the 2015 edition of the James F. Lewis III Stakes with Awesome Speed. Johan Rosado rides Grind It Out.
David Ross’ DARRS Inc. campaigns Harewood for trainer Brittany Russell. Stakes-placed on turf in his most recent start, the gray son of Daredevil won his lone dirt appearance to date, wiring the field in a restricted maiden special weight at Colonial on August 6. Sheldon Russell rides from the inside post.
Barak Farm’s Remembertheword earned a stakes-placing on dirt at Colonial two starts back, finishing third in the restricted Hickory Tree. The Maryland-bred gelding finished behind Harewood on turf in his most recent start. Jose Corrales trains. Yedsit Hazlewood rides.
Maiden winners Dats Improbable (Carlos Lopez), Prince of Peace (TBA), and It’s Prime Time (Ramon Moya) complete the field. Trainer Graham Motion said on Wednesday that Indian Pharoah (Jorge Ruiz), cross-entered in a stakes race at Delaware on Saturday, is 50/50 to run in the James F. Lewis III.
*Welovemollynteddy gets tested in Smart Halo
Charles Biggs’ Harper’s Corner is the “name” horse in the Smart Halo, but the filly is also entered in Saturday’s Grade 3 Matron Stakes on turf at Belmont and is questionable to run at Laurel.
If she runs here, Harper’s Corner is expected to be the leading contender after two impressive early-career wins with trainer Cal Lynch. She easily captured Saratoga’s Schuylerville Stakes on July 3 and narrowly finished second in the Grade 1 Spinaway last month. A rider will be announced.
Bran Jam Stable and David Clark’s Welovemollynteddy also turned heads over the summer. She made her debut with style at Parx on August 25, winning a maiden special weight race by 15 1/2 lengths. Eliseo Ruiz rides the daughter of first-crop sire Cyberknife.
“She had been showing that she could be that type of horse in the mornings,” said Parx-based trainer Lou Linder Jr. “She just outworked everything. I put some better horses against her just to give her some competition. We thought that [debut] was in her, and she certainly showed it.”
Linder did mention Welovemollynteddy’s quirky demeanor. “She’s a flight risk,” he said. “She’s an absolute handful. We do a lot of repetitive [schooling] at the gate to try to get her head in the game. Physically, she’s petite and put together very nicely, but mentally, she still has her moments. She’s a sweetheart of a horse, but she does get wound up.”
Linder mentioned some ways to try to counteract his filly’s behavior, including sending her down to Laurel a day early to acclimate to her surroundings and potentially having her excused from the post parade on race day.
Russell entered two promising fillies. Bowen Thoroughbred Racing and the Estate of Brereton Jones’ Piggybunz is a proven commodity on dirt, running away and hiding from a maiden-optional claiming field on debut at Colonial on August 27. Sheldon Russell rides the gray filly by Happy Saver.
It was no surprise that Russell debuted Tami Bobo’s Bellablaze on turf at Colonial, since she is a half-sister to Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint heroine Shisospicy. Bellablaze came through that day with a pace-pressing win, and it’s worth noting that some dirt influences run deeper in her female family. Mychel Sanchez rides Bellablaze, who would likely be a handful if she can transfer her turf form to dirt.
Owner-trainer Hamilton Smith’s Talking Foolish rallied from off the pace to graduate in her second start at Colonial Downs. Taylor Kingsley rides the Blofeld filly, who might appreciate a quick, competitive early pace.
Trainer Gary Capuano said on Thursday morning that he is unlikely to run Martiniwithatwist and Whitten Way. Trainer Hugh McMahon said on Wednesday that he will scratch Go New York Go and await another race at Laurel on Sunday.
*Foxy Junior eyes Twixt Stakes repeat
Dianne Stern’s Foxy Junior has enjoyed some of her finest career moments at Laurel Park. The 6-year-old mare swept the Maryland Million Distaff and Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes in 2024, won last year’s Twixt Stakes in dominating fashion, and finished a strong third while defending her Maryland Million Distaff crown.
After a pair of stakes placings in Pennsylvania, Foxy Junior returns to Laurel for the 2026 edition of the Twixt.
“She’s getting older,” said trainer Bernie Houghton. “You always wonder in the back of your mind how long it’s going to last, but right now, she’s doing great. I picked this race as a prep for the Maryland Million [Distaff].”
Foxy Junior finished third in the restricted Princess of Sylmar Stakes on the Tapeta surface at Presque Isle Downs on August 17 and should appreciate returning to dirt.
“It was a good race,” Houghton said. “I think she’s really good [right now]. Jockey [Jomar Torres] got on her [Tuesday morning], and it was all he could do to keep her on the ground. She’s very sharp.”
Dream Big Racing’s Dazzling Move has banked $576,287 in her career. The winner of the Grade 3 Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream last year, Dazzling Move also earned a Grade 1 placing in Saratoga’s Ogden Phipps Stakes.
Conditioned by John Ortiz, the Not This Time mare enters the Twixt in good form following a victory in a high-level allowance at Horseshoe Indianapolis on September 3. Rosado picks up the mount.
Brittany Russell, who has won the annual trainer’s title in Maryland for the past three years, saddles Repole Stable’s Waveless and Machmer Hall Thoroughbreds’ Especially.
Waveless won twice for trainer Todd Pletcher before being transferred to Russell’s Laurel base. In her first start for her new trainer, Waveless finished a gallant second in the Maggie L. Walker Stakes at Colonial Downs. Sheldon Russell rides Waveless.
Machmer Hall purchased Especially for $135,000 in the summer of 2025. She has won two of four starts for Russell, including a hard-fought victory in a second-level allowance at Colonial on August 13. Sanchez pilots Especially.
Grade 3-placed Reputation (Jorge Ruiz), Grade 2-placed Anna’s Promise (Jevian Toledo), and multiple stakes-placed Sheilahs Warcloud also entered the Twixt.
Trainer Michael Stidham said Wednesday that Amalfi Drive will scratch. Bush Racing Stables’ David Bushey also said that Doctor Abbie will withdraw.
*Stronsino cuts back in distance for Polynesian
Madison Avenue Racing and Morris Kernan Jr.’s Stronsino missed more than a year of racing after an open-lengths victory in a second-level allowance race at Laurel on June 13, 2025.
Trained by Jamie Ness, the Dialed In gelding looks as good as new after three starts this year, most recently finishing third in the Greenwood Cup at Parx over 1 ½ miles two weeks ago. Sanchez will ride.
“He came off the layoff good, won off the bat, and I thought he ran good in [the Greenwood Cup],” Ness said. “He could have run better with a different trip. He needed to be on the lead. He ran respectably. It’s coming back a little quick, but I’m stacked in that category. There are only so many races around, so we’ll wheel him back quick. You always like cutting back in distance. That’s a good angle in racing.”
Ness believes Stronsino’s running style can be adjusted for this shorter distance if necessary. Stronsino won from off the pace earlier in his career.
“Going a mile, he’ll probably be close, but he won’t be on the lead, especially after that 1 ½ miles taking the speed out of him,” Ness admitted.
Winterfell, owned by a large partnership, won all three starts for Russell in 2024, including the City of Laurel Stakes. A hulking gray son of Arrogate, he was returned to Bob Baffert in Southern California after the City of Laurel. He finished fifth in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes, then missed significant time.
After a third-place finish in his 2026 debut, Winterfell was reunited with Russell and ran a strong third in a high-level allowance at Colonial on August 20. Sheldon Russell will ride.
Mr. Ripple from Bush Racing Stables, trained by Tim Kreiser, has quickly secured his last two wins, with margins totaling 17 ¼ lengths.
“Incredible horse, I’m proud of him,” said David Bushey, the Co-Founder and Owner of Bush Racing. “We’re pretty confident. We bought the horse privately off some friends. We’ve always liked him. I think people probably don’t know this because you don’t see it on his past performances, but he was beaten five lengths by Forte in the [2023] Florida Derby. [Tim] seems to do well with these horses with back class.”
Owner-trainer Joanne Shankle’s Zero Blitz won his first six starts at Laurel Park, including last year’s City of Laurel Stakes, but the Jimmy Creed gelding tasted defeat for the first time locally last month when he was forced to race on a sloppy track. Jorge Ruiz rides Zero Blitz, who has won 8 of 15 starts.
Multiple stakes-placed Bold Diversion (Carlos Lopez) and multiple stakes-winner J J Zo Zo (Charlie Marquez) try their luck in the Polynesian. On Thursday morning, Gary Capuano was uncertain whether rail-drawn Shaft’s Bullet (Yedsit Hazlewood) would participate.