Warrior’s Reward to Sponsor $100,000 Weather Vane Stakes
Warrior’s Reward to Sponsor $100,000 Weather Vane Stakes
Six-Furlong Sprint for Sophomore Fillies Saturday, Sept. 21
LAUREL, MD – Grade 1-winning sprinter Warrior’s Reward has been named title sponsor of the inaugural $100,000 Weather Vane Stakes, Laurel Park announced today.
The six-furlong Warrior’s Reward Weather Vane for 3-year-old fillies on the main track is part of a blockbuster eight-stakes program set for Saturday, Sept. 21 highlighted by the 28th running of the $250,000 Xpressbet Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3), $200,000 Baltimore-Washington International Turf Cup (G3) and $150,000 Bald Eagle.
Warrior’s Reward, by multiple Grade 1 winner Medaglia d’Oro, stands stud at WynOaks Farm near Delta, Pa. after being relocated from Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky for the 2019 season.
Trained by Ian Wilkes, Warrior’s Reward ran 17 times in 2009 and 2010 with four wins, five seconds, two thirds and $565,716 in purse earnings. He placed in six graded-stakes, winning the 2010 Carter Handicap (G1) by a nose, and was second in the 2010 Churchill Downs (G2) and 2009 Jim Dandy (G2) and Northern Dancer (G3).
“It is terrific that Laurel Park recognizes the value of co-promoting current and future racing prospects with breeders, owners and fans,” Warrior’s Reward’s owner Donald Brown said. “We are currently preparing for the Mid-Atlantic racing crop of 2023, and events like this will make that year fun and successful.”
“We’re pleased to begin this partnership with Donald Brown and include the Warrior’s Reward Weather Vane to our stakes calendar and include it on what will be a fantastic day of racing for the entire Mid-Atlantic,” said Sal Sinatra, President and General Manager of the Maryland Jockey Club.
New to the Maryland Jockey Club stakes calendar in 2019, the Weather Vane pays homage to the Maryland-bred mare trained by Richard W. Delp that won 17 races and $724,532 in purses from 1996 to 1998.
A former claimer bred by William B. Delp, Weather Vane went on to register 14 stakes victories including the Safely Kept (G3) and Miss Preakness in 1997, the latter before it was graded, and capped her career by being named Maryland-bred champion older female of 1998.
