Coach returns from break in Twixt on Saturday's five-stakes card

Multiple stakes winner Coach returns from a lengthy layoff Saturday in Laurel’s $100,000 Twixt for fillies and mares traveling 1 1/16 miles.

The Twixt is one of five stakes on the program along with the restricted Challedon for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs, the $100,000 Japan Turf Cup for 3-year-olds and upward at 1 1/2 miles on turf, the $150,000 Laurel Futurity for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on turf, and the $150,000 Selima for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

The turf races may be affected by weather. As of Thursday, there is a 70 percent chance for rain on Saturday.

Trained by Brad Cox, Coach has raced twice this year. She defeated three next-out winners over sloppy going in the one-mile Pippin on Jan. 8 at Oaklawn, then finished fourth in the Grade 3 Bayakoa there Feb. 12.

:: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now!

“We freshened her up,” Cox said. “She just needed some time. This race made sense in regards to a return to the races.”

Battle Bling enters the Twixt following a confidence-building victory in a $100,000 handicap going a one-turn 1 1/16 miles at Colonial Downs. Battle Bling captured the Ladies at Aqueduct on Jan. 16, and ran second or third in four other stakes this year, including the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap on July 9.

Grade 3-placed Jilted Bride finished ahead of Coach when third in the Bayakoa. She earned her first stakes victory in the Iowa Distaff on July 8 at Prairie Meadows. Most recently, she finished second to Battle Bling at Colonial.

Breviary and Malibu Beauty, the top two finishers of the Timonium Distaff on Aug. 27, bookend the field. Malibu Beauty is cross-entered at Delaware on both Friday and Saturday, and trainer Gary Capuano is undecided as to which race Malibu Beauty will contest.

Hybrid Eclipse has won 3 of 4 Laurel starts, including the Caesar’s Wish on July 2. She was the beaten favorite in the Timonium Distaff.

The Grass Is Blue, second in the Caesar’s Wish before finishing fourth in Colonial’s Seeking the Pearl on Aug. 16, would benefit from a fast pace and a wet track.

Click to Confirm completes the field.

Challedon Stakes

Yodel E. A. Who seeks his third consecutive victory when he goes in the Challedon, restricted to horses that have never won an open stakes.

Yodel E. A. Who earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure winning a conditioned allowance Sept. 10 at Delaware.

Factor It In has raced in career form since returning in July from a 290-day layoff. The gray scored in a conditioned allowance on July 10 at Laurel, then ran third, placed second via disqualification in the Chesapeake on Aug. 16 at Colonial.

Excellorator finished first in an open stakes race, the 2021 Federico Tesio at Pimlico, but was disqualified and placed second. He has since won 3 of 5 starts, including winning a second-level allowance Aug. 19 at Laurel.

Air Token, the 2021 Maryland Million Sprint winner, makes his third start following a summer break. Famished goes turf to dirt, the same pattern that resulted in a 92 Beyer victory in a second-level allowance June 25 at Monmouth.

Laurel Futurity

Trainer Mike Maker won the 2020 Laurel Futurity over yielding turf with Catman, a third-time starter who previously finished second in a maiden race at Kentucky Downs. Maker uses the same pattern Saturday with Fire Baron, who ran second as the favorite Sept. 10 at Kentucky Downs.

Fire Baron faces two from the Graham Motion barn. Dataman, a Tapit colt, won a maiden race Aug. 22 at Colonial, while Hendrickson notched a synthetic win Aug. 22 at Presque Isle Downs.

Dandy Handyman, an upset debut winner at Colonial, and first-time turf performer Roan Burgundy deserve respect.

Selima Stakes

Trainer Chad Brown won the last two Selimas and looks for a third with Private Credit, an Into Mischief filly who went gate to wire in a Monmouth maiden special weight on Sept. 2.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets.

She’ll face strong challenges from the Maker-trained What an Honor, a maiden winner at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 3, and Delight, a $400,000 daughter of Mendelssohn who won a two-turn maiden race on Aug. 27 at Delaware.

Japan Turf Cup

The last time Vance Scholars ran in a race washed off turf at Laurel, he went gate to wire in the Bald Eagle Derby on Aug. 6. Second behind runaway Next in the off-turf Cape Henlopen on Sept. 8 at Delaware, Vance Scholars would factor if the Japan Turf Cup moves to the main track.

On turf, 2021 Cape Henlopen winner Oceans Map looms large following a runner-up effort in the 12-furlong Presious Passion on Sept. 10 at Monmouth.

Beacon Hill stretches out to a marathon distance for the first time since a runner-up effort in the Point of Entry last fall at Belmont.

Royne, third in the Presious Passion, and Grade 3 winner Bizzee Channel also look like serious contenders.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.