LAUREL, Md. – Last year, trainer Elizabeth Merryman and jockey Flavien Prat met in the winner’s circle at Pimlico after the deep closer Witty rocketed from the back to win the $125,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint. If the trainer and jockey run it back in the same race on Saturday at Laurel Park, they will likely do it with a vastly different trip from Jean Valjean. “Complete opposite running style,” Merryman said, laughing. “But I don’t think that’s a problem at all” for Prat. Once a budding stakes contender, Jean Valjean missed the 2025 season with a nagging foot issue, which cropped up just as he was coming back from his winter break. By the time Merryman resolved the issue, the turf season was already coming to an end and she said she didn’t want to push him needlessly. In his return from a 17-month layoff in April, Merryman put the gelding to the test in a deep running of the $100,000 King T. Leatherbury at Laurel. After dueling with Doncho and putting the world-record holder away on the front end, the 28-1 longshot led into the stretch before finally fading back to seventh. “In the Leatherbury, he probably was a hair short, having been off that long,” Merryman said. Merryman, typically a patient trainer, didn’t wait long to get Jean Valjean back into action on May 1, when he improved to easily take a Laurel allowance with a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. She won’t wait long for this one either. :: Get ready for Preakness with DRF past performances, picks, and betting strategies! Seven runners in the McKay’s field of 11 ran in the Leatherbury, which proved to be one of the most competitive stakes at Laurel this year. Outlaw Kid and Chasing Liberty, separated by a neck that day, will both return for another 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint. Trainer T.J. Aguirre Jr. expects Tidewater to go off at 60-1 or more, but he will brave the storm nonetheless. In October, the gelding went to the front end and nearly stole the $100,000 Maryland Million Turf Sprint, settling for fourth with an 88 Beyer Speed Figure. “This is going to be a great year for us hometowners,” Aguirre said. “Pimlico was a little bit more of a fair-playing field. I’m excited for my guy to be able to wake up in his own bed and go out there and do his job.” James W. Murphy Proton and Turf Star both disappointed trainer Graham Motion in Grade 3 company last time out, but they could find their footing again in the $100,000 James W. Murphy Stakes on Saturday. The trainer said both 3-year-olds have improved since successful juvenile seasons. Proton is one of just two runners in the field of eight 3-year-olds with a win on the Laurel turf, having won the $125,000 Laurel Futurity in September. He has not won since, but Motion wasn’t displeased with any of his efforts until his seventh-place finish in the Grade 3 Transylvania at Keeneland last month. Drawing the rail in that field of 11, the gelding never seemed comfortable in the early going, which Motion attributed to running on four weeks’ rest. He will come back from a six-week break this time and cut back to a mile. “He’s one of those that’s kind of on the edge of being a sprinter, but it’s so limited,” Motion said. “It’s either five-eighths or a mile, really. You don’t have many options in between.” While Proton’s regressed effort required nuanced analysis, it’s more than likely that Turf Star was simply on the wrong surface when he faded in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks on synthetic. “I just kind of want to go back to square one with him,” Motion said. Thebabeslayer also will return to turf for trainer Steve Asmussen, who entered him on dirt in his last three starts. The colt proved versatile when he won the $110,000 Texas Thoroughbred Association Derby at Sam Houston, but the trainer has not forgotten his maiden victory on grass in January. “I like him better on the turf,” Asmussen said. “He did win the Derby on the dirt at Sam Houston, but I think that was just a nice financial opportunity. He is better on the turf, and I look forward to getting back on it.” Trainer Kent Sweezey said he is hoping for a better trip for My Favorite Bird after he was forced to check late in the $100,000 English Channel at Gulfstream. Attfield, a stakes winner at Aqueduct last year, has not yet run on firm turf as a 3-year-old. Tom Morley will add blinkers in hopes of a more focused finish and said cutting back to a mile should lead to improvement. Jessica Lindsey, the assistant trainer to Jerry Robb, said she would “make a scene” if longshot Jessica’s Eyes came home to score in the Murphy. Named after Lindsey as a joking tribute, the gelding has won 2 of 4 starts. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.