Rosado Opens New Year With Four-Win Day Friday
Rosado Opens New Year With Four-Win Day Friday
Seven Maidens Seeking Diploma in Laurel Opener Saturday
Factor It In Makes Successful Return in Friday Feature
LAUREL, MD – Jockey Johan Rosado celebrated the new year in style by sweeping the early daily double and finishing with four winners on Friday’s nine-race program that opened Laurel Park’s 41-day winter meet.
The 22-year-old piloted Natty Beau ($23) to victory in the opener, a six-furlong claimer for 3-year-olds, and cruised to the wire first aboard Italian Dressing ($9.40) in Race 2, a 5 ½-furlong maiden claimer for 3-year-old fillies.
Rosado then guided Youngest of Five ($12) to a front-running victory in Race 4, a two-turn allowance for older Maryland-bred/sired horses going about 1 1/16 miles, and rode Makin’ Out ($10.40) to a neck triumph over favored Nana’s Shoes in Race 6, a one-mile starter optional claimer for older females.
Rosado’s winners came for trainers Richard Sillaman, Hamilton Smith, Hugh McMahon and Henry Walters.
“I’m just lucky I got on the right horses today and had a good day,” Rosado said. “[I’m] just thankful for every horseman and their staff. If the opportunity comes you just try to take advantage of them and you can have big days like this.”
Rosado rode 15 winners at Laurel’s 2020 winter meet which ended Dec. 31. He is the son of Roberto Rosado, a native of Puerto Rico who shared the 1997 Eclipse Award as champion apprentice with Phil Teator.
Johan Rosado won with his first career mount, Tripocha, Sept. 11, 2017 at Parx in a race where his father finished sixth. He finished with 15 wins at the Laurel winter meet that ended Dec. 31 and owns 180 career victories and more than $5.5 million in purse earnings.
Seven Maidens Seeking Diploma in Laurel Opener Saturday
Seven newly turned 3-year-olds will sprint seven furlongs in a wide-open maiden special weight that kicks off Saturday’s nine-race program at Laurel Park.
First race post time is 12:25 p.m.
Ten Strike Racing’s Arrio is the narrow 5-2 program favorite in his career debut. The gelded bay son of Grade 1 winner Paynter has been working steadily since mid-September at Laurel for trainer Brittany Russell, who won with eight of 23 first-time starters in 2020 (35 percent) and finished in the top three at a 70 percent clip (16-23).
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, William Freeman and Michael Valdes’ Excursion, a son of two-time Horse of the Year and 2014 Hall of Famer Curlin who fetched $325,000 as a yearling in 2019, is listed at 3-1 on the morning line. The bay colt went winless in three off-the-turf starts in 2020 for trainer Graham Motion, who also entered Wertheimer and Frere’s homebred Pitaman.
Oliver Fortune’s Rippolino will cut back and add blinkers after respectively running third and second in a pair of fall maiden special weight events at Laurel going one and 1 1/16 miles. He is listed at 7-2 in the program along with Kathryn Nikkel, Pegasus Stud and trainer Kelly Rubley’s Flight Map, a son of Liam’s Map that ran third in each of his three 2020 starts.
Race 8 is a second-level optional claiming allowance for 4-year-olds and up going 6 ½ furlongs where Run To Win Stable and Jagger, Inc.’s Thundershook, a five-time winner from 10 starts last year, is favored at 5-2 on the morning line from outside Post 7. Also in the field are Great Camanoe, fourth in the Bert Allen on turf last fall at Laurel, and 2019 Maryland Juvenile Futurity runner-up Stone Courageous.
Factor It In Makes Successful Return in Laurel Friday Feature
Michael Scheffres’ Factor It In, in his first start in more than five months, made a successful return to the races by sweeping to the front on the far turn and opening up down the lane for a 4 ¾-length victory in Friday’s featured seventh race.
Ridden by Jevian Toledo for trainer Carlos Mancilla, Factor It In ($11.40) ran seven furlongs in 1:24.34 over a fast main track in the third-level optional claiming allowance for 4-year-olds and up. It was the sixth career win for the 5-year-old son of multiple Grade 1 winner The Factor, who ran sixth in the 2020 General George (G3).
Multiple stakes-placed Tybalt closed to be second with 2020 Private Terms runner-up My Friends Beer third. Grade 2 winner Still Having Fun, favored at 2-1, ran last of six.
Larry Rebold’s Youngest of Five ($12) led from start to finish, putting away 6-5 favorite The Poser and holding off a late challenge from Toy to win Race 4, a two-turn allowance for Maryland-bred/sired 4-year-olds and up. The winning time for about 1 1/16 miles was 1:46.43. Mine Not Mine, second in the Miracle Wood and third in the Private Terms last winter, ran third in his first start in seven months.
Maxis Stable’s Kewpie Doll ($5.80) took the lead on the far outside and powered through the stretch under jockey Lauralea Glaser to capture Race 5, an entry-level optional claiming allowance for newly turned 3-year-old fillies. Sent off as the 9-5 favorite against seven rivals, Kewpie Doll ran 6 ½ furlongs in 1:20.68 to earn her second career win and first since a maiden special weight triumph last August at Laurel.
