Undefeated Angel At War, G1 Winner Takaful Top Stakes Nominations
Undefeated Angel At War, G1 Winner Takaful Top Stakes Nominations
$100,000 What a Summer, $100,000 Fire Plug Saturday, Jan. 20
Sunday Marks Opening of Winter Meet with Mandatory Payouts
Monday, Jan. 8 Card Features $100,000 Dave’s Friend, $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go
LAUREL, MD – Old Coach Farm’s Angel At War, undefeated through six career starts, and Shadwell Stables’ Grade 1 winner Takaful are among 45 horses nominated to a pair of $100,000 stakes for older horses Saturday, Jan. 20 at Laurel Park.
Leading the nominees to the six-furlong What a Summer for fillies and mares 4 and up is Angel At War, a $40,000 claim by trainer Mike Gorham last summer that has yet to try stakes competition while piling up wins. The Shackleford filly has won both her starts at Laurel, most recently a second-level optional claiming allowance Dec. 11.
Also nominated are multiple graded-stakes winner Lucy N Ethel; Ms Locust Point and My Magician, each with a pair of stakes wins at Laurel; stakes winner Picco Uno and Come Dancing, unbeaten in two lifetime starts.
Takaful, a 4-year-old son of champion Bernardini, heads 30 horses nominated to the six-furlong Fire Plug for 4-year-olds and up. He won two of six starts in 2017 topped by the six-furlong Vosburgh (G1) at Belmont Park, and was sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) last out.
Also nominated are Kiaran McLaughlin-trained stablemate Classy Class, a Grade 3 winner who ran fifth in last year’s General George (G3) at Laurel; Grade 3-winning millionaire Stallwalkin’ Dude; and stakes winners Do Share, Even Thunder, It’s the Journey, Ostrolenka, Seymourdini and Struth.
Sunday Marks Opening of Winter Meet with Mandatory Payouts
There were mandatory payouts in the 20-cent Rainbow 6, 50-cent Late Pick 5 and $1 Super Hi-5 wagers on Sunday’s nine-race program that marked the opening of Laurel’s winter-spring meet.
The Rainbow 6, which included a jackpot carryover of $3,997.35 from the last live program Dec. 30, returned $12,234.08 for tickets with all six winners.
The 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 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool. However, on mandatory days the entire pool is paid out to bettors holding tickets with the most winners.
Sunday’s Late Pick 5, which offers an industry-low 12 percent takeout, tickets will all five winners were worth $2,208.40.
The mandatory payout for the Super Hi-5, which included a carryover of $2,341.80, returned $7,241.30 in Sunday’s opener.
There will be a carryover of $3,449.26 in the Super Hi-5 for Monday’s opener, a six-furlong maiden event. First race post time is 12:30 p.m.
Monday’s program includes the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go for fillies and mares 4 and older in Race 7 (3:30 p.m.) and the $100,000 Dave’s Friend for 4-year-olds and up in Race 8 (4 p.m.).
Notes: Four jockeys began the winter-spring meet with a pair of winners. Kevin Gomez won the second race with Alarming ($5.80) and the third with Port Louis ($67.60), Steve Hamilton was first with Off My Stage ($11) in the fourth and Brighton Lane ($3.60) in the sixth; Elvis Trujillo took the fifth on Ogeechee ($8.40) and the ninth on Patriot Saint ($16), and Julian Pimentel won the seventh aboard Supah Czech ($12.60) and eighth aboard In the Navy Now ($5.80).
