At the end of a stellar fall campaign, trainer Gary Capuano is rerady for a well-deserved encore at Laurel on Saturday. Capuano entered four juveniles in the $100,000 Heft Stakes, surrounding the field with his elite band of 2-year-olds. “I don’t want to turn the calendar year,” Capuano said. “I’m going to keep it at 2025, because with the 2-year-olds, just about all of them have come back to have multiple wins. It’s just been a phenomenal year, one of those rare occasions.” Of the 17 juveniles Capuano has run, all but one has earned their maiden victory. Four of them have won in stakes, and another two earned the honor after leaving his barn. Among trainers with at least 50 starts in juvenile company, his 40 percent strike rate is the highest in the country. “That just doesn’t happen,” Capuano said. “I pinch myself every day.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. In the Heft, a seven-furlong sprint, Capuano said that Worker Bee is the least likely to start among his four runners. Probably Dreaming, a two-time stakes winner at Delaware, will return to Laurel as the likely favorite after finishing second in the $150,000 Nashua at Aqueduct on Nov. 1. Jockey Carlos Lopez has done exceptional work aboard Probably Dreaming in four career starts, but for Capuano’s remaining trio, he had the unfortunate task of limiting apprentice jockey Yedsit Hazlewood to one mount. Hazlewood, the leading rider at the Laurel fall meet, has thrived alongside Capuano all year and guided Very Volatile, Hollywood Import, and Worker Bee to victories this fall. Ultimately, it was decided that Hazelwood would ride Very Volatile, the most inexperienced of the group, coming off a maiden victory on Nov. 29. Gin Talking Maryland-bred fillies Just Philtored and Slewperstitus have never strayed from one another too long, so it only makes sense that the pair will cap off their juvenile seasons in one final dance at Laurel Park on Saturday. After three straight defeats to her archrival, Slewperstitus will try to turn the tables at seven furlongs in the $100,000 Gin Talking Stakes. Trainer Mike Trombetta said that he does not plan to do much different with Just Philtored after a resurgent effort in the $125,000 Maryland Juvenile Filly on Dec. 6. The three-time stakes winner did not seem herself on a muddy track in the $100,000 Smart Halo in November, however, leaving the trainer somewhat concerned about rain. “Obviously, weather is something that I’m a little concerned about,” Trombetta said. “I know they’re calling for a little bit of weather on Friday. So we’ll see what that does to us and we’ll go from there.” While Trombetta waits for the clouds to part, trainer Robert Bailes will add blinkers to Slewperstitus in order to sharpen her focus. The idea came from jockey Jevian Toledo, who was aboard for her breakthrough victory in the $100,000 Maryland Million Lassie and her latest defeat to Just Philtored earlier this month. If not for Just Philtored, Slewperstitus would be undefeated in five career starts. “She worked with blinkers on the other day and she’s definitely gotten a little bit more aggressive,” Bailes said. ”Now, whether that’s going to turn into a good thing or a bad thing, we’re going to find out on Saturday.” The familiar top pair could be challenged by Dazzling Dame, one of two fillies entered by Brittany Russell. A three-time winner in four starts, she has not run since Oct. 11, when she shipped to Delaware for a victory in the $100,000 White Clay Creek. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.