‘Win & In’ for Triple Crown Nominees to 148th Preakness (G1)
Tops Four Stakes Worth $450,000 in Purses Saturday, April 15
Weber City Miss Qualifier for $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2)
Live Racing Returns to Laurel Thursday to Start Four-Day Week

LAUREL, MD – Multiple stakes winners Coffeewithchris, Prince of Jericho, Ninetyprcentmaddie and Recruiter and Grade 2-placed Fort Warren top 27 nominations to the $125,000 Federico Tesio for 3-year-olds Saturday, April 15 at Laurel Park.

The 1 1/8-mile Tesio headlines four stakes worth $450,000 in purses on a Spring Stakes Spectacular program that includes the $125,000 Weber City Miss for 3-year-old fillies, $100,000 Frank Y. Whiteley for 3-year-olds and up and $100,000 Heavenly Cause for fillies and mares 3 and older.

For the eighth straight year, the Tesio will serve as a ‘Win and In’ qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the 148th Preakness Stakes (G1) May 20 at historic Pimlico Race Course. The Weber City Miss, at about 1 1/16 miles, earns the winner an automatic berth in Pimlico’s 99th Black-Eyed Susan (G2) May 19.

John Salzman Jr., Fred Wasserloos and Anthony Geruso’s Coffeewithchris won the seven-furlong Heft in 2022 and one-mile Miracle Wood Feb. 18 at Laurel, and exits a second to Blue Grass (G1)-bound Hayes Strike in the 1 1/16-mile Private Terms March 18. He also ran second in the Jan. 21 Spectacular Bid and third in the 2022 Maryland Juvenile.

Michael Dubb and Morris Bailey’s Prince of Jericho beat Coffeewithchris in the Spectacular Bid and was second in the Heft and Miracle Wood. He is one of five Tesio nominees from trainer Brittany Russell including Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds’ homebred Circling the Drain, a two-time winner that ran third in the Private Terms in his stakes debut.

Two of Russell’s nominees were transferred from Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert by owners SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan – Fort Warren, unraced since finishing in the San Vicente (G2) Jan. 29 at Santa Anita, and Uncle Jake, a 9 ½-length maiden special weight winner March 10 at Laurel.

LC Racing’s homebred Ninetyprcentmaddie owns four wins from seven starts for trainer Robert E. ‘Butch’ Reid Jr. including the 2022 Whistle Pig and March 6 City of Brotherly Love, both at Parx, the latter at a mile and 70 yards. His lates 9 ¾-length triumph came after being eased in the 1 1/8-mile Withers (G3) Feb. 11 at Aqueduct.

Lynch Racing and Nick Sanna Stables’ Recruiter reeled off four straight wins to open his career including the 2022 James F. Lewis III at Laurel in his stakes debut and Jan. 3 Parx Juvenile before suffering his first loss when finishing 11th in the one-mile Gotham (G3) March 4 at Aqueduct.

Also prominent among Tesio nominees are 2022 Rocky Run winner Tuskegee Airmen, third in the 1 1/8-mile Remsen (G2) in December at Aqueduct; multiple stakes-placed Honeyquist, exiting back-to-back wins at Charles Town; Gotham winner Raise Cain, pointing to the April 8 Blue Grass at Keeneland; and last-out winners Didinger, Eldest Son, Kingfish Stevens, Masterwork, Perform, Summer Cause, Thunderian and Time to Cruise.

Wachtel Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gary Barber’s Lady Lowery, winner of the one-mile Beyond The Wire March 18 at Laurel, and William Walden-trained stablemate T Max, second in the 2022 Rags to Riches at Churchill Downs, head 21 nominees to the Weber City Miss.

Swilcan Stable and LC Racing’s Girl Trouble, also based at Parx with Butch Reid, has never been worse than third in nine starts. Four of them have been wins led by a six-length triumph in the filly division of the 2022 Future Stars and a 5 ¼-length score in the Parx Futurity Jan. 3.

Opus Forty Two, winner of the Jan. 14 Gasparilla at Tampa Bay Downs; Social Success, who beat Girl Trouble winning her third straight race in the March 6 Main Line at Parx; Beyond The Wire runner-up Happy Clouds and fellow stakes-placed fillies Crypto Mama and Fast Tracked.

Most popular among horsemen with 38 nominations was the seven-furlong Whiteley, led by graded-stakes winners Double Crown, Eastern Bay, Informative, Repo Rocks, Runninsonofagun and Wondrwherecraigis as well as multiple stakes winners Alwaysinahurry, Bankit, Beren, Factor It In, Kenny Had a Notion, Nimitz Class, No Cents, Ournationonparade, Smooth B, Threes Over Deuces, Twisted Ride, Wendell Fong and Witty, and multiple graded-stakes placed Doppelganger.

OXO Equine’s 5-year-old Travel Column, a Grade 2 winner at 2 and 4; stakes winners Award Wanted, Deco Strong, Hybrid Eclipse, Leader of the Band, Mavilus and Moon Swag; and stakes-placed Beneath the Stars, Beth’s Dream, Moma Tiger, Ninetypercentbrynn and Pistol Liz Ablazen top 22 nominees to the one-mile Heavenly Cause.

Notes: Champion jockey Sheldon Russell finished second as the favorite aboard Joel Politi’s Thunder Boss, the 2-5 favorite in Sunday’s opener, a six-furlong maiden claimer for fillies and mares age 3, 4 and 5. It was Russell’s first mount since running third with Hybrid Eclipse in the Carousel Dec. 30 at Laurel … 3-year-old gelding Shackinthebox ($3.60) captured Race 3 to give jockey Jeiron Barbosa his first win as a journeyman. Barbosa, 19, finished second in Eclipse Award voting for champion apprentice of 2022 … 9-year-old gelding Bobby G ($11), owned and trained by David Mohan, earned his 17th win from 72 career starts in Race 5, a starter optional claimer for 3-year-olds and up. The winning time was 1:38.64 for one mile … Ridden by Angel Cruz for trainer Mike Trombetta, Golden Effect ($6.60) came back to edge Proper Attire in featured Race 7, a six-furlong optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up … Live racing returns to Laurel Thursday, April 6, with a 20-cent Rainbow 6 carryover of $2,99.64 to begin four-day racing during the 21-day spring meet that runs through Sunday, May 7. First race post time is 12:25 p.m.