Alwaysmining ‘Doing Great’ Following Jan. 30 Comeback Victory
Rainbow 6, Late Pick 5 Carryovers for Return of Live Racing Thursday

LAUREL, MD – Barry Schwartz’s Grade 3-winning homebred Sharp Starr, narrowly beaten in her 4-year-old debut last month, will breeze over the weekend in New York ahead of an expected start in the $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) Feb. 13 at Laurel Park.

The 69th running of the Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and older and the 45th edition of the $250,000 General’s Stake, formerly the General George, for 4-year-olds and up also sprinting seven furlongs, highlight a Winter Sprintfest program of six stakes worth $900,000 in purses.

“I’m still looking at it. She’s in good form right now,” trainer Horacio DePaz said Wednesday. “I’m not sure who’s coming in for that race, but that’s kind of what I’m pointing to right now. I’ll work her this weekend and I’ll make my final decision after I see how she works. More than likely, I think that we’ll go there.”

A New York-bred daughter of three-time Grade 2-winning sprinter Munnings, Sharp Starr exits a one-length loss to Mrs. Orb in the seven-furlong La Verdad Jan. 3 in the mud at Aqueduct. She capped her sophomore campaign with a hardy neck triumph over Portal Creek, also nominated to the Fritchie, in the one-mile Go for Wand (G3) Dec. 5, also at Aqueduct.

Sharp Starr earned a return trip to graded-stakes competition after beating fellow state-breds by 15 ¾ lengths in one-mile allowance Nov. 7. Her only previous graded try came when seventh in the Oct. 3 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) at Pimlico Race Course.

“It was a big effort on her part after that allowance race to be able to repeat, and then the last race we got caught by a nice older mare. I think that she wasn’t necessarily in her top form, not that she was doing bad but I think the other filly was coming around a little better than she was,” DePaz said. “It wasn’t a bad effort. I’m still willing to give her a shot.”

A total of 23 horses were nominated to the Fritchie including fellow graded winners Eres Tu, Pacific Gale and Victim of Love; multiple stakes winners Dontletsweetfoolya, Hello Beautiful and Needs Supervision; and Amuse and Secret Keeper, both graded-stakes placed on the West Coast.

Alwaysmining ‘Doing Great’ Following Jan. 30 Comeback Victory

Runnymoore Racing’s multiple stakes-winning Maryland-bred Alwaysmining, nominated to defend his title in the $100,000 John B. Campbell Feb. 13 at Laurel Park, emerged from his first victory since last year’s race in good order, trainer Austin Trites said Wednesday.

“Alwaysmining, as you’d expect from the old war horse, is doing great,” Trites said.

The gelded 5-year-old son of Stay Thirsty rolled to a three-length victory in a one-mile optional claiming allowance Jan. 30 at Laurel – his first win in 350 days following the 2020 Campbell for 4-year-olds and up going about 1 1/16 miles, his seventh career stakes triumph.

It was the second start this year for Alwaysmining, who returned from 198 days between starts to run last of nine after setting the early pace in the one-mile Jennings for Maryland-bred/sired horses, a race he also won in 2020.

Alwaysmining got time off at the owner’s Pennsylvania farm and was moved to Trites after successive off-the-board finishes last spring and summer. He won the Maryland Juvenile Futurity and Heft at 2; Miracle Wood, Private Terms and Federico Tesio at 3; and Jennings and Campbell last year.

“The Jennings just left us with so many more questions than answers and there was just enough reasons for us that here we are,” Trites said. “It was just kind of a can’t-miss opportunity to run him in a conditioned allowance and try and give him that confidence booster. And, we figured the blinkers could really be a positive and they turned out to definitely be so.”

All 10 of Alwaysmining’s wins have come at Laurel, but the most recent was his first time in 24 career starts wearing blinkers. Breaking on the far outside in a field of eight, he raced within striking distance while remaining in the clear, moved to within a length at the top of the stretch and steadily wore down front-running Zabracadabra before pulling away.

“I think the key in the afternoon is just what we learned [Jan. 30] and just to be very tactical with him, and try to keep him in that position where you know he’s going to run for you,” Trites said. “Don’t get him intimidated on the inside and just kind of ride him like he’s the best horse and I think that’s what happened.”

Nominations for the Campbell were due the same day Alwaysmining returned to the winner’s circle. It comes just two weeks after his allowance win and would be his third start in a six-week span after wheeling back in 14 days following the Jennings.

“It is close. Obviously, in the heat of the moment we’re going to nominate just in case,” Trites said. “We’re going to keep all our options on the table. We’re not going to rush into anything. Obviously the horse showed us what we wanted to see last time, and we’ll kind of let him point us in the next direction.”

Rainbow 6, Late Pick 5 Carryovers for Return of Live Racing Thursday

There will be carryovers in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and 50-cent Late Pick 5 when live racing returns to Laurel Park Thursday to kick off a four-day weekend.

The nine-race program was originally scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 31 but the entire card was moved to Thursday due to the winter storm that dumped several inches of snow in the Baltimore area. Post time is 12:25 p.m.

No bettors had all six winners in the Rainbow 6 during the last live program Jan. 30, growing the carryover jackpot to $19,640.39. Thursday’s sequence begins in Race 4, a 6 ½-furlong claimer for fillies and mares 4 and up which drew a field of nine led by 8-5 program favorite Introspection.

Similarly, there were no winners in the Late Pick 5 Jan. 30 to create a $5,721.35 carryover for Thursday starting in Race 5, a 1 1/8-mile beaten claimer for 4-year-olds and up where Feature Act is the narrow 7-2 morning-line favorite in a field of 10.

Laurel will also serve up nine races Friday, Feb. 5 including a one-mile allowance for Maryland-bred/sired horses in Race 8, featuring multiple stakes-placed Mine Not Mine; and a claiming event for older horses sprinting 6 ½ furlongs in Race 9 that serves as Leg B in the weekly national Stronach 5 wager.

The $1 Stronach 5 begins with Race 7 at Gulfstream Park and continues with Race 3 at Santa Anita, Race 3 at Golden Gate Fields and Race 4 at Santa Anita.