Royal Spa earns first stakes victory
Disco Ebo successfully defends Primonetta title
Cataleya Strike upsets Native Dancer

LAUREL, MD – Worcester rebounded from a runner-up effort in Aqueduct’s Stymie Stakes last month with a rallying 1 ½-length victory over stablemate New King in the Frank Y. Whiteley for 4-year-olds and upward at seven furlongs.

The Frank Y. Whiteley was one of four $100,000 stakes races on Saturday’s program at Laurel Park.

Trained by Brittany Russell for a partnership including Starlight Racing, SF Racing, Madaket Stables, and Robert Masterson, Worcester didn’t seem like his usual self at Aqueduct.

“He was a little edgy,” Russell said earlier this week. “When he walked in the paddock, he broke out that day. He’s a classy horse, but he’s a bit of an internalizer, and I saw a different side of him. [Jockey Sheldon Russell] said he was the same way warming up.”

However, Worcester thrives at Laurel Park, and he settled near the back of the pack as favored Bartlett careened through splits of 22.94 and 46.48 over a muddy, sealed track that played mostly to outside closers.

Bartlett faltered badly and was passed by pace-pressing Seven’s Eleven, who immediately was challenged by New King. Meanwhile, Worcester saved ground under jockey Sheldon Russell, eased out to split rivals on the turn, angled wider turning into the stretch, then kicked by New King to win in 1:24.38.

“He’s bounced back today,” Sheldon Russell said. “He runs like a good horse. In behind horses, he travels sweetly. He’ll run inside or outside. On paper, my goal was to follow [Bartlett]. I thought [Bartlett] would go a long way, and if he faltered off the layoff, we would run by him. But it was Brittany’s other horse that was still in front of me. I love Worcester. He’s always been a barn favorite.”

New King, making his first start in the Russell barn after racing for Bob Baffert in Southern California, finished 2 ¾ lengths ahead of a game Seven’s Eleven. Then came Circle P, Factor It In, and Bartlett.

Worcester paid $6.20 as the public’s second choice.

Bred in Kentucky by the Jerry Dixon Revocable Trust and Empire Maker Syndicate, Worcester was purchased for $180,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. He is by Empire Maker and is out of stakes-winning sprinter Lil Super Bear by Super Saver.

Worcester has won four of 13 races for earnings of $273,320. The Frank Y. Whiteley was his first stakes victory.

*Royal Spa earns elusive first stakes victory

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

That’s been trainer Rodolphe Brisset’s motto with the talented Royal Spa, who entered the Heavenly Cause for fillies and mares at one mile with four wins, three stakes placings, one Grade 3 placing, and no victories against stakes company.

That all changed on Saturday as Royal Spa, skillfully ridden by Mychel Sanchez, took the field gate-to-wire.

After Malibu Moonshine, Vincey Girl, Takethemoneyhoney, Intrepid Dream and Oncourtcommentator scratched, the Heavenly Cause lacked a pacesetter.

Enter Royal Spa, who had never made the lead at the pace call in any of her prior 16 starts. Sanchez was semi-aggressive leaving the chute and Royal Spa set a tepid opening quarter of 25.47 seconds while racing outside of Opus Forty Two.

Royal Spa cleared off through a half-mile clocking of 49.04 while racing off the inside, turned into the stretch in front after six furlongs in 1:14.24, then was under siege from both sides.

Catherine Wheel, in from New York for trainer Chad Brown, attempted to slip up the rail while multiple stakes-winner Sea Dancer, wheeling back in one week, made a three-wide bid.

Royal Spa brushed back those challenges passing the first wire, then braced for Regaled’s powerful late stretch rally. Regaled made it very close, but the wire came in the nick of time for Royal Spa, who scored by a neck in 1:39.64 and returned $4.80 as the betting favorite.

“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to get this stakes win,” Brisset said by telephone from Keeneland. “On paper, it looked like there was absolutely zero speed. So, I told the rider to break out of there and if nobody wants it, go ahead.”

Sanchez was impressed with Royal Spa’s ability to change up her running style.

“I gave her a little warmup, and she was class all the way around,” Sanchez said. “I felt like I had a really nice pace going and [thought] they were going to have trouble to go by me. She was comfortable all the way around. She fought all the way through.”

Catherine Wheel finished third, 1 ¼ lengths behind Regaled. Sea Dancer, Bailintin and Opus Forty Two were next.

Royal Spa is a 5-year-old Violence homebred owned by Breffni Farm. Her dam, Bodacious Babe, by Mineshaft, won the Margate Stakes sprinting at Gulfstream in 2016.

With the win, Royal Spa now boasts $564,672 in earnings

*Disco Ebo successfully defends Primonetta title

Disco Ebo stalked and pounced to win the Primonetta Stakes for fillies and mares at six furlongs.

Not only did Disco Ebo win the Primonetta for the second consecutive season, but the victory gave jockey Sanchez a natural stakes double on the card.

Disco Ebo seemed anxious before the start, popping open her stall door.

That worried trainer Butch Reid.

“It made me really nervous when she broke through the gate like that because I rarely see them win when they break through,” Reid said by phone. “She’s a tough old mare. Very classy.”

Disco Ebo’s task became more manageable when one of the main speeds in the race, Firstlady Rosalynn, broke slowly. That allowed Sanchez to find a comfortable position tracking longshot Mudslide through an opening quarter of 22.41 seconds.

Mudslide cracked quickly, allowing Disco Ebo to grab the lead outside the quarter pole. Disco Ebo stepped the half-mile in 46.21, opened a three-length lead at the three-sixteenths marker, and held favored Tipple at bay by a length in 1:13.24.

Admiral Hopper finished third, followed by Firstlady Rosalynn and Muslide. B G Warrior and All Class scratched. Disco Ebo returned $5 as the public’s second choice.

Reid was also concerned about a potential outside bias that had favored late-runners throughout the card.

“We were talking about that earlier, the owners and I,” Reid added. “The track was not very fast. She ran 13 and change, and that’s normally not her type of racetrack, I can tell you that. But she’s added a new dimension out there. She doesn’t need the lead and is a dead-game mare.”

Bred in Pennsylvania by St. Omer’s Farm, Disco Ebo is a 6-year-old mare by Weigelia out of the wonderfully productive mare Katarica Disco, who has also produced stakes-winners Fore Harp, Smooth B, and Fat Kat, along with stakes-placed performers Pink Princess and Disco Rose.

Purchased for $52,000 as a yearling by LC Racing, Disco Ebo has five stakes victories with lifetime earnings of $797,694.

*Cataleya Strike upsets Native Dancer

A fast pace, a wet track that played to outside closers, and the 1 1/8-mile distance all played into Cataleya Strike’s hooves, and the gelding roared from off the pace to down a game Speedyness in the Native Dancer Stakes for 4-year-olds and upward.

On paper, the Native Dancer featured the rematch between Film Star and Speedyness, the one-two finishers in Laurel’s Robert T. Manfuso Stakes here on Dec. 21. In that race, those two controlled the pace with Cataleya Strike finishing a non-threatening fifth after attempting to rally from 12 lengths back.

Speedyness, the expected speed, broke sharp to make the lead, but Film Star was also placed on a hard send going into the first turn. They battled through quick fractions of 23.89 and 47.76 with Speedyness eventually getting the better of Film Star after six furlongs in 1:12.71.

Speedyness emerged with the lead turning for home, but jockey Jevian Toledo had Cataleya Strike rolling on the outside. Following a late lead change, Cataleya Strike rolled by the pacesetter to score by 2 ¾ lengths in 1:52.99.

Curlin’s Malibu rallied outside for third to finish 5 ½ lengths behind favored Speedyness. Then came a tired Film Star and Feeling Woozy. Armando R scratched.

“I had a beautiful trip,” Toledo said. “The horses with speed set up the race for him. He always closes, he always tries. Today, the speed favored him. They went head-to-head. Coming to the second turn, I came on the inside to save a little ground. Then, in the stretch, I got the sense to take him out. When he saw the daylight, he just took off.”

Toledo felt that the tiring nature of the wet track helped Cataleya Strike.

“It’s a little bit [tighter] on the outside, and it’s helping the closers,” Toledo observed.

Cataleya Strike’s trainer, Rudy Sanchez-Salomon was convinced to enter Cataleya Strike after a five-bullet bullet workout on March 26.

He worked really nice and galloped out strong,” Sanchez-Salomon said earlier in the week. “Actually, that’s the reason that I put him in the stake.”

Cataleya Strike came into the Native Dancer following a high-level allowance win at Laurel on February 28. That race was the first time he teamed up with Toledo, and Sanchez-Salomon was full of praise for the rider.

“The best thing is when you get the right jockey, especially with this horse because he is a little lazy,” Sanchez-Salomon remarked. “If you don’t check him or grab him, he’s fine. If you grab him a little bit, you lose momentum.”

Bred in Kentucky by Erik Johnson, Cataleya Strike is by Catalina Cruiser. He sold for $20,000 as a weanling before being bought back for that price as an April juvenile.

The Native Dancer was Cataleya Strike’s first stakes score. He has won five of 17 starts for $230,430 in earnings for J R Sanchez Racing Stable.