Nominations Close Saturday for Trio of $100,000 Stakes Nov. 9
Apprentice Matilda Burham Rides First Laurel Winner Thursday

LAUREL, MD – Rose Petal Stable’s 3-year-old Copper Tax, a three-time stakes winner at Laurel Park that has not run since late June, continues to train forwardly for his return to the races.

Rose Petal’s Chris Loso said a decision was made to give Copper Tax a break after the bay son of Grade 2 winner Copper Bullet earned graded-stakes credentials when he finished third in the June 22 Ohio Derby (G3) at Thistledown, his most recent start.

Triple Crown-nominated Copper Tax had earned an automatic berth in the 149th Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, May 18 at historic Pimlico Race Course for his victory in Laurel’s April 20 Federico Tesio, but after some consideration was rerouted to Ohio.

“We wanted to rest him for a while,” Loso said. “We were thinking about racing him over the summer, but he had had a lot of races early in the season. When we decided not to run him at the Preakness we ran him in the Ohio Derby and he did well there. He came in third and was driving at the end. I think he had a real good shot at doing even better, but it is what it is. I think he did well.”

The Ohio Derby was Copper Tax’s ninth start in 10 months dating back to successive allowance scores last September at Delaware Park, where he broke his maiden two months earlier. His most recent wins have come in the 2023 James F. Lewis III, March 23 Private Terms and Tesio, all at Laurel.

“He’s healthy, he’s strong and I think that time off has been good, just to give him a rest in general. There’s nothing wrong with him, we just wanted to make sure he was going to continue to do well,” Loso said. “I think way he’s been training and getting ramped back up I think he’s in a good place. We’re looking forward to what we want to do in terms of races coming up in the near future.”

Copper Tax has breezed eight times since returning to the work tab in late August, including a bullet five-furlong move from the gate in 1:01 Oct. 9 and another five-eighths in 1:02.20 Oct. 16.

“When I was watching the various videos about the Ohio Derby, I think a lot of people weren’t giving him enough credit,” Loso said. “First and foremost, we care about the health of the horse. I think he was a little bit tired, and we didn’t want to risk it by continuing to run. A 3-year-old horse is young. People don’t realize that they’ve got a lot of life in them, so we just wanted to conserve that to make sure that we can run him in the future.”

Laurel’s final stakes for 3-year-olds in 2024 is the $100,000 City of Laurel sprinting seven furlongs over Thanksgiving weekend Saturday, Nov. 30. Laurel also hosts the six-furlong Dave’s Friend and 1 1/8-mile Richard W. Small Nov. 23 and 1 1/16-mile Robert T. Manfuso Dec. 21, all for 3-year-olds and up.

“Right now we’re just ramping him up for running him later this fall and getting him ready for next year’s campaign,” Loso said. “We’ve talked about different races coming up, but we haven’t pegged any of them yet. We should know in the near future, for sure.”

With Capuano as agent, Rose Petal purchased two colts at Fasig-Tipton’s Kentucky October yearling sale this week – a son of four-time Grade 1 winner, multimillionaire and 2020 champion older male Improbable for $25,000, and a son of Grade 1-winning millionaire Spun to Run for $16,000.

Nominations Close Saturday for Trio of $100,000 Stakes Nov. 9

Nominations close Saturday for three $100,000 stakes to be run at Laurel Park Saturday, Nov. 9.

Juveniles will be in the spotlight in the James F. Lewis III for 2-year-olds and Smart Halo for 2-year-old fillies, both sprinting six furlongs. They will be joined by the 1 1/16-mile Thirty Eight Go Go for fillies and mares 3 and up.

Entries will be taken and post positions drawn Sunday, Nov. 3 for all three stakes.

Free nominations can be made by contacting Maryland Jockey Club stakes coordinator Eleanor Albert at Eleanor.Albert@marylandracing.com or by contacting the racing office at 301-725-0400.

Notes: Seven-pound apprentice jockey Matilda Burham earned her 21st career victory and first at Laurel Park aboard Maryland-bred gelding Work for Peace ($19.60) Thursday in Race 6, a six-furlong maiden claimer for 2-year-olds. Burnham is a Maine native that won her first professional race last summer in Pleasanton, Calif. and is now primarily based at Parx … Jockey Jaime Rodriguez notched back-to-back wins Thursday aboard Diamond Sue ($6.20) in Race 4 and Rough Draft ($8.60) in Race 5 … Tuck Check ($8.60), a 3-year-old daughter of Divisidero making her fourth career start, surged past African Waters in mid-stretch and went on to a one-length victory in Race 3, a one-mile maiden special weight for fillies and mares ages 3, 4 and 5. The winning time was 1:36.11 over a firm Kelso turf course … Thursday’s other maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies in Race 7 was won by R. Larry Johnson and R.D.M. Racing Stable’s three-time stakes-placed Sail Theseven Seas ($3.60) in 1:45.75 for 1 1/16 miles on the Kelso layout.