Barbadian Runner noses Adero in Deputed Testamony Stakes
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For all of the statistics and patterns that shape horse racing, the sport is nevertheless still subject to the demeanors of its competitors. For instance, the 4-year-old gelding Barbadian Runner seems to love nothing more than a stretch battle, and there is very little that could have stopped him from winning the $125,000 Deputed Testamony Stakes on Saturday at Laurel Park.
Barbadian Runner, who was intent on stalking in the 1 1/8-mile race, chased behind Catalytic through an opening quarter-mile in 25.42 seconds and half-mile in 50.48. Jockey Forest Boyce said she wanted to keep him closer to the front in a paceless field of six older males, and he didn’t wait long to take over.
“You want them all to do it for you,” Boyce said. “It's a partnership. We can't win it without them. So much better if you make it their idea and get them working for you.”
When the 3-5 favorite easily dispatched Catalytic on the far turn and kicked off by himself in midstretch, trainer Henry Walters said he grew a little nervous for his Maryland-bred.
“He doesn't make the lead that early sometimes,” Walters said. “He always has a target inside the eighth pole or sixteenth pole. He was in virgin territory.”
Fortunately for Barbadian Runner, he was about to enter far more familiar territory. Loping along out in front after making his early bid for the lead, the gelding received a furious late challenge from Adero, an 11-1 outsider trained by Jamie Ness, who came charging down the center of the track under Mychel Sanchez.
With less than a furlong to go, Adero had enough space and momentum to complete his winning move, but he did not have a willing partner. With the same determination he showed often in his brilliant 3-year-old campaign, Barbadian Runner felt the pressure to his outside and dug in ferociously, refusing to let the Parx-based shipper pass him on his home track. He prevailed by a nose, completing the 1 1/8-mile distance in 1:52.90.
Even after Jokestar, Warp Nine, and Sacred Thunder scratched, Barbadian Runner still had to run against graded stakes runners Duke of Duval, Catalytic, and Cadet Corps. It mattered little to him, nor did it affect the betting public. He paid $3.20 to win.
Adero finished 2 1/4 lengths clear of Catalytic, a 2024 Kentucky Derby runner who was making his second start for trainer Brittany Russell.
Xcellent Start, a longshot who rallied for fourth after rearing at the start, was declared a non-starter after stewards found he was held in the gate.
Walters, who won his last stakes in 2004 before Barbadian Runner came thundering into his barn, has already said the gelding’s 4-year-old campaign will not be nearly as hectic as last year, when he ran 12 times, often on short rest. After a long winter break, he ran in two allowances last month to prepare for the Deputed Testamony, winning the more recent start at Laurel by five lengths.
But more spacing between starts does not necessarily mean that Walters isn’t tempted to challenge his local star. The trainer admitted the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic on August 28 was tempting, even if it will likely put the gelding in tougher company.
“The best horse doesn't always win that type of race,” Walters said. “He's a horse that's kind of made for the bull ring. He runs on the turns and he accelerates.”
Last August, Barbadian Runner shipped to the West Virginia track and won the $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial with a then-career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure.
Alma North Stakes
Maida returned from an eight-month layoff and dominated five rivals in the $125,000 Alma North Stakes on Saturday. The 4-year-old filly has now won two stakes at Laurel by open lengths, and trainer Brittany Russell said she hopes to bring that form elsewhere in the near future.
“She’s walking out of her own stall, this is home,” Russell said. “She’s good on this track. I'm very impressed with this today, but I'd really like to see her be able to take it on the road at some point.”
Following a dull debut at Pimlico in May 2025, Maida added blinkers and won her next three starts by a combined 21 1/2 lengths, including an eight-length victory in the $100,000 Weather Vane at Laurel.
Russell decided to take a big step forward in October and entered her in the Grade 2 Raven Run at Keeneland, but her chances were dashed out of the gate. Typically a front-runner, she started slow and ran well back throughout the race, finishing a distant sixth. Russell was not happy with her recovery in the weeks after that start and elected to give her time over the winter.
“I think that was just our cue to let her kind of grow up and see if she could improve, and she did,” Russell said. “Or, I don’t know, she’s just good. Whatever it is.”
When three horses scratched from the Alma North, including potential pacesetter Hold Your Breath, jockey Sheldon Russell had a straightforward task aboard Maida in her 4-year-old debut. The fact that all six of the remaining fillies and mares were stakes winners proved to be inconsequential in the face of uncontested early speed.
The fractions in the six-furlong sprint didn’t matter much either, as Russell fearlessly sent the filly through an opening quarter-mile in 21.72 seconds. By the time she completed the half-mile in 45.76, she was already seven lengths ahead, a margin she sustained around the far turn and into the stretch.
“We were hoping for a big effort, maybe she was going to get there a little late, but the good ones sort of get themselves ready,” Sheldon Russell said. “So I'm happy she's back in winning form.”
Maida finished 10 1/2 lengths clear at the end, completing the six-furlong distance in 1:18.44. She was bet down to 3-2 approaching the gate and paid $5 to win.
Grammy Girl, who shipped to Laurel off back-to-back Grade 3 victories at Aqueduct, rallied to take second for Saffie Joseph Jr., but she never had a chance against the hometown hopeful. She finished four lengths clear of Benedetta, a Steve Asmussen-trained mare who was similarly humbled.
Japan Racing Association Turf Cup
In what could be his final stakes start at Laurel Park for some time, jockey Yedsit Hazlewood completed a masterful front-running ride aboard Thundering to win the $125,000 Japan Racing Association Turf Cup on Saturday.
In Derek Ryan’s first career victory at Laurel, the trainer said he could not have asked for a better ride from Hazlewood. Ryan said he had heard plenty about the young rider from jockey Angel Rodriguez, Hazlewood’s older brother, and jumped at the opportunity to work with him. Thundering had never gone to the early lead in 15 career starts, but he looked like a natural pacesetter under Hazlewood, still only 18 years old and soon headed to ride at Ellis Park.
“I've never had an opportunity to ride [Hazlewood],” Ryan said. “I just entered here and left him open, and the agent [John DiNatale] called me and I said, ‘You crazy? Put him up!’”
Coming off a mild sixth in the $100,000 Cliff Hanger at Monmouth, Ryan reiterated that he has had immense trouble finding spots for his 4-year-old gelding. Without second-level allowances, he has turned more and more to stakes, and he saw an opportunity when the JRA Turf Cup did not attract any serious front-runners.
“It was good,” Hazlewood said. “I followed the instructions from the trainer, actually, to put him in front. It was a slow pace. I made a move. I followed the instructions and got a winner.”
Cruising under Hazlewood, Thundering took a 1 1/2-length lead early in the 1 1/8-mile turf race, completing the opening quarter-mile in 24.61 seconds. Several stalkers advanced on the backstretch to apply pressure to the early leader, but they did not last long, fading away on the far turn.
Ahead by 2 1/2 lengths at the top of the stretch, the 9-2 third choice seemed to have more than enough left to hold off the late challengers, which were few. What Say Thee made a mild bid from fourth, while Truly Quality made a more earnest try from last, but neither came close. Thundering held by 1 1/2 lengths, completing the 1 1/8-mile distance in 1:47.21 and paying $11.20 to win.
Before the race, trainer Jonathan Thomas said the distance would be too short for Truly Quality and was simply hoping to get his gelding geared up for a summer stint. The deep closer took second by a nose over What Say Thee, a 13-1 outsider trained by Horacio De Paz.
In his first 1,342 career races, most of which came in the Mid-Atlantic, Hazlewood has won 316 starts and more than $10 million in purse money. Trainer Jose Corrales has often compared him to Irad and Jose Ortiz, and Ryan had identical praise for the young rider Saturday.
“This kid ain't no bug rider,” Ryan said. “He's another Ortiz, this kid. He's that good.”
Hazlewood has been the leading rider at Laurel since last September and is expected to carry on as a force in Kentucky this summer.
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