Moody Woman Chasing First Stakes Victory in Primonetta
Grateful Bred Launching Season in King T. Leatherbury
G3 Winner English Bee Seeks Fourth Stakes in Henry S. Clark

LAUREL, MD - Thomas Coulter’s 4-year-old homebred Nimitz Class, named for the U.S. Navy’s fast and powerful nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, returns to Laurel Park looking for a fourth consecutive stakes victory in the $100,000 Native Dancer.

The Native Dancer is among five $100,000 stakes on a 11-race program rescheduled from April 22.

A younger full brother to Kaylasaurus, the multiple stakes-winning mare also bred on Coulter’s Arrowwood Farm in York Springs, Pa., Nimitz Class is the richest horse Coulter has ever owned, with $354,480 in purse earnings from 14 starts, eight of them wins.

Nimitz Class tied a career high with his third straight win last time out in the one-mile Harrison E. Johnson Memorial March 18 at Laurel, opening a three-length lead after six furlongs and cruising home by 6 ¼ lengths. The Munnings colt opened the season with a front-running 4 ½-length triumph in the 1 1/16-mile John B. Campbell, also as the favorite, after capping 2022 with half-length victory at odds of 6-1 in the Robert T. Manfuso.

“He’s done nothing wrong, and I’m just amazed. Every start he seems to get a little bit better,” Coulter said. “What I didn’t think he was capable of, he just goes out and proves me wrong every time. And I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet.”

Nimitz Class will face five horses in the Native Dancer, among them stakes winners Forewarned and Vance Scholars. Trin-Brook Stables, Inc.’s Forewarned, an 8-year-old Ohio-bred owned and trained by Uriah St. Lewis, owns seven career stakes victories including the March 7 Washington Crossing at Parx, was third in the Westchester (G3) at Belmont Park and second in the Native Dancer in 2020.

Steve Newby’s Vance Scholars won an off-the-turf edition of the 1 3/16-mile Bald Eagle Derby last August at Laurel then placed in both the Cape Henlopen at Delaware Park and Laurel’s Japan Turf Cup, each switched from the grass to the main track. An optional claiming allowance winner Jan. 14 to open his 4-year-old season, Vance Scholars was seventh to Nimitz Class in the Campbell.

Ain’t Da Beer Cold, who ran second to Nimitz Class in the Manfuso and third in the Campbell; American d’Oro, sixth in both the Johnson and Manfuso; and Nostalgic Run complete the field.

Moody Woman Chasing First Stakes Victory in Primonetta

Robert James McGee’s Grade 3-placed ex-claimer Moody Woman will face six rivals including a trio of accomplished John Robb-trained stablemates as she continues the chase for her first stakes victory in the $100,000 Primonetta.

Trained by Marilyn McMullen for her 88-year-old father, Moody Woman has been third three times in four starts this year to go along with a last-out optional claiming allowance victory sprinting seven furlongs over a sloppy and sealed track March 24. In the Primonetta she cuts back to six furlongs, a distance where she has a record of 2-2-2 from six tries.

“When you go longer you get the speed that gets away from you, but she has a good kick at three-quarters and I think she’ll run well at that distance,” McMullen said. “She’s training well and we’re looking forward to running her.”

Moody Woman enjoyed a career year in her second season of 2022, going 3-2-3 from 11 starts with $162,430 in purse earnings. The daughter of Gormley has been a model of consistency, finishing worse than third only three times in 21 races with a bankroll of over $300,000.

Claimed by McMullen for $16,000 in October 2021, Moody Woman ran in four stakes last year, finishing third in the Weather Vane, fourth in the Safely Kept and sixth in the Wide Country at Laurel and fourth behind multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire Frank’s Rockette in the Pink Ribbon at Charles Town. She rallied to be third, beaten two lengths, in the seven-furlong Barbara Fritchie (G3) Feb. 18 at odds of 59-1.

“When I looked at the tote board, she was [59] to 1 and I went, ‘Oh my gosh,’” McMullen said. “The public thought I was in the wrong spot, but I liked the way she was training into it for sure.”

Winner of the 1999 Primonetta with Valay Bullett, Robb will send out Fuhgeddaboutdit, Princess Kokachin and Street Lute. No Guts No Glory Farm’s Fuhgeddaboutdit, 4, has faced stakes company once previously, finishing fourth in the Lewes last summer at Delaware Park, but comes in riding a three-race win streak sprinting 5 ½ and six furlongs at Laurel, the most recent March 12.

Unraced since Feb. 24, Eric Rizer’s 5-year-old homebred mare Princess Kokachin ran second behind Response Time in back-to-back allowances at Laurel. Fourth to Kaylasaurus in last year’s Primonetta, she became a stakes winner with her front-running 5 ½-length score in the 2021 Politely, also six furlongs at Laurel.

Lucky 7 Stables’ Street Lute owns 10 wins, eight in stakes, and $634,380 in purses earned. Five of her stakes wins have come at Laurel, won in succession between November 2020 and February 2021. Third in last year’s Primonetta, she returned from a seven-month absence to be fifth in a 5 ½-furlong optional claiming allowance Feb. 4 and was second by a half-length in the seven-furlong Conniver March 18.

Completing the field are Hnr Nothhaft Horse Racing’s Prodigy Doll, winner of the 2021 Cheryl S. White Memorial at Mahoning Valley who this year has won an optional claiming allowance and run fifth in the Fritchie at Laurel and finished second in the March 11 Correction at Aqueduct; Tee N Jay Stable’s Oxana, second in the Shine Again at Pimlico prior to a victory in the Roamin Rachel at Parx last fall; and Easy to Bless, winner of the 2022 Xtra Heat at Aqueduct.

Grateful Bred Launching Season in King T. Leatherbury

Gordon Keys’ Maryland homebred Grateful Bred, winless in seven starts last year following a career season in 2021, seeks a successful launch to his 7-year-old campaign in Saturday’s $100,000 King T. Leatherbury at Laurel Park.

The 5 ½-furlong Leatherbury for 3-year-olds and up is among five $100,000 stakes on a 11-race program rescheduled from April 22, and one of the first three of the season scheduled for the grass along with the Henry S. Clark for 3-year-olds and up and Dahlia for fillies and mares 3 and older, both going one mile.

Rounding out the stakes are the 1 1/8-mile Native Dancer for 3-year-olds and up and six-furlong Primonetta for fillies and mares 3 and older on dirt. First race post time is 12:25 p.m.

Grateful Bred won three of his five starts in 2021 capped by his first stakes victory in the Maryland Million Turf Sprint. He continued to run well in 2022 but finished the year 0-for-7 with four seconds, all in stakes, twice to six-time stakes winner Carotari.

“He ran some really big races and just here and there had some not great luck. He ran hard every single time and always seemed to hit that horse that was maybe just a step better. That was kind of our year, second-itis,” trainer Madison Meyers said.

“I still was really happy with his year last year. Obviously, we prefer to win, but he showed up and danced the dance every time,” she added. “We just kind of hit some tough horses. These are good races that he’s strung together. We just happened to have met some horses that were maybe just a step ahead.”

Grateful Bred drew Post 10 in a field of 14 for the Leatherbury, his first start since finishing fifth as the favorite in defense of his Maryland Million title in October, a race where he lost all chance after being soundly bumped at the start.

“He’s full of energy and seems really good,” Meyers said. “We had some tough luck in the Maryland Million. I thought he was kind of sitting on ready there and he got just completely annihilated coming out of the gate and that was that for that day. It was sort of a sore note to put him away on in the fall, but I don’t think he took it personally. He seems to be in good form. I guess we’ll see.”

James Shannon Jr.’s That’s Right, front-running winner of the five-furlong Turf Monster (G3) last fall at Parx, is also set to make his season debut. The 4-year-old Goldencents colt won four times from nine starts last year including the 5 ½-furlong My Frenchman in July at Monmouth Park, and ended running fifth after setting the pace in the six-furlong Carle Place at Aqueduct in October.

Joanne Shankle-owned and trained Can the Queen is a multiple stakes winner that captured the 2021 and 2022 Sensible Lady and 2022 The Very One at Pimlico. The 7-year-old mare opened last season running fourth in the Leatherbury, her first start in six months, and returns for this year’s race off a similar layoff.

D Hatman Thoroughbreds and Kingdom Bloodstock Inc.’s Determined Kingdom is a two-time stakes winner against fellow Virginia-breds with the 5 ½-furlong Punch Line last July at Colonial Downs his most recent. He has run three times on the Laurel turf with two wins, both coming at the Leatherbury distance, including his Punch Line prep. Third in the Mahony, 4 ½ lengths ahead of That’s Right, he has earned all four of his career wins at 5 ½ furlongs.

Completing the field are 2022 Turf Monster runner-up Boat’s a Rockin; E.J.’s Revenge, an 11-time winner from 86 starts, primarily on dirt; Showtime Cat, third in the 2022 Maryland Million Turf Sprint; Backnthewoods, third in the 2022 Challedon last fall on Laurel’s main track; and Breakthrough, winner of last summer’s 5 ½-furlong Wolf Hill on the Monmouth turf. Alwaysinahurry, Breezy Gust, Karan’s Notion, Stage Left and Synthesis are entered for main track only.

Irish-Bred Stablemates Represent Motion in $100,000 Dahlia

Irish-bred stablemates Miss Carol Ann and Sopran Basilea, the latter a multiple group-stakes winner in Italy, look to make their mark in the U.S. against a solid field that includes defending champion Deciding Vote and Grade 3 winner Surprisingly in the $100,000 Dahlia.

Staghawk Stables’ Miss Carol Ann is a 4-year-old filly that won two of six starts in England in 2021 and 2022, and was sixth in the one-mile Pebbles (G3) last fall at Aqueduct in her North American debut.

“She got sick not long after that race, so we decided to give her the rest of the year off,” trainer Graham Motion said. “She’s done really well with the time. She looks super.”

Miss Carol Anne was a sprinter in Europe at distances of 6 ¾ and seven furlongs, finishing off the board in a pair of Group 3 stakes. She drew Post 9 under jockey Jorge Ruiz in a field of 10 that includes main-track-only entrant Mit Mazel.

“She’s not an uncomplicated horse at all and I’ve been very happy with her most recent works,” Motion said. “She’s done things nicely. I know in Europe they thought highly of her as a 3-year-old.”

Motion will also send out Madaket Stables and Bill Strauss’ Sopran Basilea for her stateside debut. The 5-year-old mare fetched $316,225 at Arqana’s December 2022 breeding stock sale in France.

“She’s got some quality to her,” Motion said. “She’s not quite as easy as [Miss Carol Ann]. She’s a big more aggressive in her training. But having said that, she certainly hasn’t been complicated by any means.”

Sopran Basilea won the Premio Verziere Mem Aldo Cirla (G3) and Premio Lydia Tesio Italian Champions (G2) in successive starts in the fall of 2021. Primarily a distance horse, making nine straight starts at 1 ¼ miles or longer, she will be trying one mile for the third time and first since September 2021.

“This may end up being a little short for her, but I thought it would be a good spot to get her started locally,” Motion said. “She came to us in the fall and this just seemed like a good starting point, realizing that it’s probably a little shorter than what she’s going to want eventually.”

William Pape’s homebred Deciding Vote will attempt to become just the second repeat winner of the Dahlia, following Embarr in 2013-14 when the race was contested at historic Pimlico Race Course. Trainer Edward Graham is following a similar blueprint as he did last year, when the now 6-year-old mare came off the bench to earn her first stakes victory in the Dahlia. Deciding Vote went on to win an off-the-turf stakes at Parx and clinch both the filly and mare long turf division and overall MATCH Series championships.

After finishing third with Vigilante’s Way in 2021 and second with In a Hurry last year, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey will be represented for a third straight year in the Dahlia with Phipps Stable homebred Surprisingly. The Mastery filly rallied from next-to-last to win the 1 1/16-mile Endeavour (G3) by a neck Feb. 4 in her 4-year-old debut at Tampa Bay Downs where she was third, beaten 1 ½ lengths, in the 1 1/8-mile Hillsborough (G2) last time out March 11.

Also in the Dahlia are Double Fireball, second by a head in the Maryland Million Ladies going 1 1/8 miles on the Laurel turf last October; Takntothecleaners, a last out winner going a mile on the grass March 10 at Fair Grounds; Silver Currency, riding a two-race win streak into her stakes debut for trainer Brittany Russell; Youens and Misty Mauve.

G3 Winner English Bee Seeks Fourth Stakes in Henry S. Clark

Calumet Farm’s Grade 3-winning homebred English Bee is set to make his 30th career start and first at Laurel Park in the $100,000 Henry S. Clark.

Trained by Graham Motion, who won the Clark in 2017 with Ascend and 2019 with Irish Strait, English Bee will be making his third start this year after racing only four times in 2022 and going to the sidelines following a fifth-place finish in the Dinner Party (G2) on the Preakness (G1) undercard at Pimlico.

Winner of the James W. Murphy at Pimlico, also on Preakness Day, Virginia Derby (G3) and Parx Derby in successive starts in 2019, English Bee was most recently fifth by 2 ¾ lengths in the March 4 Canadian Turf (G3) at Gulfstream Park, where he returned from eight months between starts with a determined neck victory in a one-mile optional claiming allowance Jan. 13.

“I love this time of year. It’s refreshing to get on the new turf courses,” Motion said. “I think right now you get very fair turf courses. It’s an exciting time of year because we give a lot of horses the winter off to point for this time of year.”

English Bee will be ridden by Jorge Ruiz from outermost Post 10.

DATTT Stable’s Smokin’ T, a 4-year-old homebred son of War Front, looks to snap a six-race losing streak and earn his first stakes victory for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, winner of the 2020 Clark with Doctor Mounty. Smokin’ T began this year with a pair of thirds at Gulfstream, beaten 3 ¾ lengths from Post 11 going a mile and 70 yards on the all-weather Tapeta Jan. 28 and 2 ½ lengths from Post 12 in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance on turf March 4.

R. Larry Johnson and R.D.M. Racing Stable’s Sky’s Not Falling, a five-time winner at distances ranging from five furlongs to 1 1/16 miles, returns to a one-turn mile after finishing fifth in a March 10 optional claiming allowance sprinting 7 ½ furlongs at Gulfstream. The 5-year-old gelding capped last year by winning the 5 ½-furlong Maryland Million Turf Sprint in October and a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance in December, the latter at 48-1 odds.

Ocala Dream, winner of the 1 1/16-mile Kingston against New York-breds on the Belmont Park turf last May; You Must Chill, third or better in 21 of 29 starts including 10 wins; multiple stakes-placed Cannon’s Roar; Bodecream and main-track-only entrants Classier, Clubman and Yodel E.A. Who complete the field.