Chief Lion looks to right ship in Fire Plug

New York-based trainer David Jacobson has sent two runners to Laurel Park this meet, and both have won, but that perfect recent record belies Jacobson’s longer-term struggles in Laurel stakes races. Since 2014, Jacobson has gone 1-2-0 with his 11 Laurel stakes runners, and that winner came more than two years ago.

Chief Lion is the 3-1 morning-line favorite for Jacobson in the $75,000 Fire Plug Stakes on Saturday at Laurel, but perhaps it will pay to dig a little deeper into the race.

And there is plenty of depth in the Fire Plug, a six-furlong dash that drew 11 entrants and shares top billing on the card with the $75,000 What A Summer, a six-furlong race for older fillies and mares.

The 7-year-old Chief Lion was at Laurel just two weeks ago, when he set the pace and had a clear lead at the stretch call, only to be run down by Heaven’s Runway and finish second as the even-money favorite in the $100,000 Dave’s Friend, also at six furlongs on dirt. Chief Lion ran two especially fast races after Jacobson claimed him for $62,500 in April at Santa Anita and brought him east, but in his eight starts since then, Chief Lion has struggled – sometimes mildly, sometimes mightily – from the stretch call to the finish.

Chief Lion has early speed and will find company on the lead. There are several other pace factors entered, but perhaps none stronger than Trouble Kid, who makes his first start since being transferred into the barn of trainer Phil Schoenthal.

Trouble Kid was disqualified from first to second in the 2015 De Francis Dash, Laurel’s most important sprint, but his recent form is suspect. Schoenthal takes over from trainer Ramon Preciado, who had his license revoked last month by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission and recently said through his attorney that he may leave racing entirely.

If a pace battle percolates, Measured will have a chance. Measured has hit peak form this winter and, rallying into a slow pace, finished a close second Nov. 23 in the $200,000 Fabulous Strike at Parx Racing, beating Chief Lion to the wire. Measured finished fifth in the Dave’s Friend but had a tough trip while trapped on the rail.

Chublicious’s best form would make him a major player in the Fire Plug, but all his top performances came for trainer Jorge Navarro, and the New Jersey-bred now is based with Claudio Gonzalez. The 4-year-old Imperial Hint is lightly raced, comes off a blowout allowance win at Parx, is well drawn on the far outside, and may be a horse on the rise.

Even field in What A Summer

The seven older fillies and mares entered in the What A Summer are difficult to separate, though it seems relatively clear that Southern Girl is the horse with the greatest upside.

One of only two 4-year-olds in the What A Summer, Southern Girl, a Tapit filly, has won four of her six career starts and is 2 for 2 at Laurel, having comfortably captured an allowance race and the $75,000 Shine Again last summer. Southern Girl most recently finished sixth in the Grade 2 Raven Run in October at Keeneland, where she broke last of 12 and had to come from farther off the pace than in her more typical trips.

Southern Girl made her first six starts for trainer Larry Jones but races Saturday for Jonathan Thomas, who has been training her in Florida at Bridlewood Farm, Southern Girl’s owner.

Sweet On Smokey won this race by more than two lengths in 2016, but her recent form has been nowhere near that strong. The “now” horse this winter at Laurel is Lovable Lady, a 6-year-old who exits a career-best performance, a 4 1/2-length win in the $100,000 Willa On the Move on Dec. 10. The New York shipper Disco Chick is favored at 5-2 on the track’s morning line and would lack appeal at that price. She should be prominent from the start from her rail post but has limited upside.