Stakes Winner Francatelli Beats Elders Again in Friday Feature
Stakes Winner Francatelli Beats Elders Again in Friday Feature
Juvenile Colt Lugamo Continues Progression with Friday Allowance Win
Jockeys Cruz, Rosado, Trainer O’Dwyer Post Three-Win Days Friday
LAUREL, MD – Maribeth Sandford and Lynch Racing’s Francatelli, already a stakes winner on turf, earned himself a shot at duplicating the feat on dirt with a popular and impressive front-running victory in Friday’s featured sixth race at Laurel Park.
The only sophomore in a field of six that included fellow stakes winners Taco Supream and Oldies But Goodies, 5-year-olds that have won 12 of 50 lifetime starts, Francatelli ($4.80) completed six furlongs in a sharp 1:08.88 over a fast main track to capture the third-level optional claiming allowance by 1 ¾ lengths.
Friday’s stakes-quality feature also included Taco Supream’s Damon Dilodovico-trained stablemate Fortunate Friends, a six-time career winner, and Hold Me Black, racing second time off the claim for Maryland’s three-time defending champion trainer Claudio Gonzalez.
“I have a lot of respect for Taco Supream. He’s a real solid, hard-knocking horse. The other horse for Damon was very tough,” winning trainer Cal Lynch said. “I don’t care what time of year it is, it’s always tough taking on older horses for 3-year-olds. He’s inexperienced but he’s very, very talented.”
Making just his seventh career start, all since June 5, it didn’t take long for Francatelli to flash his talent. The gelded son of City Zip got to the front under jockey Jaime Rodriguez and took the group through a quarter-mile in 22.40 seconds, under mild pressure from Fortunate Friends. The half went in 45.62 as Taco Supream ranged up on the outside to mount a challenge, and the two hit the top of the stretch together. Favored at 7-5, Francatelli was able to shake loose once straightened for home and repel second choice Taco Supream as Fortunate Friends turned back Oldies But Goodies for third.
Francatelli now owns four wins, two each over the dirt and turf. He became a stakes winner in the five-furlong King Corrie Sept. 12 on the grass at Woodbine, and was exiting a fifth in the Jim McKay Turf Sprint over yielding ground Oct. 1 at Pimlico Race Course. In his prior race on the main track, he romped by 9 ½ lengths in an entry-level allowance Aug. 15 at Laurel that was rained off the turf.
“We weren’t surprised. The horse worked really good over the weekend and he handled the dirt before in the a-other-than. He ran a big number that day and we didn’t think that was a fluke,” Lynch said. “It’s scary because he’s good on the turf and the dirt. He can go either way. We’re just very fortunate.”
Lynch was quick to credit Rodriguez, a winner of nearly 1,500 career races who had been riding at Mahoning Valley and Delaware Park this year before joining Laurel’s jockey colony last week.
“I spoke to [trainer] Jeremiah Englehart who used him quite a bit up at Finger Lakes. He had a good summer and was riding well for Jamie Ness at Delaware,” Lynch said. “I went up there a few times during the summer and saw him ride and thought he did a good job. That was his first ride for us and hopefully won’t be the last. Nice kid, and Jeremiah spoke very highly of him so that was good enough for me.”
The $100,000 Concern Stakes for 3-year-olds sprinting seven furlongs on the main track Nov. 28 at Laurel is the next likely landing spot for Francatelli, Lynch said. His only other race against straight 3-year-olds came in the King Corrie.
“Today was a test to see whether we were going to stay on the dirt or give him a vacation and bring him back in the spring for strictly turf, so we figured we’d give him a shot and see how this worked out,” Lynch said. “The whole team will get together and we’ll figure out where we’re going but it’ll be up to the horse. As long as comes back good and trains as good as he was going into this, we’ll look at it.”
Juvenile Colt Lugamo Continues Progression with Friday Allowance Win
Lugamo Racing Stable’s promising 2-year-old Lugamo, facing winners for the first time, continued his rapid development with a front-running 4 ¼-length optional claiming allowance score Friday at Laurel Park.
It marked the second straight win for the Florida-bred Chitu colt and third in a row to open Friday’s program for jockey Angel Cruz. The winning time was 1:38.81 for one mile over a fast main track.
Trained by Rodolpho Sanchez-Salomon, Lugamo ($6.60) lost for the only time in his Sept. 25 debut at Pimlico Race Course when he was second at odds of 41-1 behind undefeated Jaxon Traveler, who is headed to Laurel’s $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Futurity Dec. 5. Second time out, Lugamo was a six-length maiden special weight winner Oct. 16 at Laurel, stretching out from six to seven furlongs.
“He’s showing me a lot of talent every morning, day by day,” Sanchez-Salomon said. “I just told Angel just ride him however he wants to run and that’s it. If it’s possible, ride him like you did the last time. He likes that. He’s very competitive horse, very competitive.”
Adding another eighth of a mile proved no obstacle for Lugamo, who Cruz worked from Post 3 to the rail shortly after the break and surged up to take the lead, going the first quarter in 24.18 seconds pressed by Nice Ace. The pace picked up slightly with a half in 47.39 and No One to Blame picking up the chase, but Lugamo remained firmly in command on the turn and into the stretch, going six furlongs in 1:12.33 and opening up through the lane.
No One to Blame, third in the Nownownow Stakes Oct. 4 on the Monmouth Park turf, held second by 1 ½ lengths as Plamen won a head bob with Omati for third.
“He showed me something last time when he ran the seven-eighths that he wants to go a little longer, which is good,” Sanchez-Salomon said. “When he ran second, he didn’t run a bad race but he showed me he wanted to go longer than that. He came out of the last race like it was just a work.”
Among the upcoming stakes for 2-year-olds at Laurel are the $100,000 James F. Lewis III going six furlongs Nov. 14; $100,000 Heft sprinting seven furlongs and $100,000 Howard County at about 1 1/16 miles, both Dec. 26. The Maryland Juvenile Futurity is restricted to Maryland-bred/sired horses.
“The owner got so excited. It’s the first time he’s had a horse like this, 2-year-olds especially, and he wanted to go to the Breeders’ Cup but he wasn’t nominated and the [supplemental] fee was too high,” Sanchez-Salomon said. “Right now I think we’re just going to go step by step, little by little with him. We’ll see what happens.”
Other 2-year-old races on Friday’s program saw Double O Racing’s Market Cap split horses at the top of the stretch and pull clear to a seven-length triumph in Race 5, a one-mile maiden special weight originally carded for the turf, in 1:39.66; and Doubleoseven ($12) hold off Hello Hot Rod to capture Race 9, a maiden claimer sprinting six furlongs in 1:11.20.
Notes: Jockey Angel Cruz swept Friday’s first three races respectively with Dixie Drawl ($4.60), Awesome Pal ($8.60) and Lugamo ($6.60). Jockey Johan Rosado and trainer Jerry O’Dwyer teamed up for three wins, going back-to-back with Larimar ($8.40) in Race 4 and Market Cap ($9) in Race 5 and completing the hat trick with Doubleoseven ($12) in Race 9 … No one had all six winners in the 20-cent Rainbow 6, creating a carryover of $775.16 for Saturday’s nine-race Halloween card. Tickets with five of six winners each returned $83.04.
