Jennemily Registers First Laurel Win in Saturday Feature
Rainbow 6, Late Pick 5 Carryovers for July 17 Return of Racing

LAUREL, MD – Gordon C Keys’ Maryland homebred Grateful Bred, reluctant to first load in the starting gate, took an early lead and put his rivals away for good at the head of the stretch in a stylish front-running maiden special weight triumph Saturday at Laurel Park.

The 3 ½-length victory by 4-year-old Grateful Bred ($43.20) marked the first win at a recognized flat track for trainer Madison Meyers. According to Equibase statistics, Meyers had two previous career victories – a 2016 amateur event at Great Meadow in Virginia and a hurdle race last fall in Aiken, S.C.

“It’s great. We’ve worked hard with this horse, so it feels really good,” Meyers said. “If we can work on the antics a little bit, I think we’ve got a pretty nice horse.”

It was the second maiden special weight win in as many days over Laurel’s world-class turf course for leading Maryland stallion Great Notion, who was represented by Kendama’s victory Friday for trainer Arnaud Delacour.

Grateful Bred, making his second career start after rallying to be fourth in a similar turf sprint last October at Laurel, initially balked when approaching the gate and had to be loaded without seven-pound apprentice Charlie Marquez.

Once the doors opened Grateful Bred broke a bit slowly but was intent on the lead and quickly took command, setting fractions of 22.03 and 45.01 seconds. Grafeful Bred turned for home with a commanding six-length lead and sailed to the wire in 1:02.76 for 5 ½ furlongs over the firm All Along layout.

First Law closed to be second by a neck over Josef is Real. It was another half-length back to Our Destiny in fourth.

“The pre-race antics are a little bit worrying at times, and I was hoping for a few more weeks to kind of work with him, but this race came up and he really was telling us that he was ready to run,” Meyers said. “So, we decided just to go for it and it paid off.”

Grateful Bred had three timed works since late May for his seasonal debut, two this month, the most recent a three-furlong move in 38 seconds at the Middletown Training Center in Delaware. He was only beaten 4 ½ lengths in his debut despite a poor break under Laurel’s current summer meet-leading jockey Sheldon Russell.

“When he ran here the first time last fall, he was great and went right in [the gate],” Meyers said. “I don’t know if he broke so hard that he stumbled or what he did, but he stumbled and Sheldon did a great job just to steady him and he ended up getting up for fourth. We were really impressed with his turn of foot and everything.”

Howling Pigeons Farm’s first-time starter First Law is a gelded 3-year-old son of Constitution, the leading second-crop sire of 2020 whose current star is Florida Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Tiz the Law.

Seventh as the narrow 5-2 favorite in his turf debut was The Cairo Kid, trained and co-owned by Annette Eubanks. The 4-year-old gelding, unraced at 2 and 3, is a son of Cairo Prince, the No. 1-ranked third-crop sire by stakes winners and graded-stakes winners including recent Ohio Derby (G3) upset victor Dean Martini.

Jennemily Registers First Laurel Win in Saturday Feature

R Townsend Sparks’ Jennemily, outrun in two previous starts at Laurel Park, erased the memory of those efforts with a popular and professional one-length triumph over late-running Indy Union in Saturday’s feature.

With Johan Rosado up for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, 9-5 betting favorite Jennemily ($5.60) captured the second-level optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up in 1:37.75 for one mile over a fast main track.

Rosado had Jennemily poised to strike from the start, sitting just off the flank of stakes-winning pacesetter Artful Splatter through a quarter-mile in 24.95 seconds and a half in 48.16. Jennemily rolled to the lead once straightened for home and galloped to the wire as Indy Union – third in the 2018 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) at Pimlico Race Course – got up by a length over Three Hawk for second.

In Jennemily’s two previous tries at Laurel, she ran fourth in the six-furlong Weather Vane last fall for trainer Carlos Martin. Claimed by Asmussen out of a runner-up finish in December at Aqueduct, the 4-year-old daughter of Strong Mandate had a two-race win streak snapped when seventh in the one-mile Nellie Morse March 14.

 “She was awesome. She was a Cadillac. As soon as the gates opened, she jumped on the bridle and I was just a passenger,” Rosado said. “Steve and the whole team back at Belmont Park did a great job. I didn’t get any instructions, but thank God it worked out good. I had enough horse and she made me look good. I was thankful.”

In Saturday’s co-feature, Vince Campanella’s Fortunate Friends ($7.80) split horses in mid-stretch and held off a late bid from Hall Pass by 1 ¼ lengths in Race 6, a second-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up. The winning time for seven furlongs was 1:22.80.

Notes: Jockey Horacio Karamanos registered a riding double for the second straight day Saturday, finishing first with Fortunate Friends ($7.80) in Race 6 and Nick Papagiorgio ($6.20) in Race 10 … There will be carryovers of $6,458.59 in the 50-cent Late Pick 5 and $7,984.17 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 when live racing returns to Laurel Friday, July 17. Tickets with four of five winners in Saturday’s Pick 5 were each worth $54.30, while those with five of six winners returned $282.42 in the Rainbow 6.