Team Gaudet Welcomes Back Multiple-Stakes Winner John Jones; Rainbow 6, Super Hi-5 Carryovers for 10-Race Program Friday
Team Gaudet Welcomes Back Multiple-Stakes Winner John Jones; Rainbow 6, Super Hi-5 Carryovers for 10-Race Program Friday
Saturday Turf Allowance Draws Star-Studded Field of 9 Older Horses
Maryland Horses Aim High in Opening Day Stakes at Saratoga
Rainbow 6, Super Hi-5 Carryovers for 10-Race Program Friday
LAUREL, MD – Matt Schera’s multiple-stakes winner John Jones is back in the Laurel Park barn of trainer Lacey Gaudet to begin preparations for what his connections hope is a strong second half of 2017.
The 5-year-old Smarty Jones gelding missed the first half of this year recovering from a minor injury that surfaced following his front-running five-length victory in the one-mile Jennings on Dec. 31 at Laurel.
Gaudet, Schera and his racing manager, Benny Heeney, were patient in bringing back John Jones, who rejoined Gaudet’s Laurel string after spending time at the Pennsylvania farm of trainer Roddy MacKenzie.
“They did a fabulous job. He looks great. He’s super-fit and he’s so happy,” Gaudet said. “They’ve done a little light breezing on the farm so we’ll probably let him gallop this week and we’ll get him back on the work tab over the weekend when the heat gets out of here, I guess. He’s got quite a few miles under his belt.”
John Jones’ return came nearly a year to the day after he was claimed for $25,000 out of a fourth-place finish going a mile on the dirt last July 17. He went on to win five of six starts and $222,632 in purse earnings for his new connections, also finishing third in the $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel at Gulfstream Park.
He won his first three races for Gaudet and Schera starting with the Mister Diz, a six-furlong turf sprint in which he upset the late legend Ben’s Cat at odds of 43-1, giving the trainer her first career stakes victory. John Jones stayed on the dirt the rest of the year, winning a pair of optional claiming allowances at Laurel as well as the Claiming Crown Jewel Preview, which earned him a free trip to South Florida.
“We’ll plan to just stay home and look for a Maryland-bred stake or maybe an open allowance race. It’s going to be tough because he had so many nice consecutive races last year that fell into line between the Maryland-bred stakes and being able to run through his conditions,” Gaudet said. “It’s going to be a little tougher to spot him now but we’ve got a good stakes schedule coming up in the fall so that’ll help.”
The success of John Jones helped Gaudet enjoy a breakthrough year in 2016 with career highs in wins (31), starts (171) and purse earnings ($852,763). Overall John Jones won six races
“He’s so cool. He’s bounced around and been in a couple of different stalls but he’s always been close to the front,” she said. “Any day of the week you walk in first thing in the morning and he’s the only one in the front with his head out. He is always raring to go. Walking in in the morning and seeing his head poking out first thing, it makes you feel good.”
Saturday Turf Allowance Draws Star-Studded Field of 9 Older Horses
Five stakes winners are among the field of nine older horses set to gather for Saturday’s eighth race, an open $50,000 scheduled for one mile over the All Along Turf Course.
Marengo Road, a stakes winner on turf and dirt, and multiple stakes winners Franklin Towers and Bodhisattva are joined by Laurel grass stakes winners Eyeplayeveryday and Talk Show Man in a race that precedes the featured $75,000 Concern for 3-year-olds on the dirt.
Trained by Mike Trombetta, who is tied for second with nine wins at the current summer meet, Marengo Road won the Miracle Wood on dirt and the James W. Murphy on turf last year, both at one mile. He didn’t race again for 11 months until finishing off the board in the Henry Clark April 22 at Laurel and has since run sixth in the Red Bank (G3) at Monmouth Park and fifth by two lengths in an optional claimer June 15 Delaware Park.
The winner of that Delaware Park race, Ghost Hunter, was third in the Henry Clark and most recently captured the Arlington Handicap (G3) July 8 for trainer Jamie Ness. Marengo Road drew Post 5 and will be ridden by Sheldon Russell. All nine horses will carry 120 pounds.
Clarke Ohrstrom’s homebred Franklin Towers has yet to race in 2017 after winning three of 11 starts last year including the Showing Up in November at Gulfstream Park West and the Lamplighter last summer at Monmouth. Second in a Laurel maiden race last May, the 4-year-old City Zip gelding will have meet-leading rider Victor Carrasco aboard for trainer Jane Cibelli from Post 6.
Bodhisattva made his turf debut last out running seventh in the Stars & Stripes (G3) July 8 at Arlington Park. Owned and trained by Laurel-based Jose Corrales, the 5-year-old son of Student Council won the John B. Campbell over claimer-turned-millionaire Page McKenney in February and also won the 2015 Federico Tesio one start before finishing eighth behind Triple Crown champion American Pharoah in the Preakness (G1).
Michael J. Harrison’s Maryland homebred Talk Show Man, trained by Hammy Smith, was third by a neck following a dramatic late rally in the six-furlong Mister Diz June 24 at Laurel. Winner of the 2015 Henry Clark, the 7-year-old Great Notion gelding went unraced for 17 months before making his comeback in the April 22 Clark. He closed from last to be fifth in the Longines Dixie (G2) May 20 at historic Pimlico Race Course second time off the layoff.
Eyeplayeveryday, bred in Maryland by owners Mike and Debbie Horning, was fifth in the Mister Diz, beaten just 1 ½ lengths, in his first start since the Laurel Turf Cup last fall. Second by a half-length in the 2015 Find at Laurel, he held on to win the 1 1/8-mile stake by a neck last summer.
Furyofthenorsemen, Unbridled Lion, Grandiflora and Rockinn On Bye, entered for main track only, complete the field.
Maryland Horses Aim High in Opening Day Stakes at Saratoga
A pair of Laurel-based horses figure to have a say in two stakes that mark Friday’s opening of the prestigious Saratoga Race Course meet in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Maryland-bred Limited View, trained and co-owned by John Salzman Jr., takes an impressive front-running 3 ¾-length victory in her June 17 unveiling into the six-furlong Schuylerville (G3) for 2-year-old fillies.
Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado, up for the maiden win, gets the return call at 119 pounds from Post 5 in the nine-horse field. Limited View is listed at 10-1 on the morning line behind unbeaten stakes winner and 3-1 program favorite Buy Sell Hold.
Sagamore Farm homebred Chubby Star drew Post 4 in a group of 11 3-year-old fillies for the Lake George (G3), contested at 1 1/16 miles on the grass. Trained by Horacio DePaz, the daughter of Malibu Moon broke her maiden last summer at Laurel and won an open allowance in April at Keeneland prior to running second in the one-mile James W. Murphy at historic Pimlico Race Course and fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Regret (G3).
DePaz also entered another Sagamore homebred, 2-year-old filly Southampton Way, in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight sprint on Friday. The Into Mischief daughter caught a muddy, sealed track for her May 25 debut at Pimlico where she gave way on the turn and was fifth going 4 ½ furlongs.
On Saturday, Kerri Szegi;s homebred gelding Nauti Buoy drew outside Post 8 in the six-furlong Sanford (G3) for 2-year-olds. Nauti Buoy captured her career opener by a neck at odds of 29-1 July 2 at Laurel going 5 ½ furlongs on the turf.
Rainbow 6, Super Hi-5 Carryovers for 10-Race Program Friday
There will be carryovers in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and $1 Super Hi-5 wagers when live racing returns to Laurel with a 10-race program Friday that begins at 1:10 p.m.
Multiple tickets were sold with all six winners in the Rainbow 6 on Sunday, growing the jackpot carryover to $4,247.13. The popular multi-race sequence spans Races 5-10 Friday with four races over Laurel’s world-class turf course including the featured eighth, a second-level $45,000 optional claiming allowance for females 3 and up at 5 ½ furlongs on the Dahlia layout that attracted a field of 12.
The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out only when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
A Super Hi-5 carryover of $1,307.31 will be available in Friday’s opener, a maiden claiming event for 2-year-old fillies at five furlongs on the main track.
In all 66 horses were entered for six turf races on Friday on the Dahlia and All Along courses, an average of 11 starters per race, while eight of 10 races will be contested on the grass Saturday.
