LAUREL, MD. 09-21-12---Trainer Jamie Ness and jockey Abel Castellano teamed up to win three races on the Friday card at Laurel Park, crossing the finish line first with Anchovy ($2.60-first), Lemon Juice ($2.80-fourth) and Drunken Love ($4-fifth). All three are owned by Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc.

After 11 days of the fall meeting, Ness tops the trainer standings, with 11 victories from 31 starters. Castellano leads the rider standings with 16 wins. Ten have been aboard Ness runners.

“I have been riding for Jamie since last year and have so much confidence with every horse he puts me on,” said Castellano, who has seven winners from 20 mounts this week at Laurel. “I am feeling good and other people are giving me opportunities as well. It has been a great week. I have been riding a lot of live horses.”

Castellano ranks in the top 25 nationally with 148 wins this year.

Ness leads all North American trainers with 319 victories.

MS VANENZZA TAKES FRIDAY FEATURE

A field of seven filly and mare stakes campaigners met in today’s $47,000 Optional/Allowance feature and it was Florence Patitucci’s Ms Vanenzza who tracked a pair of dueling frontrunners and caught them in deep stretch to win it all.

Horacio Karamanos rode the Juan Vazquez trainee to a half length victory in 1:24.02 for the 7-furlong distance.  Tiz the Argument finished second, while frontrunner Romantic Cuvee held on to finish third. G3 winner Eve Giselle, the 6-5 favorite, was fourth.

“I wanted to follow the Tim Ritchey filly (Eve Giselle) because I thought she was the horse to beat,” Karamanos said. “Six of the seven horses in the race were stakes winners so it was going to take a top effort and she ran big. Juan Vazquez loved her in this spot. He told me I couldn’t lose.”

This was Ms Vanenzza’s first win since September 23, 2011. The daughter of Successful Appeal, who won the Blue Hen Stakes at Delaware Park in 2009, paid $20.60.

MARQUEZ TO CALL MARYLAND HOME FOR THE BALANCE OF THE YEAR

Carlos Marquez, Jr., who was a top ten rider in Maryland in the late 1990’s, will call Laurel Park his home for the balance of 2012. The 45-year-old has three wins during the fall meeting.

Marquez was aboard George Steinbrenner’s Concerto for victories in four stakes races leading up to the 1997 Kentucky Derby (G1), including the Federico Tesio Stakes (G3) at Pimlico Race Course.

Marquez rode Salt It to victory in the 1997 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2). Twenty-seven years earlier his father, Carlos Marquez, captured the Black-Eyed Susan with Office Queen.

The 45-year-old has 2,679 career wins in a career that began in 1985.

About Laurel Park

Laurel Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida and is one of North America's top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world's largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is also a major producer of televised horse racing programming through its HRTV cable and satellite network and is North America's premier supplier of virtual online horse racing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.