Jockeys Barbosa, Karamanos Register Friday Hat Tricks

LAUREL, MD – Michael Dubb and Morris Bailey’s 2-year-old colt Prince of Jericho graduated with aplomb in his second career start, rolling to a popular 11 ¾-length maiden special weight triumph Friday at Laurel Park.

Ridden by Sheldon Russell for his wife, trainer Brittany Russell, Prince of Jericho ($5) covered six furlongs in 1:11.77 over a fast main track. Feeling Woozy made a late run to be a distant second.

Sheldon Russell settled Prince of Jericho in third as Landon Jack, breaking from the outermost post one spot outside of Prince of Jericho, jumped out to a 1 ½-length lead after going the first quarter-mile in 22.68 seconds.

Prince of Jericho ranged up outside of Landon Jack midway around the far turn to cut the deficit to a half-length after a half in 46.83, eased past straightening for home and widened his advantage through the lane as Russell peeked back through his legs at their disappearing rivals.

“I told Mike Dubb this, too. I’ve always liked this horse but he’s never been super flashy in the morning. He seems like a different beast in the afternoon,” Brittany Russell said. “If that’s him, that’s great. What we saw today, that was a lot of fun to see.”

A son of Grade 2-winning sprinter Munnings out of the unraced Medaglia d’Oro mare Golden Review fetched $85,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s Kentucky Fall Yearling sale last October. He ran third behind stablemate Post Time in debut, a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight Oct. 7 at Laurel originally carded for the grass.

Hillwood Stable’s Post Time, a juvenile son of Grade 1-winning multi-millionaire Frosted, returned to romp by 6 ¾ lengths in a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance Thursday at Laurel.

In Friday’s other maiden special weight, for 2-year-old fillies, Runnymoore Racing’s Alla Breve ($30.60) came with a steady run through the stretch on the far outside to catch 4-5 favorite Opus Forty Two nearing the wire and spring a 14-1 upset of Race 3. The winning time was 1:04.75 for 5 ½ furlongs over a firm Kelso turf course.

Jockeys Barbosa, Karamanos Register Friday Hat Tricks

Jockey Jeiron Barbosa, a leading candidate for the 2022 Eclipse Award as champion apprentice, continued his hot hand by registering a Friday hat track at Laurel Park, his sixth multi-win day of the calendar year-ending fall meet.

The 18-year-old Barbosa, who rides with a five-pound weight allowance, leads the fall standings with 22 wins, seven more than Horacio Karamanos, who also had three winners Friday. Barbosa had three wins Oct. 20 as well as a four-win day Oct. 14.

Barbosa’s Friday wins came with Esperannna ($10) in Race 2, Johnnyfrenchfri ($5) in Race 4 and Killy Start ($8.80) in Race 5. In addition to wins, he also tops all jockeys at the meet with 106 mounts and more than $800,000 in purse earnings.

Overall, Barbosa has 140 wins and nearly $4.3 million in purses earned in his first full season of riding. He launched his career Jan. 1 in his native Puerto Rico before coming to the U.S. and winning with each of his first two domestic mounts, Heliacal Rising and Ludicrous Mode, March 25 at Laurel.

Barbosa was the leading rider at Laurel’s spring meet with 20 wins and the boutique fall stand at historic Pimlico Race Course with 12 victories.

Vicente Del-Cid, an apprentice based in Louisiana, ranks third in the country with 228 wins.

Karamanos’ triple Friday came with Alla Breve ($30.60) in Race 3, Gastown Babe ($12) in Race 7 and Singalong ($10.60) in Race 9.

Notes: There will be a carryovers of $14,165.73 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (Races 5-10) and $6,127.17 in the 50-cent Late Pick 5 (Races 6-10) for Saturday’s 10-race program that starts at 12:15 p.m. Friday’s payoffs were $105.14 for Rainbow 6 tickets with five of six winners and $120.10 for Pick 5 tickets with four of five winners.