Challedon, Politely stakes share Saturday card

From June through August, Rockinn On Bye, All Star Red, and The Truth Or Else each took a crack at the sharp sprinter A. P. Indian. None of the three came close to winning, but the experience of facing top-shelf talent may prove helpful when they square off going seven furlongs in Saturday’s $75,000 Challedon Stakes at Laurel Park.

Of the trio, Rockinn On Bye fared best against A. P. Indian, finishing third, beaten 4 1/4 lengths, after a slow start in the seven-furlong Donald LeVine Memorial at Parx in mid-June. He will make his first start on Laurel’s main track since winning a $16,000 starter allowance and missing by a nose in an optional $50,000 claimer in back-to-back starts going seven furlongs last fall.

All Star Red, based in New York with trainer Rudy Rodriguez, was 4 1/4 lengths behind A. P. Indian as the fifth-place finisher in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga in late July. He followed up that performance with a near miss going 6 1/2 furlongs in a third-level optional $80,000 claimer there. The 4-year-old All Star Red will be making his first start at Laurel and his first start going as far as seven furlongs.

The Truth Or Else is cross-entered in Saturday’s Grade 3 Ack Ack at Churchill Downs and may remain in Kentucky for that race. He most recently finished 6 1/2 lengths behind A. P. Indian in the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga.

The 10-horse field also includes New York shipper Big Guy Ian, who won back-to-back starts early in 2015 in his only two starts at Laurel, along with Mylute, another New York shipper who was the runner-up in the Grade 3 Bold Ruler going seven furlongs last year and was a distant third in this year’s Grade 3 Westchester at a one-turn mile.

The co-featured $75,000 Politely Stakes for Maryland-bred or Maryland-sired fillies and mares going six furlongs pits Candida H. against Lovable Lady.

The 4-year-old Candida H. won the seven-furlong Conniver by 2 1/4 lengths the last time she ran in a restricted stakes on the main track. She will be cutting back from 1 1/8 miles and switching from turf to dirt while making her first start since late June.

Lovable Lady, no worse than second in five of seven starts on Laurel’s main track, also switches surfaces after winning the six-furlong Jameela on turf Aug. 20. The last time she raced seven furlongs, Lovable Lady missed by a nose in a first-level allowance in March 2015.