Totally Drenched Takes Laurel Friday Feature; Multiple Carryovers for Saturday’s Commonwealth Day Program
Totally Drenched Takes Laurel Friday Feature; Multiple Carryovers for Saturday’s Commonwealth Day Program
Hot and Heavy Posts Front-Running Maiden Triumph
Carrasco Rides First Local Winner Since Return from Injury
Multiple Carryovers for Saturday’s Commonwealth Day Program
LAUREL, MD – Tommy Ligon’s Totally Drenched took the lead from pacesetting Amherst Street with two furlongs to run and turned away a stretch bid from Saucy Don to win Friday’s featured eighth race at Laurel Park.
Ridden by Gabriel Saez for trainer Larry Jones and favored at 4-5 in a field of seven, Totally Drenched ($3.80) ran six furlongs in 1:09.80 over a fast main track in the $47,000 third-level optional claiming allowance.
It was the second straight win for Totally Drenched, a 4-year-old Stormy Atlantic gelding, following a second-level allowance win Aug. 21, also at Laurel, where he dueled from start to finish, briefly losing the lead before going on to a one-length victory.
“He’s coming along real well,” Saez said. “Larry’s doing a great job with him, kind of taking it easy with him in the morning and you can see by his last two races he improved himself a little bit.”
Breaking from the far outside post, Totally Drenched tracked Amherst Street in the two path through a quarter-mile in 22.95 seconds before taking over the top spot after a half in 46.11 while Saucy Don revved up to challenge on the far outside. Totally Drenched opened up after straightening for home and hit the wire 3 ½ lengths in front.
Saucy Don stayed up for second, with D C Dancer third.
“Today he broke a step slow but that’s OK; [Amherst Street] got going and we expected him to go so we used him as a target for a little bit. We kind of sat of him and when it was time to make the move and go ahead and get the job done he responded really well,” Saez said. “We were sitting comfortable behind the horse in the lead and when I asked him to give me whatever he had left, he had another gear. At the top of the stretch, I still had a ton of horse. It was good.”
Roman Hill Farm’s Hot and Heavy went straight to the lead from outside post 10 and never looked back for a front-running 2 ½-length win in Friday’s co-featured seventh race, a $40,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-olds.
Making his second start for trainer Anthony Pecoraro and first under jockey Trevor McCarthy, Hot and Heavy ($16.80) ran one mile in 1:35.50 over a firm All Along Turf Course. Zorzor finished second with Sagamore Farm homebred Rule Yourself, the 2-1 favorite, third.
Carrasco Rides First Local Winner Since Return from Injury
Victor Carrasco guided 9-5 second choice Daily News ($5.80) to a decisive three-length victory in Laurel’s second race, the jockey’s first local win since returning Sept. 16 from a foot injury.
Carrasco, the Eclipse Award-winning apprentice of 2013, had gone winless through 13 mounts at Laurel with three third-place finishes over three racing days before scoring on his first try Friday atop the 4-year-old gelding, who he had been aboard in his previous six starts.
The 24-year-old Carrasco was hurt when his mount, 2-year-old first-time starter O Dionysus, dumped him and stepped on his foot as the horses were leaving the paddock for the main track. He wore an orthopedic boot to protect the injury before receiving medical clearance to return on Sept. 12, earning his first win Thursday on Midnight Man at Delaware Park.
“It feels great. It was great to win the other day but it’s not the same feeling when you win a race at home,” he said. “It feels real good to be back in the winner’s circle. People can see me riding with confidence and they know I’m 100 percent and I can get back in business and start going from a little bit to more and more and keep improving.”
In his other mounts Friday, Carrasco was fifth with Spicy Girl Red in the fourth race and third on Secondhand Angel in the ninth.
“Today I had an easy day. I only had three mounts, and I feel like I can ride five, six, seven more,” he said. “I knew it was going to be like that the first couple days with three or four mounts, so we just have to keep going.”
Multiple Carryovers for Saturday’s Commonwealth Day Program
There will be carryovers in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and $1 Super Hi-5 for Saturday’s 11-race Commonwealth Day program featuring eight stakes, three graded, worth purses of $850,000 to be contested over Laurel’s world-class turf course.
First race post time is 1:10 p.m.
No one had all six winners in the Rainbow 6, growing the jackpot carryover to $4,983.44. Tickets with five of six winners Friday returned $141.72.
The Rainbow 6 carryover jackpot is only paid out 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.
Saturday’s Rainbow 6 spans Races 6-11 and is kicked off by the $200,000 Commonwealth Turf Cup (G2) for 3-year-olds and up at one mile on the Bowl Game course where Grade 1 winner Force the Pass is the narrow 3-1 program favorite from outside post 12.
Also in the sequence are the $200,000 Commonwealth Derby (G2) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/18 miles in Race 7; $60,000 Jamestown for 2-year-olds in Race 8 and $60,000 Oakley for females 3 and up in Race 9, both at 5 ½ furlongs; and $60,000 Bert Allen for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles in Race 10.
Other stakes Saturday are the $60,000 Punch Line for 3-year-olds and up at 5 ½ furlongs in Race 3, $60,000 Brookmeade for females 3 and up at 1 1/16 miles in Race 4, and $150,000 Commonwealth Oaks (G3) for 3-year-old fillies in Race 5. The Jamesown, Oakley, Bert Allen, Punch Line and Brookmeade are restricted to Virginia-bred/sired horses.
There will be a Super Hi-5 carryover of $575.14 for Saturday’s opener, a $15,000 claiming event for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles on the main track.
Tickets with all five winners in the Late Pick 5, which offers an industry-low 12 percent takeout, were worth $809.90. A total of $12,945 was wagered into the Pick 5, which began with a carryover of $5,616.14 from Friday’s program.
Notes: Jockey Trevor McCarthy and apprentice Kevin Gomez each posted a riding double Friday. McCarthy was first with Lady of Moray ($4.60) in the fifth and Hot and Heavy ($16.40) in the seventh, while Gomez won aboard Dancing Magician ($47.80) in the third and Boppin Anda Weavin ($9.40) in the sixth.
