Sweetrayofsunshine Surges Late to Nab Laurel Feature Sunday
Sweetrayofsunshine Surges Late to Nab Laurel Feature Sunday
Boys From Boston An Easy Winner in Co-Feature
Live Racing Returns Friday with Nine-Race Program
LAUREL, MD – Owned and trained by New York-based Rudy Rodriguez, Sweetrayofsunshine split horses in deep stretch and made one final surge approaching the wire to pass long shot leader Jessica Krupnik and win Sunday’s featured eighth race at Laurel Park.
Sweetrayofsunshine ($9.60), a 7-year-old mare ridden by Rosario Montanez, completed six furlongs in 1:12 over a sloppy, sealed main track in the $45,000 second-level optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares.
It was the 15th win from 34 career starts for Sweetrayofsunshine and first at Laurel, coming off a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint allowance Nov. 6 in which she finished off the board. Jessica Krupnick finished a half-length in second at 13-1, with Scip’s Sonata third and 2-1 favorite City Siren fourth.
In Sunday’s co-feature, Hard Eight Racing Stables’ Boys From Boston made a successful return to Laurel by circling five-wide at the top of the stretch and opening up down the lane for a five-length win in the sixth race.
The $42,000 entry-level optional claiming allowance for 2-year-olds was the son of Pure Prize’s first start in Maryland since breaking his maiden in a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint Sept. 11. Since then, he ran second in the Fitz Dixon Jr. Memorial Juvenile Stakes at Presque Isle Downs and fourth in the Nashua (G2) at Aqueduct.
Boys From Boston ($5.80) ran one mile in 1:38.66. Worth His Salt was second with Fly E Dubai third and favored Bellows fourth.
Live racing returns to Laurel Park with a nine-race program Friday, Dec. 23. First race post time is 12:30 p.m.
Notes: Jockeys Victor Carrasco and Taylor Hole each posted a riding double Sunday. Carrasco was first aboard Ice On the Severn ($13.80) in the second race and Boys From Boston ($5.80) in the sixth, while Hole won with Raven Rush ($10.60) in the sixth and High Tolerance ($) in the ninth … Raven Rush is trained by Mary Eppler, who extended her fall meet-leading total to 21 victories.
