Undefeated Jaxon Traveler Tops Maryland Juvenile Futurity Nominations
Undefeated Jaxon Traveler Tops Maryland Juvenile Futurity Nominations
Juvenile Filly Championship Nominees Include Street Lute, Miss Nondescript
Triple Carryovers for Saturday’s Fall Festival of Racing Program
LAUREL, MD – West Point Thoroughbreds and Melvin Delfiner’s Jaxon Traveler, undefeated through two starts, tops a list of seven last-out winners among 15 2-year-olds nominated to the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Futurity Saturday, Dec. 5 at Laurel Park.
Joining the Futurity on the Dec. 5 program is the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship, which attracted 20 nominations. Both races are restricted to Maryland-bred/sired horses and contested at seven furlongs.
Jaxon Traveler, by three-time Grade 2-winning sprinter Munnings, has raced exclusively in Maryland thus far with back-to-back front-running triumphs. He romped by 10 lengths in his Sept. 25 debut at Pimlico Race Course and returned a four-length optional claiming allowance winner Oct. 23 at Laurel under a hand ride, both with jockey Johan Rosado aboard.
From the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, Jaxon Traveler has breezed four times since his most recent win including a bullet five furlongs in 1:01.01 Nov. 22 at Belmont Park, the fastest of 42 horses over the training track.
Also coming off wins are Ain’t Da Beer Cold, Alwaysinahurry, Full Dinner Jacket, Hello Hot Rod, Memory Bouquet and Tribal Notion. Ain’t Da Beer Cold broke his maiden at Laurel Aug. 7 and returned to beat winners Nov. 22 after finishing off the board in the Maryland Million Nursery.
Alwaysinhurry rallied to be second behind stablemate Kenny Had a Notion in the Oct. 24 Nursery, coming back two weeks later with a gutsy neck triumph against winners also at Laurel. Singlino and Latin Spice, respectively first and third in the 5 ½-furlong First State Dash Sept. 26 at Delaware Park, are also nominated.
Lucky 7 Stables’ Street Lute tops nominees to the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship. The daughter of Street Magician, 2003 winner of the Hirsch Jacobs (G3) at Pimlico, has won three of her four starts including the Small Wonder Sept. 26 at Delaware and Smart Halo Nov. 14 at Laurel, her lone loss coming by a neck in the Maryland Million Lassie.
Barak Farm’s undefeated Miss Nondescript won the Lassie in her second career start and first with trainer Mike Trombetta after breaking her maiden in an off-the-turf maiden special weight Sept. 4 at Monmouth Park. She is by 2016 Laurel Dash winner Mosler, the leading freshman sire in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Also prominent among nominees are Trip to Freedom, third in the Lassie; Liam’s Missy, a 10 ½-length maiden special weight winner Oct. 31 in the Belmont Park mud; Oct. 23 Keeneland maiden special weight winner Maxine’s Tap Room; and Miss Leslie and Mit Mazel, both claimed out of last out wins by leading trainer Claudio Gonzalez.
Triple Carryovers for Saturday’s Fall Festival of Racing Program
There will be carryovers in the 20-cent Rainbow 6, 50-cent Late Pick 5 and $1 Super Hi-5 wagers for Saturday’s Fall Festival of Racing program at Laurel Park, featuring six stakes races worth $600,000 in purses.
First race post time is 12:25 p.m.
No one had all six winners in Friday’s 20-cent Rainbow 6, growing the carryover jackpot to $15,053.51 for Saturday, spanning Races 4-9. Tickets with five of six winners each returned $197.92.
The Late Pick 5, offering an industry-low 12 percent takeout, also went unsolved to produce a carryover of 3,910.14. Tickets with four of five winners were worth $100.25.
Saturday’s opener will feature a carryover of $8,819.04 in the Super Hi-5.
Saturday’s stakes action begins with the $100,000 Primonetta for females 3 and up sprinting six furlongs in Race 3, where multiple stakes winner Needs Supervision is set to make her first start since mid-March. Francatelli is the 7-5 program favorite to win his second career stakes and first on dirt in the $100,000 Concern for 3-year-olds in Race 4.
Hello Beautiful will go up against graded winners Project Whiskey and Fly On Angel and graded-stakes placed Reagan’s Edge in the $100,000 Safely Kept for 3-year-old fillies in Race 5. Laki and Eastern Bay, separated by a nose when 1-2 in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash Oct. 3, meet up again in the $100,000 Frank Whiteley in Race 6.
Wicked Awesome goes after her second career stakes win and fourth consecutive victory overall in the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go for females 3 and up in Race 7, while historic Pimlico Special (G3) winner Harpers First Ride is favored at 9-5 on the morning line in the $100,000 Richard Small for 3-year-olds and up in Race 8. Both races are contested at about 1 1/16 miles.
Notes: Jockey Victor Rosales and trainer Gary Capuano teamed up for a pair of winners Friday with Shackqueenking ($3.20) in Race 2 and Jovis ($44.60) in Race 8.
